*National Judicial Network: Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts (2021 – 2024)

Register Here

The National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) working in partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) on a State Justice Institute (SJI) funded project is pleased to invite you to participate in the National Judicial Network: Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts (“The Network”). The NJN provides a forum for judges to engage in peer-to-peer learning sessions with judges from across the country, participate in webinars, communicate with other judges in a members-only confidential email group, access topic-specific publications, and attend future in-person trainings on issues that arise in state courts involving human trafficking and immigrant victims. NJN sessions are intended to help judges learn more about these complicated issues and, consequently, improve access to justice for human trafficking and immigrant victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and other crimes.

View the National Judicial Network Outreach Letter (Updated December 4, 2023)

Read about the benefits for judges of joining the National Judicial Network in the State Justice Institute’s Newsletter.

If you are a judge, tribal judge, magistrate, commissioner, or other judicial officer and you are interested in joining The Network, please register through this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VGY9VJM.

Judicial Training Materials

In response to requests by and questions from state court judges, NIWAP, with support from the State Justice Institute, has developed bench cards, bench books, and a wide range of training tools that make readily available to judges and court staff legally correct information about immigration law and its implications for state family, civil, and court cases involving child and adult victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and stalking.

Judicial Peer-to-Peer Sessions & National Webinars

Join the NJN’s monthly virtual learning sessions on the first Tuesday of every month from 3 – 4pm Eastern. Each session is labeled as a members-only peer-to-peer forum or a national webinar open to a larger audience, with topics set in advance by the NJN’s steering committee. Below you’ll find links to materials, PowerPoint presentations, and resources from the previous sessions, organized by topic, as well as upcoming dates/topics for the fall sessions:

Upcoming Sessions

April 2, 2024 (National Webinar) – Speaking Justice: Providing Victims and Litigants Language Access in the Courts

May 7, 2024 – TBD

June 4, 2024 – TBD

National Judicial Network

Trauma, Victim’s Needs, Effect on Testimony, and It’s Impact on the Courts

Human Trafficking: The Court’s Role

Child Victims of Human Trafficking Including Immigrant Victims

Immigration Protections for Crime Victims

         Humanitarian Immigration Relief for Victims – Forms of Relief

         Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, U and T Visas – Role of State Court Judges

How Department of Homeland Security Policies Impact Courts

Refugees Protections and Legal Options for Victims in Refugee Families

Protections for Immigrant Victims in Family Court

Adoptions of Foreign Born Children – What State Court Judges Need to Know

Promoting Access to Justice

Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Child Abuse

Improving Access to Public Benefits and Services for Immigrant Victims of Human Trafficking, Crime and Abuse

National Judicial Network Steering Committee Members

Leslye E. Orloff

Adjunct Professor and Director, NIWAP, American University, Washington College of Law

Hon. Abigail Aragon

Fourth Judicial District Court of New Mexico

Hon. Susan Breall

Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco 

Hon. Rosemary Collins (ret.)

Former Presiding Judge, Family Division, 17th Judicial Circuit Court, Rockford, Illinois

Hon. Lori Dumas

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania

Hon. Katherine G. Essrig

Circuit Judge, Unified Family Court, Juvenile Dependency, 13th Judicial District, Hillsborough County, Florida

Hon. Ramona A. Gonzalez

Presiding Judge, Lacrosse County Circuit Court Lacrosse, Wisconsin

Abigail Hill, Esq.

Child Welfare Child Welfare/Human Trafficking Program Manager, Administrative Office of the Courts, Maryland Judiciary

Hon. Melissa Hemstreet

Kitsap Superior Court Judge, Girls Court, Kitsap County, Washington

Hon. Lora J.  Livingston (ret.)

Senior Judge, 261st District Court, Travis County, Texas

Hon. Barbara Mack (ret.)

King County Superior Court, Seattle, Washington

Hon. Susan F. Maven (ret.)

New Jersey Superior Court – Family Division, Juvenile Human Trafficking Diversion Program

Rose Patterson  

Chief of Education and Improvement, Office of the State Court Administrator, Tallahassee, Florida

Hon. Victor Reyes (ret.)

Former Judge-In-Residence, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Hon. John Romero (ret.)

Second Judicial District Court, Children’s Court Division, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Hon. Toko Serita

Acting Supreme Court Justice, Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Court, New York, New York

Hon. Gustavo Sztraicher

Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles

Hon. Mary F. Weir

Associate Circuit Judge, 16th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri

Hon. Loretta M. Young

State of Delaware, Family Court, Wilmington, Delaware

NCJFCJ

Joey Orduna Hastings

CEO, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Lynelle Hartway, JD

Program Manager, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges