San Pedro is part of the City of Los Angeles but lives like its own town: LAPD Harbor Division on John S. Gibson, Providence Little Company of Mary on West 7th, Mary Star of the Sea, and a workforce tied to the Port. When a DCFS social worker or a Harbor Division officer contacts a family in Point Fermin, Vista del Oro, the Palisades, or Rancho San Pedro, the first 72 hours decide the shape of everything that follows. ALL Trial Lawyers represents San Pedro parents through investigations, safety plans, emergency removals, detention hearings, and contested trials at the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court.
Free · Confidential · 24/7 · Point Fermin · Vista del Oro · The Palisades · Rancho San Pedro · Cabrillo Beach · Harbor City · Wilmington · Lomita · Rancho Palos Verdes
San Pedro referrals are typically assigned to the DCFS Torrance Regional Office (2325 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance), which serves the South Bay and Harbor area, with law enforcement involvement coming from LAPD's Harbor Division. If the department believes a child is at risk, it can detain the child, file a Welfare and Institutions Code § 300 petition, and open a case at the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court in Monterey Park. Our firm defends San Pedro parents from the first social worker contact through every hearing, and closes most referrals before a petition is ever filed. Call (866) 811-4255 for a free, confidential consultation.
Dependency law is statewide, but the case that lands on a San Pedro family is shaped by which DCFS office investigates, how Harbor Division writes its reports, which institutions made the call, what else the family is litigating, and what the family has to lose. We build the defense around those specifics.
San Pedro is LAPD, not Sheriff, and Harbor Division officers frequently accompany DCFS workers on welfare checks and removals. An officer at the door does not change your rights: entry still requires consent, a warrant, or an emergency (Welf. & Inst. Code § 305), and a removal without a warrant or immediate danger is unlawful. Calm, documented refusal to consent to entry, with counsel called, is the right response.
§ 305; Fourth Amendment
LAUSD counselors and school psychologists at San Pedro High, Dana Middle, and the elementary sites, and Mary Star of the Sea and the other parochial schools; the emergency department at Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro, with pediatric transfers to Harbor-UCLA, whose Medical HUB clinic conducts many of the South Bay's DCFS forensic exams, or to Torrance Memorial; pediatricians and therapists retained during a divorce. Each is a mandated reporter under Penal Code § 11165.7.
A report is not a finding
San Pedro cases are worked out of the same DCFS office that handles Manhattan Beach, Redondo, Torrance, and Palos Verdes, with the same supervisors and the same habits around safety plans. Knowing that office shapes strategy from the first call.
2325 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance
Port and longshore work means irregular shifts, overnight absences, and childcare arrangements the department does not always understand. A referral alleging inadequate supervision or failure to provide is answered by documenting who was actually caring for the child and when, not by explaining the industry to a social worker in the kitchen.
§ 300(b) supervision and support allegations
Most San Pedro referrals can be closed before a Welfare and Institutions Code § 300 petition is ever filed. When they cannot, we litigate every stage at the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court in Monterey Park, the single dependency court for all of Los Angeles County.
Home visits, school interviews, safety plans, and the 30-day closing decision. We get between you and the department before the referral narrative is written.
Investigation stage
Petition within 48 hours, hearing by the next judicial day (§§ 313, 315). We prepare the alternative-to-detention plan and the relative who can take placement under § 361.3.
Days after removal
Cross-examining the social worker, excluding hearsay, and retaining medical and forensic experts to answer the § 300 allegations on a preponderance standard.
The trial of the case
Pushing back on excessive services, protecting visitation, and getting children home under family maintenance rather than out under reunification.
Where the case plan is set
Six-, twelve-, and eighteen-month reviews, contested § 366.26 hearings, and modification petitions when circumstances change.
The long game
Challenging a Child Abuse Central Index listing under Penal Code § 11170 before it reaches a licensing board, a studio background check, or an employer.
Professional consequences
DCFS has roughly 30 days to complete an emergency response investigation and close a referral as unfounded, inconclusive, or substantiated. That decision, not the courtroom, is where most cases are actually decided. This is what investigation-stage representation looks like.
Founding partner and lead trial attorney, ALL Trial Lawyers / Abuershaid Law, APC. California State Bar #297270. Mo began his career at the Orange County Public Defender's Office and has personally handled more than 2,000 juvenile dependency matters across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties. He is a Super Lawyers and Rising Stars honoree every year from 2020 through 2026, holds an Avvo 10.0 rating, and practices in English, Spanish, and Arabic.
For San Pedro families, that means an attorney who appears regularly at Edelman, knows the Torrance regional office and LAPD Harbor Division, and has litigated the allegation patterns these cases actually produce: police-escorted welfare checks and removals, supervision allegations tied to shift work, and injuries first evaluated at Little Company of Mary and transferred to Harbor-UCLA. Full biography and credentials.
Speak with Mo's teamALL Trial Lawyers / Abuershaid Law, APC
10880 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1101
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Phone: (866) 811-4255 · 24/7 emergency line
Hours: Weekdays 7:30 a.m.–11:00 p.m. · Weekends 8:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.
Also: Phone and video any hour; in-person meetings by appointment, at your home when a case requires it, or at Edelman before or after a hearing.
Court: Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court, 201 Centre Plaza Dr, Monterey Park, CA 91754
San Pedro referrals are typically assigned to the DCFS Torrance Regional Office at 2325 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance, which also serves the South Bay beach cities and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Law enforcement involvement comes from LAPD Harbor Division. The assignment is confirmed at first contact.
Not without a warrant, a court order, or an emergency involving immediate danger to a child. An officer's presence does not change that. Decline entry calmly, do not obstruct, and say your attorney will contact the worker within 24 hours.
Not by arguing with the social worker or confronting the person you suspect; mandated reporters are protected and confronting one produces a second referral. Document: a timeline, corroborating pediatric and school records, and the source and motive of the report, delivered through counsel before the closing decision. An unfounded finding in the department's own records is the goal.
Harbor-UCLA houses one of the county's five DCFS Medical HUB clinics, where a child abuse pediatrician conducts a forensic examination at the department's request. The HUB report is often the decisive medical document. Parents are usually interviewed as part of it and should be prepared by counsel beforehand.
Yes. Relatives receive preferential consideration under § 361.3, and DCFS must begin assessing relatives at the time of removal under § 309. A relative who is named, willing to be assessed and fingerprinted, and present at the detention hearing changes the outcome.
At Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court, 201 Centre Plaza Dr, Monterey Park, roughly 45 minutes from San Pedro via the 110 and the 60. If a child is removed, DCFS must file its petition within 48 hours, excluding weekends and court holidays, and the detention hearing is held by the end of the next judicial day after filing (§§ 313, 315).
Whether a social worker just called, a safety plan is on the table, or your child has been removed, the first conversation is free and confidential. We will tell you in ten minutes whether you need representation.
Call (866) 811-4255 NowAlso serving San Pedro families from our offices in Los Angeles (10880 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1101) and Beverly Hills (9465 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 300; 8383 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 800).
Attorney advertising. This page is general legal information about California juvenile dependency law and is not legal advice for any specific situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship; that relationship is formed only by a signed written engagement agreement. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Statutes cited are summarized and subject to change. Responsible attorney: Mohammad Abuershaid, Esq. (State Bar #297270), ALL Trial Lawyers / Abuershaid Law, APC, 10880 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1101, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Phone (866) 811-4255.