You didn't expect to be here. No parent does. A knock at the door, a call from your child's school, a social worker with questions you don't know how to answer, and suddenly everything you have built for your family feels like it is being reviewed by strangers with the authority to take it apart.
KALI CPS Lawyer exists for this moment. Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey, Esq. and the team at K. Adeniyi Law, APC are California family defense attorneys who represent parents facing CPS investigations, juvenile dependency court, and federal civil rights violations. We are not here to manage your case toward a compromise. We are here to fight for your family.
KALI = Keshia Adeniyi Law, and a play on California.
Calling a lawyer when you are in crisis is hard enough. This intake makes the first call easier: about two minutes, completely confidential.
Start the intake →These are the questions we hear in the first five minutes of almost every call. We answer them here, plainly, with the law behind each one, because parents making a decision about their family deserve to understand what they are dealing with.
In California, CPS generally cannot enter your home without a warrant, a court order, or your consent. The exception is exigent circumstances, where a child faces an immediate risk of serious harm. If a social worker has none of those, you may politely refuse entry.
Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 306When CPS removes a child, a detention hearing must take place quickly, generally within 48 court hours of removal. At that hearing the court decides whether the child stays removed. Having a lawyer before this hearing is critical.
Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 313, 315Sometimes, yes. Federal civil rights law lets parents sue individual social workers and government entities for constitutional violations: entering without a warrant, removing without exigent circumstances, or fabricating evidence. These claims are filed in federal court.
42 U.S.C. § 1983Welfare & Institutions Code section 300 is the law that lets a juvenile court take jurisdiction over a child. It has subsections (a) through (j). The agency must prove at least one, by a preponderance of the evidence, for the case to proceed.
Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 300Calling a lawyer when you are in crisis is hard enough. This intake makes the first call easier: it takes about two minutes, it is completely confidential, and it means when you do call, we are already prepared for your case, not paperwork. Fill it out whenever you are ready. These cases move fast. What you say, or do not say, can have lasting impacts on your family.
Start the confidential intake. It takes about two minutes.
Start the intake →Or call us directly at 949-209-5033
A social worker knocked on your door, called your phone, or showed up at your child's school. You are not sure if you have to let them in. You are not sure what you are allowed to say no to. You probably said more than you should have; most parents do. What you do in the next 48 hours can still decide how this case goes.
Resources →If your child was taken today, you are probably reading this during the worst night of your life. A detention hearing is set within 72 hours, and that hearing is not a formality. It is the moment that shapes placement, visitation, and the entire trajectory of your case. You have one chance to walk in prepared. Reach us tonight.
First 72 hours playbook →If your case is over but the damage is not, what happened to your family may not just be wrong. It may be illegal. If the agency entered your home without a warrant, fabricated evidence, or removed your child without real justification, that is a potential federal civil rights violation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The dependency case does not have to be over for this claim to exist. And in many cases, there are damages.
Explore civil rights claims →Family Defender · Federal Civil Rights Litigator · Adjunct Professor of Law
Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey grew up in Los Angeles County's foster system. She knows what it feels like to be a child whose entire life is decided in a courtroom, by adults who have never met you, on a timeline that does not account for who you actually are.
She also knows what it looks like from the other side of the table, because she is the attorney sitting in that courtroom now. She founded K. Adeniyi Law, APC, the practice behind KALI CPS Lawyer, because she lived this system before she learned to fight it. That is not a coincidence. It is the work.
Her practice is built on one principle most CPS attorneys will not say out loud: the government does not get unchecked power over your family. Parents deserve a lawyer who will test the CPS narrative, protect their rights, and fight for family integrity, not simply guide them toward the outcome the system prefers.
The work our firm does is grounded in the legal scholarship of Dorothy Roberts, whose writing named what this system actually does:
Removing a child from his or her parent is one of the most violent actions the government can take against its people.Dorothy Roberts · Shattered Bonds
Each California county runs its CPS system differently: different agency names, different courthouses, different culture inside the courtroom. A lawyer who has appeared before those judges, read those social workers' reports, and navigated those specific procedures is not just more efficient. They are more effective. These are our four primary counties.
Department of Children and Family Services. Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court, Monterey Park.
Social Services Agency. Juvenile Court at Lamoreaux Justice Center, Orange.
Children and Family Services. Juvenile Dependency Court, San Bernardino & Victorville.
Department of Public Social Services / CPS division. Juvenile Court in Riverside, Indio & Murrieta.
We also appear in other California counties across the state, including Contra Costa, Kern, Sacramento, San Francisco, Tulare and beyond. We understand that knowing the local court, judges, and county practices can matter. But CPS and dependency defense is highly specialized, and in some counties, families have few options for experienced private counsel. When that happens, our firm may be able to step in, coordinate locally when appropriate, and bring focused family defense strategy to your case. Contact us to discuss your location.
Case Note
A family in a smaller California county came to us after visits were restricted and services were being demanded that did not match the judge's findings. The children wanted to see their parents. The parents wanted a path home without being pressured to accept a narrative that did not match the facts of their case. But the case had become driven by what CPS preferred, not what the law required.
Our firm stepped in, challenged CPS's position, and refocused the case on the legal standard. In that case, the children were returned, and the case closed in less than six months.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Local knowledge is valuable. But when CPS's position does not match the law, your lawyer must be willing to challenge it.
Whether a social worker knocked this morning or a court date is already on your calendar, schedule a CPS Investigation Strategy Session to discuss your situation and develop a plan for moving forward.
949-209-5033Or fill out the intake form first so we are ready when you call.
A California family defense practice for parents in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.
K. Adeniyi Law, APC
Orange County Office18650 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 300
Irvine, CA 92612
5800 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 500
Commerce, CA 90040