Supporting the Nation's Judicial System & the Public it Serves

Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grant

Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grants are intended to: enable courts or national court associations to modify and adapt model curricula, course modules, or conference programs to meet states’ or local jurisdictions’ educational needs; train instructors to present portions or all of the curricula; and pilot-test them to determine their appropriateness, quality, and effectiveness; or to conduct judicial branch education and training programs, led by either expert or in-house personnel, designed to prepare judges and court personnel for innovations, reforms, and/or new technologies recently adopted by grantee courts.

inner-body-projectgrantsSIZE AND DURATION OF GRANT

Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants may not exceed $40,000 and 12 months in duration. Examples of expenses not covered by CAT Grants include the salaries or benefits of full-or part-time court employees.

MATCH

Applicants for CAT Grants are required to contribute a total match (cash and in-kind) of not less than 50 percent of the SJI award amount, of which 20 percent must be cash.  For example, an applicant seeking a $40,000 CAT grant must provide a $20,000 match, of which up to $16,000 can be in-kind and not less than $4,000 must be cash.

HOW TO APPLY

All grant applications must be submitted via the online Grant Management System (GMS).  Refer to the Grant Application Guide for details about what an application for a Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grant must include.

SELECTION CRITERIA

In addition to the criteria detailed below, SJI will consider whether the applicant is a state or local court, a national court support or education organization, a non-court unit of government, or other type of entity eligible to receive grants under SJI’s enabling legislation; the availability of financial assistance from other sources for the project; the diversity of subject matter, geographic diversity; the level and nature of the match that would be provided; reasonableness of the proposed budget; the extent to which the proposed project would also benefit the federal courts or help state or local courts enforce federal constitutional and legislative requirements; and the level of appropriations available to SJI in the current year and the amount expected to be available in succeeding fiscal years, when determining which projects to support.

CAT Grant applications will be rated based on the following criteria:

  • Goals and objectives of the proposed project
  • How the training would address a critical need of the court or association
  • Need for outside funding to support the program
  • Soundness of the approach in achieving the project’s educational or training objectives
  • Integration of distance learning and technology in project design and delivery
  • Qualifications of the trainer(s) to be hired or the specific criteria that will be used to select the trainer(s) (training project)
  • Likelihood of effective implementation and integration of the modified curriculum into the state or local jurisdiction’s ongoing educational programming (curriculum adaptation project)
  • Commitment of the court or association to the training program (training project)
  • Expressions of interest by judges and/or court personnel, as demonstrated by letters of support