LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County social worker David Green was recently named to the California Child Welfare Council, a newly-established state advisory body designed to improve coordination among agencies and courts that serve children and youth in foster care.

The California Child Welfare Council, co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Agency and the Supreme Court Chief Justice, was created within the California Health and Human Services Agency in Sept. 2006 when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a package of bills intended to improve the lives of the tens of thousands of young people in foster care throughout California, including AB 2216, sponsored by Assemblymember Karen Bass of Los Angeles.

A Los Angeles County social worker and SEIU member since 2000, Green is an activist who has testified on numerous occasions to committees in the State Assembly and Senate on behalf of children and youth in foster care.  His appointment to the council will give him the opportunity to draw upon his experience as a public-sector social worker to devise ways to improve the resources and support provided to foster parents and others who touch the lives of at-risk children.

“I was so honored to be asked to be a part of this group,” Green said. “I became a social worker to give a voice to children who are innocent victims, who don’t have a voice. As social workers, we’re the first line of defense in protecting kids. It's our primary concern to protect the kids that we serve and provide them with safe and permanent homes. By doing these things, it makes society a better place. It benefits all of us.”