By Helen Cone

RICHARD JOHNSON/SPECIAL TO THE TOWN CRIER Recently retired juvenile court Judge Leonard Edwards addresses members of the Los Altos Morning Forum lecture series on his favorite topic: helping abused and neglected children.

When a child enters the juvenile court system, he or she should be treated with the same urgency as if brought into a hospital emergency room, according to former juvenile court Judge Leonard Edwards.

Edwards was the featured speaker of the Los Altos Morning Forum lecture series on Nov. 21.

The Los Altos Hills resident recently retired from the Santa Clara County juvenile court to spread the word throughout California on what it takes to meet the needs of children of crisis.

“We have an outstanding group of social workers in this county,” he said, and with the cooperation of the various agencies that become involved, we do a good job of meeting the needs of these children.

The goal of achieving permanency for the child as quickly as possible requires an integrated approach among social workers, the police, the lawyer who represents the child and another who represents the parent or parents, Edwards said.

Before the case can be presented in court, it is necessary to find all the family members possible, he said.

Sometimes it is difficult to identify the father, but technological advances have increased that possibility.

Since an Indian Child Welfare bill was passed in 1978 it is also necessary to notify the tribes to determine if the child has Indian blood. This has to be done in the beginning or the whole process will have to be replayed, he told the audience.

The first priority in the resolution of the problem is to return the child to his or her parents. The threat that “unless you turn your life around, you will lose your child” is usually enough for the mother to enter a rehabilitation program if the issue is her drug dependency, Edwards said.

If rejoining the parents is not possible, other options include adoption, guardianship or placement with relatives. Last is foster care, Edwards said.

Foster care and orphanages have the least chance of success in creating responsible adults, Edwards said.

Whenever Edwards saw a grandmother in his court, he said he knew that he would be able to place the child within the family.

“Grandmas care,” he reasoned.

He has found that the child and the relative respond to their shared DNA. There is a better attitude from the caregiver, Edwards said, and the child realizes that he is part of a family.

To do an adequate job in juvenile court, judges need to have time to address the many issues, Edwards said.

At one time, judges were supposed to see 30 to 40 children in one morning, which he deemed impossible.

Gradually, states have been increasing the number of judges and reducing the load on each judge, Edwards said.

When social workers are given the opportunity to work effectively with the judge, they do a “good job,” Edwards said.

He praised the Santa Clara County social workers as among the best in the nation.

Edwards spoke enthusiastically about the Child Advocates of Silicon Valley program, which he said does an outstanding job in the county.

Child Advocates matches abused and neglected children with volunteers who are Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children in need.

Specifically, he mentioned Ann and Bud Oliver of Los Altos, residents “who have done so much” with Child Advocates.

Edwards had the cooperation of the Pew Commission and the Los Altos-based Packard Foundation for help in funding child advocacy programs.

Morning Forum is a members-only lecture series held at the Los Altos United Methodist Church. To be placed on a waiting list for membership, write to: Morning Forum, P.O. Box 274, Los Altos 94023-0274.