Transforming Our Civil Justice System for the 21st Century: A Roadmap for Implementation provides guidance to state courts who are answering the Call to Action from the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) following their endorsement of the Report and Recommendations of the CCJ Civil Justice Improvements Committee. With continued SJI support, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), have partnered to develop this new guide to ensure the Recommendations are implemented in a way that is thoughtful, responsive to the needs of court users, well-designed, and well-executed so that the reforms have the greatest possible likelihood of success.
The Roadmap sets forth seven steps, building off the successful experiences of innovative states that have already implemented reforms:
- Lead
- Assess
- Define Issues
- Create a Working Group and Engage Stakeholders
- Develop Vision and Goals
- Develop Tailored Recommendations
- Take Action
The Roadmap is just one tool developed as part of the CJI Implementation Phase, a multi-pronged effort that includes strategic planning assistance for state judicial leadership; education and technical assistance for state and local courts; evaluation of demonstration pilot projects to document the impact of best practices; and the development of practical tools and instructions on effective implementation efforts. For more information about the CJI Implementation Phase, visit the CJI website, or contact the Project Director, Paula Hannaford-Agor, at phannaford@ncsc.org.