Who We Are

About Us

The Legacy Family Court Foundation provides advocacy and funding for three Dallas County Specialty Courts addressing issues of family separation, drug and alcohol abuse, and childhood trauma.

Who We Are

The board of Legacy Family Court Foundation is made up of passionate individuals, united by our desire to serve those whose needs are inadequately addressed. Like us, you recognize the tragedy of a child being forced to grow up too fast, the devastation addiction can cause, and the need to reinforce the societal structures put in place to help those who are suffering.


Our Team

Judges

Judge Sandra Jackson, 302nd Family District Court
Associate Judge Delia Gonzales, Child Protection and Permanency Court
Associate Judge Tamika Jones Abendroth, Legacy Family Court & 302nd Family District Court

Board Officers

Mark Clasby, President
Mellannise Henderson Love, Vice President
Demetria Howard, Secretary
Anna Eikerts, Treasurer

Board Members at Large

Randy Ackerman
Judge Tena Callahan (Founder)
James Carrell
Mark Clasby
Diane P. Couchman
Anna Eikerts
Hanna Fobare
Mellannise Henderson Love
Cameron Mosier
Adam Seidel
Demetria Howard

Our Story

The Legacy Family Court Foundation was created by a dedicated group of Dallas area judges, lawyers and interested business leaders to develop the non-adversarial program to support parents with alcohol or substance abuse issues and reunite them with their children who have been removed from their homes and separated from their parents as a result of the parent’s addiction issues. 

Originally created to support the Legacy Family Court of Dallas County, the ultimate goal of this united effort was to facilitate recovery from substance addictions, rehabilitate healthy lives, and reunify parents with their children in safe, healthy environments. By forming a foundation to support these programs, we were able to offer the court crucial access to unrestricted funding, so that they may provide the resources they deem necessary for the success of program participants.

We have since expanded our Foundation, partnering with two additional courts: the Permanency Court, which secures permanent homes for children under CPS care and supplements state-supplied resources toward their education and development, and a third court which focuses specifically on children in high-risk family situations related to alcohol or drug abuse.

These court programs represent an intensive, collaborative effort to support children who’ve undergone the trauma of separation from their families, and to support families with substance addiction issues through their recovery process.

Our mission is to support these Specialty Courts in their goals to both provide safe, stable homes and necessary resources for the development of children in state custody, and to achieve successful recovery, rehabilitation, and reunification of parents with their children. We do this by raising funds and awareness for effective court advocacy.

You can support our mission by making a donation today and spreading the word about the work being done by Dallas County Specialty Courts to reunify families and help children thrive.

Our Mission


Click here to learn more about the Dallas County Specialty Courts we support.

We're on a mission!

Click here to learn more about the Dallas County Specialty Courts we support. We're on a mission!


With your support, we can bolster the efforts of Dallas County Specialty Family Courts to support traumatized children in their healing and development, placement in permanent homes, and, whenever possible, reunification with their own families.