In the Interests of “Baby Kaleta”

Vic happened to be in Chambers talking with a family court district judge late on a Friday afternoon when an application for an emergency protective order was filed by Child Protective Services necessitating the appointment of an Attorney Ad Litem to represent “Baby Kaleta,” who was in the first wave of the highly publicized HIV positive “crack babies” born at Parkland Hospital in the early 1990s. Because her mother was unable to care for her, Kaleta was one of the first long-term patients at Bryan’s’House, in Dallas. Over several years Sasso represented Kaleta, terminating parental rights of the biological mother and father (father unknown) and ensuring that Kaleta was adequately cared for and protected in her foster home. Eventually, Kaleta received a permanent placement, and all matters related to her involvement in the juvenile system were permanently sealed.