Two Significant Legislative Changes in Dependency Law
Spring 2024, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
The Role of the Juvenile Court Judge Regarding the Education of Children In Juvenile Court
Winter 2024, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
The Trauma of Removal
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 45 No 04 Winter 2023
The Trauma of Removal
Fall 2023, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Is the Sealing of Juvenile Records Working in Your Court?
Spring 2023, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Record Sealing: Its Importance for Rehabilitation
Spring 2023, Juvenile Justice Update, Civic Research Institute
Comments on “Confronting Indeterminacy and Bias in Child Protection Law” by Josh Gupta-Kagan
November 2022, Stanford Law & Policy Review, Vol 33, Issue 2, Pages 1-8
Mentors For Parents: A Best Practice In Dependency Proceedings
Fall 2022, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Judicial Issues in Child Maltreatment
Edwards, L.P., Wu, C.N. (2022). Judicial Issues in Child Maltreatment. pp 653–677 In: Krugman, R.D., Korbin, J.E. (eds) Handbook of Child Maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, vol 14.
Placement Matters
Spring 2022, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Congregate Care and Placement Decisions in Juvenile Court Proceedings
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 44 No 01 Spring 2022
Reasonable Efforts and the Adoption and Safe Families Act
Winter 2022, Family Integrity & Justice Quarterly, a peer reviewed publication of The Family Integrity & Justice Works (FIJ Works)
Summary of California appellate cases dealing with Reasonable Efforts (1/2022)
The Americans With Disabilities Act and Juvenile Dependency Court
Winter 2022, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Due Diligence And Family Finding
Fall 2021, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
A Few Questions That Can Change Everything
Summer 2021, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
A Few Questions That Can Change Everything
Summer 2021, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Some Reflections on the Representation of Children in Juvenile Court: A View From The Bench
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 43 No 02 Summer 2021
The Appellate Process and Unacceptable Delays
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 43 No 01 Spring 2021
The Pandemic, Technology, and the Juvenile Dependency Court
Winter 2021, The Bench the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Opinion: At-risk infants need our attention now more than ever
Opinion Section, Wednesday, 1/13/2021, The Mercury News
The Urgency of Placing Children with Relatives
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 42 No 04 Winter 2020
Reasonable Efforts To Prevent Removal
Fall 2020, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Dependency Court, Opioid Addiction, And Reasonable Efforts
Summer 2020, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Timely Adoptions: An Ignored Issue in Child Welfare
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 42 No 02 Summer 2020
Domestic Violence and Reasonable Efforts in Juvenile Dependency Court
Spring 2020, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Reasonable Efforts: Let’s Raise the Bar
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 42 No 01 Spring 2020
The Family First Prevention Act of 2018
Winter 2020, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Court Jurisdiction Should Extend to Age 25
Opinion Section, Tuesday, 12/03/2019 Page A06, The Mercury News
Family Time Practice Guide: A Guide to Providing Appropriate Family Time for Children in Foster Care
May 2019, A Project of the Georgia Supreme Court Committee on Justice for Children and the J4C Court Improvement Initiative, Forward by Judge Leonard Edwards (ret.)
Corporal Punishment and The Law
Spring 2019, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Overcoming Barriers to Making Meaningful Reasonable Efforts Findings
December–January 2019, Child Law Practice Today, publication of the ABA Center on Children and the Law
Ignoring Reasonable Efforts: How Courts Fail to Promote Prevention
December 5, 2018, The Chronicle of Social Change—Children and Youth, Front and Center
An Update On The Case Of Katie A V Bonta: Services For Children With Mental Health Challenges And Suggestions How Judges Can Assist The Service Delivery Process
Fall 2018, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Relative Placement: The Best Answer for Our Foster Care System
Juvenile and Family Court Journal, Vol 69 No 3
2018 National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
An Instructive Dependency Case Involving Reasonable Efforts
Summer 2018, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
The Effective Use of the Reasonable Efforts Finding: Challenges Facing Attorneys
The Guardian, a publication of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC), Vol 40 No 03 May/Jun 2018
The History of “Beyond the Bench”
Spring 2018, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Opinion: How Santa Clara County can improve children’s lives
February 25, 2018, The San Jose Mercury News
Relative Placement: The Best Answer for Our Foster Care System
Winter 2018, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Court Corner: Reasonable Efforts and Timely Adoptions
Fall 2017, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Download PowerPoint file: Judicial Oversight—The Role of Judges in Congregate Care Reform, slide presentation by Judge Leonard Edwards (ret.), Santa Clara County, California and Judge Michael Nash (ret.), Los Angeles County, California
How To Improve Outcomes For Abused And Neglected Children: Engaging Relatives Early
Summer 2016, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Improving State Court-Tribal Court Relations
Summer 2015, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Record Sealing Doesn’t Work: Here’s How to Fix
Winter 2015, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Court Corner, Mental Health Issues in Dependency Court
Fall 2014, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Court Corner, Reasonable Efforts to Prevent Removal: An Important New Case
Summer 2014, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Court Corner, Parental Visitation in Child Protection Cases
Winter 2014, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Working with Your Director of Children’s Services
Winter 2014, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
ADR in Juvenile Dependency Cases
Summer 2013, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Domestic Violence & Reasonable Efforts At The Detention Hearing
Winter 2013, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Record Sealing: The Q&A of Policy and Practice
Oct 18, 2012, Dui Hua Human Rights Journal
Establishing Paternity Promptly in Juvenile Dependency Court
Autumn 2012, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Representation of Parents and Children in Abuse and Neglect Cases: The Importance of Early Appointment
Summer 2012, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Representation of Parents and Children in Abuse and Neglect Cases: The Importance of Early Appointment
Spring 2012, Juvenile Family Court Journal
Reasonable Efforts
Summer 2011, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Intake Decisions and the Juvenile Court System
Spring 2011, Juvenile and Family Justice Today
Court Improvement in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases: A Historical Perspective
November 2011, National CASA Association
Interim Hearings
Autumn 2009, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Court Corner: Blue Ribbon Commission (We’ve Come a Long Way Baby)
Autumn 2008, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Juvenile Court Corner: Judicial Rotation–One Judge-One Family
Spring 2008, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
The Juvenile Court Corner: Court Improvement and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Winter 2008, The Bench, the official magazine of the California Judges Association
Comments on the Miller Commission Report: A California Perspective
Summer 2007, vol 27, no 4, Pace Law Review, 101
Judicial Oversight of Parental Visitation in Family Reunification Cases
Summer 2003, Juvenile and Family Court Journal
Improving Juvenile Dependency Courts: 23 Steps
November 1997, Juvenile and Family Court Journal
Corporal Punishment and the Legal System
1996, 36 Santa Clara L. Rev. 983
Who Speaks for the Child?
1995, 2 University of Chicago Roundtable 68
Appendix C: Improving Implementation of the Federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980
1989
Dealing with Parent and Child in Serious Abuse Cases
August 1983, Juvenile and Family Court Journal
The Significance of Juvenile Records
February 1979, Juvenile and Family Court Journal
Judge Edwards’s Blog 
News Release & Commentary
For immediate release
Contact: Cheryl Davidek
(775) 784-1652 August 6, 2012
Judge Michael Nash Named President of
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Judge Michael Nash, Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court in the Los Angeles Superior Court, was installed as President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) during the organization’s annual conference held July 15-18, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Judge Nash will be leading a Board of 29 juvenile and family court judges from across the country, and a membership of nearly 2,000 judicial officers and related system professionals. Under his leadership, the NCJFCJ will continue efforts to improve system practice in the handling of cases involving children and families through research, training of judges and others, technical assistance to systems, and through shaping national policy.
First appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court bench in 1985, Judge Nash has served on the Los Angeles Superior Court bench since 1989. Judge Nash has been a juvenile court judge since 1990 and has served as the Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles Juvenile Court or Supervising Judge of the Dependency Court since 1995. Judge Nash also serves as a Lead Judge in NCJFCJ’s Child Victims Act Model Courts Project, implementing strategies designed to improve the courts’ handling of child abuse and neglect cases.
A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and Loyola Law School, Judge Nash was Deputy Attorney General in the California Attorney General’s Office from 1974-1985, and was co-prosecutor in the notorious Hillside Strangler trial in 1981-83.
He is a past member of the California Judicial Council, a member of and past Chair of the Juvenile Court Judges of California (JCJC), a member of the California Judicial Council’s Family and Juvenile Advisory Committee and a member of California’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care. He is also a member of the California Child Welfare Council. Judge Nash has received numerous awards including being named Juvenile Court Judge of the Year by the Juvenile Court Judges of California in 1997 and 2006 Judge of the Year by the National CASA Association.
Founded in 1937, the Reno, Nevada-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization, is focused on improving the effectiveness of our nation’s juvenile and family courts. A leader in continuing education opportunities, research, and policy development in the field of juvenile and family justice, the NCJFCJ is unique in providing practice-based resources to jurisdictions and communities nationwide.
COMMENTS:
Judge Nash’s inauguration as President of the NCJFCJ is good news for the organization. Judge Nash has been the longest serving Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court in the history of the Los Angeles Superior Court. He presides over the largest juvenile court in the United States, if not the world. His initiatives have resulted in significant changes in child welfare including a reduction of children in foster care, the closing of the MacLaren Children’s Center, the creation of National Adoption Day, and numerous policy and procedural innovations. Most recently Judge Nash “opened” the juvenile dependency courts, issuing a court order declaring that all dependency hearings are presumptively open, but giving the judicial officer the discretion to close a particular hearing upon a proper showing. While this court order was hotly contested, after several months it appears that no harm has come to any child while at the same time the public has had a much clearer picture of what happens in juvenile dependency court.
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