State Court Reengineering
The Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program provides SJI the flexibility to address national court issues as they occur, and develop solutions to those problems. SJI uses its expertise and the expertise and knowledge of its grantees to address key issues facing courts across the United States. The state courts are also facing severe budget reductions as a direct result of the current economic situation in the United States. More »
Immigration Issues in the State Courts
The Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program provides SJI the flexibility to address national court issues as they occur, and develop solutions to those problems. SJI uses its expertise and the expertise and knowledge of its grantees to address key issues facing courts across the United States. Recent immigration growth is having an impact on state and local courts, including courts along the Southwest Border and other areas of the United States with large immigrant populations. These jurisdictions are dealing with issues such as how to provide culturally appropriate services; increases in gang-crime cases involving immigrants; and the impact of federal and state immigration policies on court operations. More »
Self-Represented Litigation and the State Courts
During the FY 2012, 2nd quarter Board meeting, 6 Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) were awarded totaling $275,158 addressing one of SJI's Priority Investment Areas: Self-Represented Litigation and the State Courts. SIG grants were made to the: 1) Judicial Council of California to train bilingual JusticeCorps volunteers to provide enhanced services for self-represented litigants (SRLs); 2)Indiana Administrative Office of the Courts to train volunteer college and law students to serve statewide pro se clinic clients; More »
Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative
Beginning in FY 2013, SJI is supporting a Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) to the Center for Public Policy Studies/The National Judicial College/Center for Court Innovation (CPPS/NJC/CCI) to form a Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative focused on 4 strategic priorities: 1) increasing understanding and awareness about the challenges faced by state courts in dealing with cases involving trafficking victims and their families, and traffickers; 2) developing and testing state and local approaches for assessing and addressing the impact of human trafficking victims and defendants in the state courts; 3) enhancing state and local court capacity to improve court services affected by human trafficking-related cases processing demands; and 4) building effective national, state, and local partnerships for addressing the impacts of human trafficking case processing in the state courts. More »
Limited English Proficiency and the State Courts
During the December 10, 2012 meeting, the Board approved a $500,000 Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to address limited English proficiency (LEP) issues. The NCSC's newly established Language Access Services Section is uniquely positioned to provide direct technical assistance to state courts on this critical issue. Most recently, the NCSC has worked with courts across New England, assessing their language access services and helping them find ways to share interpreters on a regional level. The NCSC also assisted the Tennessee Judiciary in conducting a summit of stakeholders to plan for providing language access services at no cost in civil cases throughout the state. Under a grant from CISCO, the NCSC is developing standards and best practices for remote video interpreting. More »
