Dependency Advocacy Center (DAC), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, provides interdisciplinary family defense legal services to parents and children involved in Santa Clara County’s informal and formal child welfare system. Our adult clients face the risk of permanent separation from their children due to allegations of abuse and neglect. Substance use disorder, intimate partner violence, and mental health concerns are commonly presenting issues, often rooted in the layered effects of poverty, marginalization, and intergenerational trauma.