The Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City is liberal, compassionate and inclusive. Members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and traditions, all of them seeking to study the great religious questions in community with "open hearts and inquiring minds" according to the church's homepage.

I decided to get to know this congregation through its social action committee.  I'm a big fan of the social action and I'm told that it's also very important to this church. On my visit there I picked up every brochure and printout displayed in the lobby.

The program called Adopt a Child Abuse Caseworker sounded grave—yet hopeful. Turns out, this crucial program has been quietly supporting social workers at the Department of Children and Family Services  San Fernando Valley Office for more than a decade.

The church's social action committee is so democratic that it doesn't have a chair. Donna Mae Pitluck is the church's liaison to Family Services for the Adopt a Caseworker program.  Other members spearhead the green sanctuary project, the second Sunday collection and peace vigils, to name a few. 

Donna Mae feels that working with the caseworker program "creates real contact between our church and the community."

The adoption program was started by someone at The Valley Interfaith Council, no one remembers exactly who or when, but when VIC ran out of money for the staffer who ran the program, San Fernando Valley DCFS picked up the ball and assigned a social worker to coordinate it internally.

Today, Lovette Panthier is that coordinator, in addition to her responsibilities as Supervisor of Children's Social Workers. As overworked as she is, for Lovette this is a labor of love.  Before she became the Resource Coordinator of the caseworker program, Lovette was a social worker in the field. She was adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City ten years ago and she and Donna Mae have been fast friends ever since.

"It's the relationship between the social worker and the liaison that keeps the program going on and on," says Lovette. "The families that they help are really, really needy families.  Families without just everyday things that we take for granted."

Some client families may be fleeing from an abusive father or husband to shelter in emergency housing.

"The mother and child will need housekeeping supplies and food.  The county will provide funds for that but sometimes there aren't enough funds," Donna Mae tells me. So the adoptive church will provide the cash or the goods.

They also send birthday gifts to every child in their social worker's caseload. Donna Mae and her group also sent Valentines and created Easter baskets for all their children, and Thanksgiving baskets with turkey and all the trimmings to the neediest.

Lovette recalls, "When I would take those baskets to the families they were just so overwhelmed and overjoyed… the churches don't get to see that part of it."

She tells her church members, "I am the parent and you are the grandparent. You give me all the goodies to give to them and they lavish me with all the hugs."

Donna Mae and members of her church do get to enjoy some face time with the foster children with the Back-to-School Shopping Spree, where kids get to spend $100, this year donated by Kohls and Wells Fargo, on backpacks and supplies.

"One year I had a little girl who was already 13 and she'd never had anything new," Donna Mae recalls wistfully.

They are there for Prom Prep, where kids who may have missed prom because of frequent moves get to get dolled up with donated beauty services and dresses and attend a formal dance.

And they are there for holiday parties. This month they'll be there for the DCFS Halloween Party with donated costumes, candy and toys.

"The party is wonderful, it's so much fun," Donna Mae enthuses.  "The various churches have over the years accumulated games they set up like games they have at school bazaars.  Kids can play the games and get prizes."

(You can drop off barely used or new costumes – no masks – candy and toys at the church or the DCFS office.)

Caseworkers, caregivers, church members and Family Services staff are all there. The kids are set up with plastic pumpkins and get to trick-or-treat in the office, get their faces painted and have a grand time followed by lunch.

The church's current adopted caseworker, Karla Vasquez, admits that all the agency's client children are eligible to participate in parties and events put on by the deparment, but says that cases of adopted social workers get preferential treatment even for those. ACAC caseworkers are rewarded for putting in their own time to work with adopting congregations and clubs and attending monthly meetings during their lunch hours. Actually it's their clients who reap the rewards.

Karla says, "It's an awesome program to have.  We're the only office to have it.  We're very blessed and fortunate."

And only clients of adopted caseworkers receive the birthday gifts, Valentine notes and holiday gifts that adopting agencies provide. The Unitarian church has also thrown its own Christmas party in the church sanctuary for Karla's clients.

"They've been so wonderful," Karla exclaims.  "[Donna Mae's] husband got to be Santa Claus two years ago.  The little ones get to have that experience, 'Oh Santa Claus was there and he gave me my present.'"

Social workers who are not adopted sometimes dip into their own pockets to buy gifts or groceries, with no expectation of repayment by their employers. In an office of 300 social workers, most with caseloads of up to 40 cases, only 30 have been adopted.

Thousands have benefited from the Adopt a Child Abuse Caseworker program. Lovette says, "The foster children get some special attention, especially with the birthdays, letting kids know they're important or Valentines day, that they're loved.  And at Christmas and the Holidays they know that they're not forgotten."

She adds, "If you want to touch the life of a child, this is the program to be a part of."

If your organization wants to Adopt a Child Abuse Caseworker, contact Lovette Panthier at DCFS.  Her phone number is (818) 288-7454 or email her at PanthL@dcfs.lacounty.gov. 

Individuals and organizations are also welcome to contact Lovette to donate Holiday gifts.  She will provide you with the name and age of a child and a gift request. The office tries to provide gifts for upwards of 4,000 client children.