Author: Lauren Curtis

Rural Justice Collaborative Announces New Rural Justice Innovation Sites

Nation’s top rural policy reformers select six programs to serve as examples for rural communities

December 5, 2023 (Williamsburg, VA)- The Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) Advisory Council, composed of rural judges along with additional stakeholders in the justice, child welfare, behavioral health, and
public health systems, selected six of the country’s most innovative rural justice programs to serve as models for other communities. The RJC initiative provides resources to enable rural communities to replicate these Innovation Sites’ successes.

From implementing restorative justice panels in rural Alaska to providing access to recovery support services in Massachusetts, the new class of Innovation Sites work on solving problems in underserved communities across America. “This is the third, and final, year we’re adding to the Rural Justice Innovation Site roster, and I’m continually impressed at the innovations we’re finding during this highly competitive selection process,” said Tara Kunkel, Executive Director of Rulo Strategies and co-director of
the RJC in partnership with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). “We know that many rural communities lack access to resources to develop their own program concepts from scratch. So, when they find examples of other communities that have developed innovative solutions to complex problems, they can emulate those frameworks.” The Rural Justice Innovation Site Program is the first nationally concerted effort for justice leaders and their collaborators in other sectors to share what they know.

Research shows rural Americans are more likely than urban residents to be jailed, overdose, and lack access to substance use and mental health care and public health services. Communities sometimes try to implement solutions that have worked in urban centers but those are often unsuccessful. “Programs that are built in rural communities and informed by rural practitioners are providing solutions that take into account unique geographic characteristics and the availability of resources,” said Jonathan Mattiello, Executive Director of the State Justice Institute (SJI).

Innovation Sites work with the RJC to create educational materials for an online resource center. The sites also host visits and participate in regional conferences. “Thanks to funding from SJI, we’re compiling a deep pool of knowledge and actionable content that individual communities may not have the resources to put together on their own,” said Michelle Cern of the National Center for State Courts who serves as the co-director for the RJC. “These coaching and mentoring resources will allow rural community leaders to quickly get up to speed on promising and best practices and avoid missteps so they can launch their own successful initiatives.”

New Rural Justice Innovation Sites
(For full descriptions of each program, visit https://www.ruraljusticecollaborative.org/innovation-sites.)

○ Alaska’s Tribe/State Rural Court Restorative Justice Program | 4th Judicial District

Restorative justice processes in rural Alaska include, but are not limited to, circle sentencing, family group conferencing, reparative boards such as Elders panels, and victim/offender mediation.

○ End Domestic Violence Task Force | City of Kingsville and Kleberg County Texas

With the nearest domestic violence shelter located more than an hour away, this task force developed a three-component solution to support individuals in domestic violence situations as they seek help.

○ Jersey County Drug Court Program | Jersey County, Illinois

The Jersey County Drug Court program is responsive to social determinants of health by providing housing and employment services to participants in partnership with local community-based organizations.

○ Operation Better Together | Adams County Ohio

Operation Better Together is a collaborative that addresses issues related to child welfare, substance use disorders, and access to treatment for individuals and families involved in the criminal justice system. Programs include jail-based treatment, access to virtual treatment, a ‘Justice Bus’ that provides free legal aid and services, and prevention events to reduce the number of children in foster care.

○ Project NORTH (Navigation, Outreach, Recovery, Treatment, and Hope) | Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Project NORTH is a free, confidential, and voluntary court-based program providing access to recovery support navigation, transportation, and certified sober housing for court-involved individuals and families impacted by substance use. It is operational in 14 courts across Massachusetts.

○ Substance Use Disorder and Reentry Initiative at Legal Aid of West Virginia | Statewide

Legal Aid of West Virginia (LAWV) helps individuals affected by substance use achieve long-term recovery by reducing or removing legal barriers to safe housing, transportation, and employment. They do this through several programs including a Recovery Medical-Legal Partnership Program and a Jobs & Hope Project.

About the Rural Justice Collaborative

The RJC showcases the strengths of rural communities and highlights the cross-sector collaboration that is a hallmark of rural justice systems. The work under the RJC is supported by a cross-sector advisory council composed of rural judges along with additional stakeholders in the justice, child welfare, behavioral health, and public health systems. The advisory council will guide the multi-year initiative and identify innovative programs and practices.

The RJC priority focus areas are:

○ Increasing access to behavioral health treatment

○ Reducing victimization

○ Facilitating employment/educational opportunities for justice involved individuals

○ Eliminating barriers of access to justice

○ Reducing incarceration

○Facilitating reentry

○Reducing the number of children in foster care due to substance use disorders

About the National Center for State Courts

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. Founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United
States Warren E. Burger, NCSC provides education, training, technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts. Learn more at ncsc.org.

About Rulo Strategies

Rulo Strategies is a woman-owned business focused on supporting and evaluating initiatives designed to foster collaboration between diverse stakeholders with distinct but complementary missions. Founder Tara Kunkel served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) where she advised on the policy direction of all opioid-related and overdose prevention initiatives. Learn more at rulostrategies.com.

About the State Justice Institute

The State Justice Institute (SJI) was established by federal law in 1984 to award grants to improve the quality of justice in state courts, and foster innovative, efficient solutions to common issues faced by all courts. SJI is a non-profit corporation governed by an 11-member Board of Directors appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Learn more at sji.gov.

Leveraging National Open Data Standards (NODS) to Strengthen Civil and Family Court Data

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) is applying the technical and business definitions of the National Open Data Standards (NODS) to resolve enduring, and common, obstacles to collecting good civil and family court data.  Developed by the Conference of State Court Administrators and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), NODS is intended to facilitate sharing and integration of court data by specifying (1) logical business standards that define the variables to be included in court datasets; and (2) technical standards that will define the data structure, variable formats, and values.

Nationally, many states struggle to coordinate multiple system vendors in place of a statewide case management system. State trial courts retrieve court metrics from mismatched, local systems that are differently programmed, managed, and updated and, as a result, deliver different data results.  For example, Pennsylvania’s statewide civil and family court data are compiled from data reported out of nineteen different local systems (see the sample screen below).

This is not uncommon.  But communicating data standards to multiple vendors can quickly become a garbled exchange as variable local practices, state and national data specifications, and vendor protocols shape the availability, accuracy, and reliability of court data.

What if states could skip “middleman” conversations and directly apply NODS language to source data?  Pennsylvania has partnered with one of its largest vendors to find out.  The Administrative Office’s Research and IT staff negotiated access to the vendor system’s source data, built an extraction tool and began creating NODS data products with its own personnel and software resources.  The source data feeds AOPC statistical reports and data dashboards that display a sharper picture of civil and family caseloads for local court personnel and state judicial leadership.  Thru this pilot, Pennsylvania has found that:

  • Translating source data into a NODS framework provides a uniform schematic applicable to multiple vendors; 
  • Direct access to the source data obviates any need to translate vendor programming language or other interpretive guesswork;
  • At their source, data errors are fully visible for correction, and shared insights help the vendor improve its product; 
  • Vendors who participate have a competitive benefit to offer clients, specifically state-supported, no cost data products; and,
  • Data access and updates are not dependent on vendor schedules and pricing.

Regardless of any system view, the NODS output (pictured above) is a uniform data portal for all judicial leadership, policymakers, funders, and data users to retrieve information, monitor caseloads and make comparisons critical to efficient case and court management.

Upcoming Webinar! Mental Health Diversion: Lessons from the Field

Upcoming Webinar! Mental Health Diversion: Lessons from the Field on December 11th, 2023, at 4:00PM EST.

In 2022, the National Judicial Task Force to Examine Courts’ Responses to Mental Illness recommended that the Judge’s Guide to Mental Health Diversion, a vital tool for judges across the country for over a decade, should be updated.

The new guide, with revisions by the National Center for State Courts, along with stakeholders and national experts, contains updated information and relies on a better understanding of how to effectively divert people with mental health and co-occurring disorders towards treatment at every stage of legal system involvement.

Attendees of this webinar will learn about the soon-to-be-released Judge’s Guide to Mental Health Diversion, how courts in Kentucky and Missouri used the guide to develop new diversion opportunities, and NCSC’s ongoing efforts to improve outcomes for people with mental health and co-occurring disorders.

Register here: Webinar Registration – Zoom

Upcoming Webinar! Nonlawyer Navigators in State Courts: Voices from the Field

Upcoming Webinar! Nonlawyer Navigators in State Courts: Voices from the Field on December 8th, 2023, at 2:00PM EST.

In this NCSC webinar, you will hear from Mary McClymont to discuss emerging trends in across the country from her report, Nonlawyer Navigators in State Courts: Part II — An Update. You will also hear from a panel of experts who run navigator programs about how to leverage nonlawyers to provide essential services to court users and best practices in launching and evolving court-based navigator programs. For more information and a copy of the original 2019 navigator report, visit the Georgetown Justice Lab’s Court Navigators Research Website, and don’t miss NCSC’s Tiny Chat with tips on how to start a navigator program!

Register here.

Seeking Juvenile Courts for Demonstration Sites Project

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), with funding from the State Justice Institute (SJI), is pleased to announce that they are seeking juvenile courts that are interested in participating in the Enhanced Juvenile Justice Guidelines Demonstration Sites Project. Applications are due by December 31, 2023.

What Does it Mean to be a Demonstration Site?

The jurisdictions that participate in the Enhanced Juvenile Justice Guidelines Demonstration Sites Project will engage in an eighteen-month process to identify and address issues in adjudicating and delivering services in juvenile delinquency cases. The Enhanced Juvenile Justice Guidelines identify many different areas that courts can consider for improvement including improving timelines for case processing; using risk/need assessment information; reducing the use of fines and fees; implementing alternatives to detention; collaborating with the education system to reduce school pathways to the justice system; identifying and addressing gaps in services, and many more. Jurisdictions who participate in the project will have access to regular assessment of court practice, technical assistance, strategic planning support, expert national training and trainers, and a peer support network. Please note that while there is no site-specific funding available, you will receive all of the support and tools you need to change your court practice.

The project is open to all courts that work with delinquent offenses. Your program should be judicially lead and be prepared to bring together a group of system stakeholders who are committed to changing court practice. A commitment from your lead judge and the approval of your presiding judge is required. Tribal courts are encouraged to apply.

Application direct link will be available soon. In the meantime, any questions regarding the application process please contact Jessica Pearce, Senior Site Manager, NCJFCJ at jpearce@ncjfcj.org or (775) 507-4799.

Upcoming Webinar! Ensuring Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) – Court Considerations

Upcoming Webinar! Ensuring Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) – Court Considerations. When? December 4th, 2023, at 12:00PM EST.

Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), formerly known as Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), which may be in combination with counseling and psychosocial services, is the evidence-based standard of care for treating opioid use disorder (OUD). However, access to and retention in MOUD remains limited in many jurisdictions.

This webinar will educate courts and their collaborative partners on:

-The Neurobiology of #OUD and how #MOUD works and their FDA-approved uses;

-MOUD myths and misconceptions;

-Basics of MOUD in court settings and judges’ roles and responsibilities to persons with OUD;

-Legal protections for persons taking legally-prescribed MOUD.

Register now: https://ncsc-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3iQ_-eCmS-mcehS_9-cXqg?utm_campaign=422207_Webinar%3A%20Ensuring%20Access%20to%20Medications%20for%20Opioid%20Use%20Disorder%20%28MOUD%29%20-%20Court%20Considerations&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dotdigital&dm_i=7L57,91RZ,4VVT7N,1APF4,1#/registration

Diversion and Alternative Reform Team Guidebook

The RFK National Resource Center is pleased to present the Diversion and Alternatives Reform Team Guidebook, representing an updated version of our previously published Alternative Response Initiative (ARI) Workbook. The DART Guidebook was developed to support youth justice system stakeholders in reviewing and reforming diversionary and alternative accountability policies and practices. Retaining the successful five-step approach from the original ARI publication, the DART Guidebook builds upon lessons learned from our jurisdictional experiences since 2019. It also incorporates new examples and testimonials from youth justice professionals across the United States, emphasizing the potential for successful collaborative diversion practices that offer a comprehensive set of alternative responses to formal prosecution.

For more: Diversion and Alternatives Reform Team Initiative | Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice (rfknrcjj.org)

Evaluating the Impact of Virtual Proceedings in Family Law Matters for Self-Represented Litigants

The Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School and LaGratta Consulting LLC are conducting a randomized control trial examining the effects of in-person versus remote hearings for self-represented family law litigants in the 3rd Judicial District Court of Utah (Salt Lake County). The project intends to examine case outcomes and litigant experience in both contexts. All four commissioners hearing family law matters agreed to participate in this innovative effort.

The research team sorted cases randomly between in-person and remote contexts. As litigants left each court appearance, they were asked to answer a few questions about their experience via an iPad kiosk at the back of the courtroom or a follow-up email, with approximately 20 percent of litigants responding so far.

Early data trends suggest matters proceeded similarly regardless of medium, with little effect on time to disposition or appearance rates. The exception was in litigants’ ratings of perceived fairness, which was significantly lower in remote proceedings. Given the documented connection between perceptions of fairness and voluntary compliance, public trust, and system legitimacy, remote proceedings may come at a steep cost without targeted mitigation strategies to narrow this gap.

Data collection is still underway, with final results and corresponding policy and practice recommendations expected in 2024. Download a mid-project brief here or contact Emily LaGratta (Emily@lagratta.com) and Renee Danser (rdanser@law.harvard.edu) with questions or comments.

Natural Language Programming

Natural Language Programming (NLP) is a field of computer science that employs predictive analytics and machine learning with a focus on the interaction between computers and both written and spoken language.  Over the past decade, courts have successfully employed NLP techniques for routine case management tasks such as redaction, data extraction, document classification, and automated data population into databases.  With generous funding from the State Justice Institute, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) explored the feasibility of NLP to support civil case management.  The project focused on two stages of civil case management — assigning cases at filing to an appropriate case processing track and reviewing case filings to ensure that fundamental guarantees of procedural due process are satisfied before entering final judgment.  The Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators identified both stages as critical to effective civil case management in their recommendations for the Civil Justice Initiative. 

The studies employed NLP techniques for data extraction, relational matching, and document classification, comparing its performance with the same tasks performed by trained staff.  On data extraction tests, NLP performed at 90% or higher on most data elements needed for case triage, and likely would have performed even better with additional human direction during the machine learning phase of the study.  It was less successful on the document classification test, but largely due to poor image quality on the documents themselves rather than inability to accurately extract the necessary data for analysis.  Based on the findings, NCSC emphasized the need for adequate human involvement in the machine learning phase to ensure consistent and accurate performance as well as high quality data on which to begin learning.  In addition to the final report, the NCSC developed instructional videos on NLP and other artificial intelligence technologies, strategies for implementing these technologies, and a resource guide, all of which are available at https://www.ncsc.org/cji.