The SJI Board of Directors met on December 4, 2017, at SJI Headquarters in Reston, VA, to make decisions on quarterly grant applications, and awarded a total of nine new grants.

A Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) was awarded to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCFJCJ) for an initiative on Military Families in Juvenile and Family courts.  In partnership with the Department of Defense (DOD), the initiative will:

• Establish a project Task Force of Military Committee members and armed services members to guide the initiative.
• Formulate uniform standards for information and resource sharing, with a major emphasis on the development of templates for MOUs between state courts and military posts.
• Identify and recruit juvenile and family courts in jurisdictions with significant military presence to serve as pilot sites.
• Create an online National Resource Center on Military Families in the Juvenile and Family Courts.
• Create documents for state courts/military installations, including template MOUs, bench cards, resource guidelines, and links to services.
• Develop a training curriculum for judges, military command, and key stakeholders on the unique issues of military families.
• Hold a second Summit on Military Families and State Courts for continuing and sustaining these efforts.

A Project Grant was awarded to the National Association for Court Management (NACM) to meet its goals of providing comprehensive educational programs, publications, online forums, and distance learning opportunities to increase the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its members and within the judicial system.  Specifically, the project will support educational sessions for NACM mid-year and annual meetings, including sessions covering all of SJI’s Priority Investment Areas.

Four (4) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were awarded: the King County, Washington, Superior Court for an on-boarding and leadership program; the Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts for a case management strategic plan; the Arizona Supreme Court for a Fair Justice for Persons with Mental Illness initiative; and the Florida Office of the State Courts Administrator for an information technology assessment.

Three (3) Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants were awarded: the Michigan Court Administration Association to support statewide Institute for Court Management training programs; the National Association for Women Judges (NAWJ) for an elder issues project; and the Nebraska Judicial Branch for judicial education on sex offender management.

The next deadline for grant applications is February 1, 2018 (FY 2018, 2^nd quarter).