What’s in a Name? The Battle Over ‘L.A. CARES’

Two Los Angeles groups which are combating two of the biggest social concerns of the ‘80s--child abuse and AIDS--are haggling with each other over the rights to a name.

The moniker in question is L.A. CARES.

The acronym was used first by a non-profit group which supports the city school district’s Child Abuse Recognize and Eliminate program. Unknowingly, the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center later adopted the same name as part of its nationally praised state-funded AIDS education campaign for Los Angeles County.

The child abuse group, upset because it believes its identity has been blurred and its fund-raising efforts placed in jeopardy, has insisted through an attorney that the other group drop the name, spokeswoman Danna McDonough said.

But the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, while acknowledging that the child abuse group used the name first, is reluctant to let go because the name is central to its highly successful public education campaign theme: “L.A. CARES Like a Mother.” The campaign has not only been instrumental in the war to curb the spread of AIDS locally, but has been chosen as a national model for other AIDS health care agencies to follow.

David Carlat, who runs the public service ad campaign for the Gay and Lesbian Social Services Center, says that while the group is willing to downplay the name in fund-raising mailings and minimize its use, it hopes to retain the phrase in some form.

The AIDS group has stopped using the abbreviation “L.A.,” answering phones with the phrase “Los Angeles CARES” to differentiate itself, he said. But it continues to distribute printed material emblazoned with the “L.A. CARES” logo and has not pulled the billboard campaign which uses “L.A. CARES.”

“We aren’t destroying any of our materials, but we are not creating any new ones until this is settled,” Carlat said.

Jack Dwosh, attorney for the anti-child abuse L.A. CARES said, “We don’t want them to use the name at all.” He contends that while his organization wants to solve the problem without any legal action, there are several legal points at issue including unfair competition and misleading the public.

“They sunk a lot of money into the campaign without checking to see if anyone else used the name,” said Jack Dwosh, attorney for L.A. CARES. “We don’t want a fight. We are both working for worthy causes . . . but they have generated some controversy along the way. We don’t need that sort of mistaken identity.”

Teacher Shayla Lever founded the school district’s CARE program six years ago to train teachers to detect and report child abuse. The program is unique because it installs a permanent program in the schools. Teams of teachers and administrators work to instruct other teachers, students and parents about child abuse and molestation.

Shortly after CARE’s inception, a non-profit support group was formed to raise money and public awareness. The program, which last year had a $75,000 budget, operated in approximately 36 schools. However, the state allocated $640,000 for 1986. The increase came after school district officials were charged with failing to report molestation accusations against an elementary school teacher last year. The child abuse education program will expand to nearly 100 schools.

State Gave Permission

When the child abuse support group incorporated in March, 1984, it received permission from the secretary of state’s office to use the name L.A. CARES. (The state office makes sure that all new businesses which are incorporated in California do not duplicate the name of another corporation already in business.)

That summer, the state provided the Gay and Lesbian Social Services Center with a grant to provide a public AIDS education program for the county. Center personnel, brainstorming for a name, came up with LA CARES, an acronym for Cooperative Aids Risk Reduction Education Service, Carlat said.

Over the next several months, the educational campaign was mapped out. It was directed mainly at the gay community because nearly 75% of AIDS victims in the United States have been homosexual men.

Creating the campaign was not easy, Carlat said. “We didn’t want something that was a dismal you-are-going-to-die message. We knew in order for it to work it had to be non-judgmental, humorous, supportive and non-threatening.”

Safe Sex Advice

In early 1985, the “L.A. CARES Like a Mother” campaign was unveiled. Billboards and brochures featured photos of a roly-poly mom giving safe sex health advice to her handsome gay sons.

An immediate success, the campaign was lauded by health agencies nationwide. At a national AIDS conference sponsored by the federal Centers for Disease Control last fall, the “L.A. CARES Like a Mother” program was touted as a model program for the country, Carlat said. He added that 100 agencies, some foreign, have asked for help in setting up similar programs.

The educational efforts, however, have not been without detractors. One of the pamphlets, “Mother’s Handy Sex Guide,” came under fire even though it was financed with private donations. The brochure, which used street language and eroticism to persuade homosexuals to engage in safe sex, was distributed to bathhouses and gay health clinics. However, Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, labeling the pamphlet “pornographic,” called for a review of all county contracts with the gay community agencies.

Still Talking

Attorneys for the two social service groups are continuing to discuss the issue.

The AIDS group wants County Supervisor Ed Edelman and Mayor Tom Bradley to referee. Edelman, for whom the gay center’s health clinic is named, has been instrumental in helping the group obtain funding. Bradley is an honorary board member of the L.A. CARES anti-child abuse group.

But in the meantime, the AIDS group is trying to arrange a meeting between the members of the two social service groups.

“We’d like to see them work it out themselves before we step in,” a spokesman for Edelman said.