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At 'Freedom House,' A Pattern of Neglect

May 22, 2019 (1 min read)

Cindy Carcamo, Paloma Esquivel, L.A. Times, May 22, 2019

"Los Angeles lawyer Peter Schey has long been a trailblazing courtroom defender of immigrant youth.

He helped argue the Supreme Court case that ensured the right of children without legal status to attend public schools. He also helped secure the Flores settlement — a landmark 1997 agreement to safeguard migrant children held by the government, which gave his legal foundation the right to inspect those shelters.

That case also inspired him to run his own shelter for homeless migrant youths.

Schey opened Casa Libre, or Freedom House, in late 2002 in a historic mansion near MacArthur Park, saying it would care for “the most vulnerable” children.

But Casa Libre has been cited by state officials 143 times for failing to meet standards for state-licensed group homes, and 89 of those were for issues that posed “an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of residents,” a Times investigation found."

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