Legal Advocacy
State and Federal Court
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Zepeda and Zepeda v. County of San Mateo (California)
Hours after Marco and Adelina Zepeda had given birth to their healthy seven-pound son, Rivaldo, San Mateo County, California Child Protective Services attempted to remove the infant from his parents and place him in foster care while they and began an investigation of the family's fitness as parents. Marco and Adelina Zepeda are individuals who are blind. After DREDF intervened, and the American Council of the Blind and its State affiliate, the California Council of the Blind, as well as numerous other disability advocacy organizations advocated for the Zepedas, the County closed its investigation and concluded that the infant's referral to foster care was unfounded and agreed that there would be no additional contact by Children and Family Services related to the referral. The County agreed to expunge records related to the case and implement a training program. (December 2004)
