Category: News

SJI has just released the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request. To read more and download now:

The National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO) has developed a monograph, funded by SJI, for use as a guide in structuring modern-day activities and functions for governing and leading state and local trial courts regardless of size or jurisdiction.  It outlines the basic duties each of the court’s top court leaders  – the presiding or chief judge, and the court executive officer or court administrator – are expected to perform, the competencies required to do a good job, and the relationships that they must nurture with each other and other justice system stakeholders to be successful.

Read the full article here: A Monograph: Presiding Judge and Court Executive Officer Trial Court Governance and Leadership Principles, Roles and Responsibilities – National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (napco4courtleaders.org)

The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) held its final two Paths to Justice events which focused on racial justice by bringing together diverse perspectives to engage in a dialogue around inequities in the civil justice system, and how it relates to public trust and confidence. IAALS has published two issue papers highlighting outcomes and key takeaways.

Read the full article here: The Paths to Racial Justice: Our Civil System Must Acknowledge Shortcomings and Take Concrete Action | IAALS (du.edu)

This newly released report is the first national review of data that confirms what judges have anecdotally shared about remote hearings before and during the pandemic. The 12-month study analyzed both 1.25 million minutes of judicial data and focus group feedback from judges and court leaders in eight counties across Texas. The NCSC study, supported with generous funding from the State Justice Institute, found that remote proceedings take about a third longer than in-person hearings largely due to technology-related issues and lack of preparation by participants. But the study also found that remote proceedings take longer because they increase access to justice, as litigants can more easily attend and participate in hearings. To access the full report, click here.

Learn more about the findings and recommendations of this State Justice Institute funded study here.

The National Association for Court Management (NACM) Adult Guardianship Guide is an essential resource to assist courts in planning, developing, and sustaining a comprehensive court guardianship and conservatorship program. The update to the Adult Guardianship Guide emphasizes the recent recommendations from the State Justice Institute (SJI) and Borchard Foundation grant-supported Fourth National Guardianship Summit. It promotes person-centered planning and the least restrictive options necessary for persons who are unable to fully care for themselves. It identifies provisions within the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (UGCOPAA) and highlights advancements in court programs and initiatives which enhance existing guardianship practices. The updated Adult Guardianship Guide is publicly available through NACM, and is accessible here.

A newly released report from National Center for State Courts, supported with funding from State Justice Institute, adds a new number of considerable interest to state courts: 277. That’s the number of provisions in the U.S. Code – the body of laws adopted by the United States Congress – that ask state courts to take specific action (or to not take actions) with respect to federal matters.

Read the full report: The-Role-of-State-Courts-in-our-Federal-System.pdf (ncsc.org).

Ten programs in eight states and Puerto Rico will receive recognition for their work in rural communities by the Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC). The programs have been nominated for their innovative practices in justice, child welfare, behavioral health and public health. The RJC showcases the strengths of rural communities and highlights cross-sector collaboration success to overcome unique challenges that impact their ability to deliver fair and equitable justice. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is working with Rulo Strategies on the RJC, with funding support from the State Justice Institute. The work under the RJC is supported by an advisory council composed of rural judges along with additional stakeholders in the justice, child welfare, behavioral health, and public health systems.

Innovation sites selected in February 2022 include:

• Eastern Shore Mobile Care Collaborative at Caroline County (Maryland) Health Department. This program expands access to behavioral health treatment and medication-assisted treatment for people with opioid use disorders in rural Maryland.
• For All Seasons, Inc. Serving rural counties along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, For All Seasons is a behavioral health and rape crisis center that offers therapy, psychiatry, rape crisis and mental health services to clients regardless of one’s ability to pay.
• Opioid Response as County Law Enforcement (ORACLE) initiative. This crisis-intervention and recovery response program based out of the Ulster County (NY) Sheriff’s Office provides direct assistance to people who overdose and works with public and private organizations to coordinate a wide array of services.
• Gender Violence Initiative. Serving a rural population in Puerto Rico, the Gender Violence Initiative is a court-based program that works with community partners to connect domestic and sexual violence survivors with victim services and offer a specialized gender court.
• Texoma Alliance to Stop Abuse, Inc. This rural Texas program provides batterers’ intervention and prevention classes and victims’ services including transportation, safety planning, counseling and financial assistance.
• Benevolence Farm. A trauma-informed, nonprofit social enterprise, this program provides transitional employment and housing for formerly incarcerated women in Alamance County and rural communities in North Carolina. Residents develop various life skills, including small business practices, sustainable farming, and food and product preparation.
• Journey Court is a voluntary trauma-informed drug treatment court that provides treatment and intervention services for addicted justice-involved people in Clinton County, Michigan. Participants receive case management, referrals to treatment providers or inpatient facilities, peer recovery support and relapse prevention planning.
• Rankin County Youth Court. This juvenile court provides various intervention and treatment programs for young people and their families involved in delinquency and child protection cases in Mississippi.
• Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy is a court diversion program operating out of Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson, and Sevier counties that serves justice-involved people who are at a lower risk for recidivism but have high behavioral health service needs due to substance use disorders and mental illness.
• Lyon County Human Services Forensic Assessment Triage Team is a jail-based community re-entry program in Nevada that provides treatment intervention and reentry facilitation for the Lyon County Jail. Participants are evaluated for mental health, substance use, basic needs, and risk of reoffending.

To read the full News Release article on NCSC’s website: Rural justice programs across country to receive recognition | NCSC.

Join us! SJI is hosting a free webinar on Federal Grant Management on February 28th, 2022 from 1:00-3:00PM EST.

The webinar will provide an overview of the federal grant system, focusing on key grant management requirements set forth in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (the “Uniform Guidance”) codified at 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (and at 45 C.F.R. Part 75 for Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) awards).  

To register and for more information on the webinar, click here: Federal Grant Management Webinar (mailchi.mp)

Please feel free to share this with others who may have interest in these topics. 

Today, the Council for Court Excellence (CCE) and the D.C. Access to Justice Commission (ATJC) are publishing Strengthening Probate Administration in the District of Columbia. The report, created with support from the State Justice Institute, includes practical recommendations spanning 20 different topic areas, including:

When a person dies, their debts must be paid, and their property distributed, through the probate process. Probate is a complex area of law, and many people cannot afford an attorney to guide them through it. In January 2020, CCE and ATJC formed an expert Working Group to address the challenges faced by self-represented individuals during probate. The working group ultimately developed recommendations in 20 areas to strengthen probate processes for everyone and increase access to justice for low- and moderate-income people.

The report’s release comes after over two years of research into other jurisdictions, case reviews, and interviews with self-represented individuals, D.C. probate court employees, and legal practitioners. The diverse and distinguished Working Group included experienced probate lawyers, public interest advocates, independent subject-matter experts, and Superior Court judges and the Register of Wills as advisory members.

To view the full report, click here: http://www.courtexcellence.org/uploads/File/Strengthening%20Probate%20Admin%20in%20DC%202_9_22.pdf

As the country faces a potential tidal wave of eviction filings, D.C. Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby and Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht author The New York Times essay supporting eviction diversion efforts. Blackburne-Rigsby and Hecht both sit on the advisory council for the National Center for State Courts’ Eviction Diversion Initiative. 

The Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI) is a four-year grant program that offers funding and support to state courts to transform their eviction courts into problem-solving courts that embrace holistic, sustainable, and community-driven strategies for resolving legal problems. The EDI Initiative encourages courts to embrace this opportunity to think differently and to avoid going back to the old way of doing business. Through creative new programs and partnerships, courts can find a better way to managing their eviction courts and to prevent unnecessary and avoidable harm.

The guest essay can be read in its entirety on the website of the The New York Times.