Cesar Chavez is an attorney for Sullivan & Cromwell in Manhattan as well as a volunteer at HCCASA. One might think that his day job provides enough contact with the court system, but Cesar is ethusiathic about the perspective HCCASA affords him. "Just seeing it from the inside, from the visits with the family to the hearings in court, gives you a real perspective on child welfare, not one that you can get from newspapers or television news," he explained.

Cesar's case involves a 7-year-old boy who had been removed several times from his mother because of her mental illness.

Cesar was assigned to the case shortly before the boy was placed in a group treatment home in Trenton, NJ. When Cesar arrived for his first visit at the group home, he found the boy had shut himself in a closet and was screaming uncontrollably. A familiar face, Cesar was able to calm him down and reassure him that he was working on finding a safe place for him to live.

Why would a young, single professional elect to spend his Saturday this way? Cesar explains: "My own family history has endowed me with a belief in the importance of children having a strong and stable home life. Knowing the benefits which I received from growing up with both of my parents in a loving home, I believe it is imperative to try to give every child a chance to experience the same nurturing home life that I took for granted as a child."

It took about nine months for Cesar to truly grow into the case and to make a real connection to the family. Cesar's goal is to re-unite the little boy with his mother, who will have family support in place when he returns home.

"My job is to push things along, to cut through the red tape and to help this child avoid spending another four months in the group home," explains Cesar. "If I an help this little boy avoid spending extra time there, I will have done something important."