Category: News

The state courts are experiencing increasing complexity in handling individuals who have mental illness, and oftentimes a co-occurring substance use issue.  System-wide, mental illness has placed a strain on many communities and their resources, and jails are being used to detain those who need mental health treatment.  The problem is exacerbated by the lack of a coordinated national, state, and community effort involving all three branches of government.  In addition, lack of resources, empirically-based data, and a clearinghouse for state court leaders to learn the practical steps they can take to address the problem in their court systems also contribute to the problem.

To address this issue on a national level, SJI has awarded a major grant to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), which will work in partnership with the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administers (COSCA) on a mental illness in the courts initiative that will:  

• Develop resources, best practices and recommend standards to address mental illness and the state courts response.
• Expand the NCSC website to create a centralized repository for state courts interested in improving court and community responses.
• Provide resources to improve caseflow management of civil commitment cases as well as felony and misdemeanor cases involving persons with mental illness.
• Provide education by developing national, regional, and statewide training and education opportunities for judges and court practitioners.
• Develop guides and resources on the Sequential Intercept Model, and adapt the SJI-funded Arizona Presiding Judge Guide titled, Fair Justice for Persons with Mental Illness: Improving the Courts Response for use nationally.
• Build capacity of state and national court leader to lead and implement reforms.

This national initiative will be based on the 2016-2017 COSCA policy paper, Decriminalization of Mental Illness: Fixing a Broken System. Additionally, CCJ/COSCA Court Management Committee working group has identified four areas for further action in addressing mental health:

1) developing resources, best practices, and recommended standards in state court responses to mental health issues;

2) improving caseflow management by examining civil commitment and criminal cases involving persons with mental illness to identify barriers to, and opportunities for, timely and effective case processing;

3) promoting education; and

4) building capacity to implement reforms

This new Initiative will support a resolution passed at the CCJ/COSCA 2018 annual meeting in support of improving the justice system response to mental illness.  Promising approaches are currently being explored to address this problem, including the Sequential Intercept Model, which identifies where to intercept individuals with mental illness as they move through the criminal justice system, suggests which populations might be targeted at each point of interception, and highlights the decision-makers who can authorize movement away from or through the criminal justice system.  Mental health codes require modification to permit timely, appropriately-targeted, court-ordered treatment for persons with mental illness, before and after contact with the justice system.  It has also been acknowledged that individuals who are intercepted by the criminal justice system often have co-occurring mental health and substance abuse issues.

As the initiative moves forward, more updates will be provided.

 

The Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice (RFK National Resource Center), recently announced the release of the Probation System Review Guidebook, 3rd Edition, in support of states and jurisdictions embracing the transformation of probation and juvenile justice policy and practice across the United States.

The new release features the framework that the RFK National Resource Center has used to achieve substantial improvements in youth outcomes and system performance, in partnership with twenty-five jurisdictions across nearly one-third of the states and territories. The latest edition includes:

• An increased focus on the translation of adolescent development into practice;
• Renewed emphasis on resiliency and positive youth development;
• Improved and updated tools and guidance related to risk-needs-responsivity instruments that support data driven and informed practice;
• Addition of a probation orders analysis and court observation methodologies;
• Specific benefits to undertaking a system review;
• New information about the RFK National Resource Center’s Training Institute;
• Updated jurisdictional examples and lessons learned;
• Testimonials by probation and juvenile justice leaders who have undertaken the review, and achieved more positive outcomes for the youth they serve.

Delivering justice to individuals who struggle with mental health or behavioral issues can be extraordinarily difficult.  As leaders of their courts and communities, presiding judges are well positioned to convene and engage others to solve complicated problems. With that in mind, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) recently published a practical guide to equip presiding judges in Arizona with the information they need to convene teams of court and community leaders who can systematically address individuals with mental illness.

The guide was funded by a grant from SJI to the Arizona Supreme Court.  A new grant from SJI to the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), and the NCSC will adapt the Arizona guide for use in other states, among other national activities.  This will address a recent resolution from CCJ/COSCA that urges court leaders to examine community-wide strategies to help those with mental illness.

“Knowing that the guide will be adapted for broader use is very exciting,” said Patti Tobias, NCSC principal court management consultant and one of the guide’s authors.

The Arizona guide highlights the roles that probation officers, mental health workers, police officers, public defenders and others can take to help reduce the number of people with mental illness and behavioral health issues who find themselves in the justice system.  Ms. Tobias said the NCSC team used and expanded upon the long-established Sequential Intercept Model (SIM), a framework that aims to keep individuals from continuing to penetrate the justice system.  “Arizona court leaders thought it was necessary to go beyond SIM,” she said, “because the challenges are so complex.”

Ms. Tobias and NCSC Research Director Nicole Waters interviewed 49 state and local stakeholders from across Arizona, but mostly focused on Yavapai, Pima, and Coconino counties, as requested by court leaders in the state.  Ms. Waters served as project director, assisted by Tobias and court research associate Shelley Spacek.

Juvenile sex trafficking is a significant problem nationwide, and occurs in urban areas as well as small towns, farms, and tribal lands.  The state courts can play an important role in addressing this complex problem.

With SJI support, the Minnesota Judicial Branch developed a 75-minute, self-paced eLearning course on working with the juvenile victims of sex trafficking.  By viewing this course, participants will develop a deeper understanding of juvenile sex trafficking and be better equipped to: 1) recognize victims of sex trafficking who appear in court hearings; 2) identify traffickers and buyers in the courtroom; 3) support victims by applying the law effectively; and 4) connect victims with critical support services and resources.

Throughout the six modules in the course, participants will hear the powerful stories of real-life victims of juvenile sex trafficking and view video expert testimony from a variety of system professionals, including judges, law enforcement, public health professionals, and victim advocates.

The Civil Justice Initiative, a massive effort to help reform the civil justice system so that it works better for everyone, involves work at many different levels and in many different areas. Supported by SJI since 2017, this initiative addresses multi-partner strategies to align and maximize resources.

One area with great potential is online dispute resolution (ODR), which allows people to use their smart phones or computers to file small claims cases and communicate with other parties without having to appear in court.  Done the right way, it can revolutionize how people use the courts to settle disputes.

Webinars sponsored by the Self-Represented Litigation Network, are scheduled for:

• Wednesday, March 13, 2019. Retired California Superior Court Judge Sherrill Ellsworth and Jonathan Verk, founder of a website called Co-Parenter, will discuss the role that the website has in helping to resolve disputes. Ellsworth works with courts and families as a mediator, “resolving disputes and removing children from conflict.”
• Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Shannon Salter, Chair of British Columbia’s pioneering online court, will discuss the court, which is called the Civil Resolution Tribunal.  The court, the first of its kind in Canada, hears disputes of less than $5,000, and Salter has reported that 94 percent of the cases settle before they get to a judge.

The Connecticut Judicial Branch defines cultural competency as the ability of the Branch and its employees to communicate, cooperate, and serve people from all cultural identities with respect, professionalism, integrity, and fairness in a manner that recognizes the individual dignity of each person.

With SJI support, the Judicial Branch developed a video as part of a larger product that is being used to train judges and court staff on becoming more culturally competent and responsive to the public.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) announced the release of the Enhanced Juvenile Justice Guidelines, the most recent update documenting the improvement of court practices in juvenile justice cases.  The Enhanced version was supported by SJI.

Since 2005, with the original publication of Juvenile Delinquency Guidelines: Improving Court Practice in Juvenile Delinquency Cases (JDG), the NCJFCJ has worked with juvenile justice courts to promulgate best practices in juvenile delinquency proceedings.  The purpose of the Juvenile Delinquency Guidelines was to set forth the essential elements of effective practice for the court processes that are involved in the handling of juvenile delinquency cases.  It identified recommended practices throughout the juvenile delinquency court system – from the determination of whether a case should enter the formal juvenile delinquency court system, to determination as to whether juvenile delinquency court jurisdiction should be waived and the youth transferred to criminal court, as well as post-disposition review of the reentry process for youth returning to the community from out-of-home placement.

In 2017, the NCJFCJ revisited the Juvenile Delinquency Guidelines to ensure that it reflected the changes in court practice, advances in brain science, the understanding of adolescent development and the juvenile specific rulings from the Supreme Court.  The Enhanced version contains up-to-date information on general court processes, initiating juvenile justice court processes, best practices in detention or initial hearings, waiver and transfer hearings, trial/adjudication hearings, disposition hearings, the appeals process, post-disposition reviews, and probation and parole violations.

“Much has changed within the juvenile justice system, and we are committed to implementing process improvement, measuring results, and sharing experiences with juvenile courts,” said Judge John J. Romero, Jr., NCJFCJ president. “The NCJFCJ and our judges are committed to promoting systems change within our jurisdictions across the country.”

The National Judicial Opioid Task Force (NJOTF) has launched an online resource center to provide judges and court staff one place to go for easy access to opioid-related information and materials.  The task force is supported with funding from SJI and is staffed by the National Center for State Courts.

The resource center offers the nation’s courts a comprehensive collection of best practices, policy recommendations, research, statistics, podcasts, and other information on opioids and the courts.  Among the array of resources:

• Monographs, ranging from best practices on medically assisted treatments to guardianship laws for people with substance abuse to sample transfer agreements between state and tribal courts;
• Webinars on prescription-drug-monitoring programs; and,
• Videos about the science of addiction.

The center also includes information from a variety of experts, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute for Drug Abuse, the American Academy of Pediatrics, USDA rural opioid initiative, and other federal and state agencies.  In addition to creating the resource center, the task force has also worked with federal and state law-enforcement partners to create data sharing, partnerships, and policies; improved access to federal funding for state courts; and presented at numerous national conferences and summits to showcase innovative collaborations that are working across the country.

The task force—established by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), and co-chaired by Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush (pictured above) and Tennessee State Court Administrator Deborah Taylor Tate—was formed in August 2017 to examine current efforts and to find solutions to address the opioid epidemic.

The Joint Technology Committee (JTC), established by the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), released a resource bulletin in December 2018. The publication covered several aspects of utilizing social media as a means by which to achieve effective court communication.  It also examined have failure to include social media in the court’s communication strategy can widen the gap between what the public expects, and what the court delivers.

Included in the 16-page bulletin are some key elements to creating a relevant and cohesive social media presence including:

1. Platforms available and most frequently used (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.).
2. Internal and external risk review for governance team, body, or administration.
3. Social Listening – which includes more information about appropriate response time, how best to monitor accounts, and what that includes across platforms.

While there are still risks to any communications strategy, the bulletin advises courts to strongly consider and invest in a social media presence to best reach consumers, the public, and their partners where they are – online, using devices and apps that are highly integrated.

Also included is an appendix with basic, intermediate, and advanced-level steps for courts to take action before, during, and while revising social media communication plans.

The SJI Board of Directors met on December 10, 2018 to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of 14 new grants.

Four (4) Strategic Initiatives Grants were awarded: the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA)/National Association for Court Management (NACM) Joint Technology Committee (JTC), in partnership with the Court Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to develop a component-based approach to technology solutions used by courts; The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and COSCA to support a National Innovation Summit focusing on new approaches to court business practices, such as online dispute resolution, litigant portals, and process simplification; the Nebraska Judiciary, in partnership with CCJ and COSCA for a three-branch summit on pandemic planning; and the NCSC, in coordination with the Self-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN) to develop standardized curricula to train community and religious leaders on identifying potential legal problems, and providing appropriate referrals for legal assistance.

One (1) Project Grant was awarded to NACM to support educational programming for the mid-year and annual meetings, including distance learning opportunities that focus on SJI’s Priority Investment Areas.

Seven (7) Technical Assistance Grants were awarded: the Supreme Court of Louisiana to improve the capacity of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court in identifying and responding to child victims of human and labor trafficking; American University/Justice Programs Office, in partnership with NACM, the National Association of Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO), and other key court organizations to enhance caseflow management to ensure effective assistance of counsel; the Michigan Court Administration Association for statewide Institute for Court Management training; the Council of Chief Judges for the State Courts of Appeal (CCJSCA) to review and assess the impact of technology on communications and collaboration in the immediate appellate courts; the State Court of Fulton County, Georgia, to plan for improvements to the Court Self-Help Center; the Van Buren County, Michigan, Courts for a strategic planning project; and the Oregon Judiciary to launch a collaborative process to develop a two-year campaign agenda for strategic change.

Two (2) Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants were awarded: the American Judges Association (AJA), in partnership with the Illinois Administrative Office of the Courts, to support judicial education programs; and the National Judicial College (NJC) to produce and present 4 online, self-study learning modules for judges across the United States.

The next deadline for grant applications is February 1, 2019 (FY 2019, 2nd quarter).