SJI Awards Strategic Initiatives Grants
In May 2008, SJI finalized FY 2008 awards for the Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program. In FY 2008, SJI is using the SIG Program to focus on the impact of immigration in the state courts. Two grants were awarded; one to the Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS); and another to support a collaborative effort between the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the National Judicial College (NJC).
CPPS will work with three diverse jurisdictions to learn what challenges they face in addressing the needs of immigrant populations that use the courts; and how best to address those challenges. A guidebook will be developed for addressing the impacts of immigration in the state courts that can be used in courts across the United States. The guidebook will build on the work of this project by incorporating the practical lessons learned from the three pilot sites, and provide useful information and tools for other courts to adapt to meet their own needs. CPPS will also prepare a bench book for assisting judges across the United States in addressing the practical implications of immigration in the state courts for a variety of topics including pretrial release decisions, eligibility for and conditions of probation, the effects of guilty pleas on immigration status, and the intersection of federal and state laws – to include the impact of foreign law/treaty agreements, and federal notifications. CPPS and SJI are currently working to finalize the pilot sites and will provide more detail about those in future editions of the E-SJI News.
The second SIG grant was awarded to NCSC and NJC to support and coordinate state and local efforts to address immigration issues. This project will gather current information from court leaders about the problems they are facing and solutions they have implemented to address this topic. Immediate, expert technical assistance will be provided to address critical trial court issues in dealing with both documented and undocumented immigrants. This technical assistance will use both proven case flow processes, in addition to developing new approaches to determining needs and providing solutions. In addition to the technical assistance, the project will develop an education curriculum, based on a needs assessment of trial judges and court staff confronting issues involving immigration.
As these projects move forward, SJI will provide updates in future editions of the E-SJI News and on the SJI website.
