Author: Michelle Lana

With an SJI Project grant in FY 2008 (SJI-08-N-072), the Texas Administrative Office of the Courts/Indigent Defense Commission examined how mentally-ill offenders entered the judicial system, and to what extent their cases were effectively adjudicated.

The report, titled Representing the Mentally III Offender: An Evaluation of Advocacy Alternatives, explored the use of alternative sanctions for offenders who were identified as having mental health issues. The two-year project showed that criminal offenders with mental impairments who were treated for their illness instead of being jailed were less likely to commit crimes again for up to 18 months. Since this project concluded, the Commission reports that Texas has aligned more resources with this strategy as it continues to prove effective in reducing recidivism. Furthermore, the Texas Discretionary Grant budget now includes more funding for mental health treatment courts and similar intervention-based programs than in prior years. Some of the accomplishments this project and its committed stakeholders were able to advance include:

• By FY 2013, at least 12 counties will provide direct client services through specialized indigent defense programs with a mental health focus;
• In 2009 Lubbock County established the state’s first Managed Assigned Counsel (MAC) program to represent people with mental illness; and,
• Collin County received funding to start its own Managed Assigned Counsel program for FY 2013. In addition to Lubbock and Montgomery Counties, Texas now has three MAC programs in operation.

The project stresses the value of collaboration beyond traditional criminal justice system partners to include expert technical assistance and resources, mental health partners, academia, and individual and family mental health advocates, and support networks. In addition to this summary and its supplemental case study materials, the Commission maintains a robust website, which offers resources on best practices, planning, monitoring, annual reports, and technical assistance. Questions about the study, final report, and the continued work of the Commission can be directed to James Bethke at jim.bethke@txcourts.gov.

During the 1st quarter meeting, the Board approved a $700,000 Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) to the Center for Public Policy Studies/The National Judicial College/Center for Court Innovation (CPPS/NJC/CCI) to form a Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative focused on 4 strategic priorities: 1) increasing understanding and awareness about the challenges faced by state courts in dealing with cases involving trafficking victims and their families, and traffickers; 2) developing and testing state and local approaches for assessing and addressing the impact of human trafficking victims and defendants in the state courts; 3) enhancing state and local court capacity to improve court services affected by human trafficking-related cases processing demands; and 4) building effective national, state, and local partnerships for addressing the impacts of human trafficking case processing in the state courts.

The Collaborative will result in a variety of products benefiting the state courts, including:

• A comprehensive resource inventory of background information about the demographics, scope, dynamics, and implications for the courts and justice system of various forms of human trafficking;
• Measurement framework that includes measures and tools for monitoring the impacts of human trafficking case processing in the state courts;
• Summary of changes in federal and state trafficking law, policy, and practice that might better serve the interests of the state courts;
• A human trafficking and the state courts web-based resource network and clearinghouse for judges and court personnel;
• A best practices toolkit for jurisdictions interested in establishing a specialized prostitution/trafficking court;
• A series of bench cards targeting human trafficking-related issues;
• Best practice guidelines;
• Model planning and technical assistance process and supporting materials;
• Training on human trafficking via 12 courses for judges;
• Intensive technical assistance in six jurisdictions, and proven nationally applicable technical assistance approaches; and
• Published articles in various court periodicals about the project and the issue in general.

The three members of the Collaborative each bring specific expertise to these efforts, and will work together to accomplish these goals. CPPS has already developed expertise in delivering statewide technical assistance through its work on the SJI-funded Immigration and the State Courts Initiative. NJC has previously developed training for judges on human trafficking. CCI has experience helping jurisdictions set up specialized prostitution/trafficking courts. In addition to eliminating the “stove-pipe” effect of separate organizations conducting projects with little to no coordination, the Collaborative will also establish what may become a permanent network of courts and court associations and organizations committed to this issue.

The SJI Board established Human Trafficking and the State Courts as a Priority Investment Area on October 1, 2012.

During the December 10, 2012 meeting, the Board approved a $500,000 Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to address limited English proficiency (LEP) issues. The NCSC’s newly established Language Access Services Section is uniquely positioned to provide direct technical assistance to state courts on this critical issue. Most recently, the NCSC has worked with courts across New England, assessing their language access services and helping them find ways to share interpreters on a regional level. The NCSC also assisted the Tennessee Judiciary in conducting a summit of stakeholders to plan for providing language access services at no cost in civil cases throughout the state. Under a grant from CISCO, the NCSC is developing standards and best practices for remote video interpreting.

As part of these efforts, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) created the Language Access Advisory Committee (LAAC) to increase the visibility of this work, and provide a better means of addressing policy issues impacting each state. LAAC is composed of COSCA members, with several state level language access coordinators as technical advisors. LAAC will provide direction to the work of the NCSC Language Access Services Section that will coordinate all LEP work and policy.

For this SJI-funded project, the NCSC will:

• Assist states through CCJ, COSCA, and the LAAC in developing consistent national standards for increased ability to share resources, including the ability to share interpreters, tests, and training opportunities;
• Assist in the creation of regional and/or national databases of interpreter resources, and increase capacity through remote interpreting;
• Conduct state and local court needs assessments, including levering technology to improve business processes and performance measurement;
• Assist state and local courts with developing LEP plans, including assistance in determining when interpreter resources are required, and the necessary resources, as a part of case management;
• Develop model training for judges and court staff on cultural and interpreter use issues;
• Develop instructions and bench cards for judges to explain to courtroom participants how interpreters are best used in the courtroom;
• Disseminate information about the effective ways to respond to, and manage, the many facets of LEP individuals and their impact on the state courts;
• Evaluate gaps with meeting DOJ guidelines, and establish a plan of action to address those gaps; and,
• Similar to what courts have done with Americans with Disabilities (ADA) issues and security threats, establish a clearinghouse to collect data on LEP complaint in order to assist courts in addressing these issues.

The Board met on December 10, 2012 to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of 15 grants.

Four (4) Project Grants were awarded, including: the Maryland Judiciary to determine the cost/benefits of various forms of ADR in the state; the Supreme Court of West Virginia to conduct a workload assessment.; the National Association for Court Management (NACM) to deliver educational content addressing all six SJI Priority Investment Areas. The 19th Judicial District of York County, Pennsylvania also received support to establish a Self-Represented Litigation Center.

Six (6) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were approved, including: a resource center for the Delaware Justice of the Peace Court; development of core competencies for courts by the Texas Office of Court Administration; establishment of a Louisiana court interpreter program; an integrated justice information strategic plan in Calaveras county, California; and, strategic plans in the 21st Judicial Circuit of Missouri and the Mohave County Superior Court in Arizona.

Six (6) Curriculum Adaptation & Training (CAT) Grants were approved, including: support for the Essential Skills for Appellate Judges program provided by the National Judicial College (NJC); customization of a new judge self-study online curriculum in Utah; statewide training for teams of judges and court administrators in Illinois; essential skills training to San Mateo Superior Court in California; and, delivery of the Institute for Court Management Certified Court Manager (CCM) curricula to Orange County Superior Court in California, and the Virginia Supreme Court.

The next deadline for grant applications is February 1, 2013 (2nd quarter).

SJI received 19 grant applications requesting a total of $979,640 for the 1st quarter of FY 2013. The Board will meet on December 10, 2012 to make decisions on grant awards for the 1st quarter.

In October 2012, SJI announced Human Trafficking and the State Courts as a new Priority Investment Area. In addition, SJI released a call for concept papers for a Strategic Initiatives Grant(s) on this critical issue. In response, SJI received 5 concept papers totaling $1,373,775.

Grant applicants are encouraged to address one or more Priority Investment Areas with their proposed projects. In addition, grant applicants must delineate specific outcomes, and define how success will be measured. Beginning in FY 2013, applicants must research prior work on the issue they are trying to address using the SJI website and the National Center for State Courts Library and Digital Archive, where all SJI products produced after 2010 by grantees are archived. Applicants are also encouraged to research any other available sources of information not contained on the SJI or NCSC Library websites.

SJI Grant funding remains available on a first-come, first-served, basis for grant applications that merit funding. Deadlines for the remainder of FY 2013 are as follows: 2nd quarter – February 1, 2013; 3rd quarter – May 1, 2013; and 4th quarter – August 1, 2013.

A recently released white paper from the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal (CCJSCA) titled, The Role of State Intermediate Appellate Courts: Principles for Adapting to Change, joins the list of SJI-supported resources available to the state appellate courts (SJI-10-T-152). The paper describes how CCJSCA and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) studied the evolution of the role played by intermediate appellate courts (IACs) and their core functions. The study also examined the impact of the fiscal crisis on the IACs, and how they have adapted to those challenges.

The white paper is available on the SJI website.

Ensuring Language Access Outside the Courtroom: Training Judicial Employees, is a new SJI funded project (SJI-12-N-156) of the New Mexico Judiciary. With the support of the Conference of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court Administrators (CCJ/COSCA), seven state courts have joined the New Mexico Center for Language Access (NMCLA), a project of the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos, to develop and distribute a high-quality, affordable language access training and qualification program for state court employees. The goal of this training is to improve the quality of language access services for limited English proficient (LEP) and non-English speaking individuals.

The final product of this collaborative effort will be the Language Access Basic Training Suite (LABT Suite) for state courts, an online/downloadable and easily accessible package that includes the following modules:

1. Theory – an introduction to language access for all court employees;
2. Practice – detailed, language-specific training for bilingual employees;
3. Skills Assessment – optional evaluation of bilingual employees’ language skills and vocabulary.

The LABT Suite will focus on language access outside the courtroom, providing language access training for all judicial employees with specialized training for bilingual employees. It is being designed to be both affordable and easily accessible by court personnel, and will provide an option for measuring bilingual employees’ language skills and vocabulary. The intent is to develop a strong basic training curriculum, which can be customized and easily updated/revised by NMCLA on behalf of state courts nationwide. Collaborating courts, in addition to New Mexico, include Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

For more information about this project, please contact Pam Sánchez, Statewide Program Manager for Language Access Services at aocpjs@nmcourts.gov.

Nearly 300 court leaders from 49 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, concluded the first ever Nation Summit on Language Access and the Courts in Houston, Texas, October 1-3, 2012. The Summit focused on developing solutions to improve access to justice for litigants with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The Summit enabled state court leaders to share successful strategies and evidence-based practices, plan system improvements, and discuss ways to pursue greater consistency across the states on policies related to court interpretation. A Summit website is available that includes the Summit program, speaker bios, and videos conference and events section. A National Call to Action report will be issued on the Summit’s outcomes and strategies.

The SJI Board of Directors has established Human Trafficking and the State Courts as a new Priority Investment Area for grant funding. Human Trafficking manifests itself in a variety of court settings, including prostitution and drug cases where the individual may be a trafficking victim, child thieves who are part of trafficker-controlled organizations, and abused and neglected children in a variety of settings. In addition, human trafficking goes beyond immigrants who are in the United States legally or illegally, but also includes U.S. citizens who are victims.

Since 1994, Congress has enacted a series of laws addressing human trafficking, most notably the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). State courts are beginning to see human trafficking cases under state laws, as 47 states have passed criminalization statutes for human trafficking. However, the state courts are finding themselves without the knowledge, expertise, processes, and basic infrastructure needed to address this issue. SJI is interested in future grant applications that address the challenges state courts are facing on this issue. SJI recently announced a request for Concept Papers on Human Trafficking and the State Courts, which are due by November 1, 2012.

The SJI Priority Investment Areas were established in FY 2011 to replace the former Special Interest Categories, and apply to all grant types (i.e. Project, Technical Assistance, and Curriculum Adaptation Grants). SJI encourages all potential grant applicants to consider projects addressing one or more of the Priority Investment Areas.

The SJI Board of Directors has established Human Trafficking and the State Courts as a new Priority Investment Area for grant funding. Human Trafficking manifests itself in a variety of court settings, including prostitution and drug cases where the individual may be a trafficking victim, child thieves who are part of trafficker-controlled organizations, and abused and neglected children in a variety of settings. In addition, human trafficking goes beyond immigrants who are in the United States legally or illegally, but also includes U.S. citizens who are victims.

Since 1994, Congress has enacted a series of laws addressing human trafficking, most notably the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). State courts are beginning to see human trafficking cases under state laws, as 47 states have passed criminalization statutes for human trafficking. However, the state courts are finding themselves without the knowledge, expertise, processes, and basic infrastructure needed to address this issue. SJI is interested in future grant applications that address the challenges state courts are facing on this issue. SJI recently announced a request for Concept Papers on Human Trafficking and the State Courts, which are due by November 1, 2012.

The SJI Priority Investment Areas were established in FY 2011 to replace the former Special Interest Categories, and apply to all grant types (i.e. Project, Technical Assistance, and Curriculum Adaptation Grants). SJI encourages all potential grant applicants to consider projects addressing one or more of the Priority Investment Areas.