Last week, our Executive Director, Jonathan Mattiello, our Senior Program Advisor, Michelle White, and members of the SJI Board took a trip to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, (NCJFCJ) in Reno, Nevada. Pictured with Joey Orduña Hastings, Chief Executive Officer of NCJFCJ, and Bill DeLisio, Deputy Executive Officer, NCJFCJ.
The FY 2024 2nd Quarter SJI Board meeting was held on April 8th, 2024, at the Nevada Supreme Court in Carson City, Nevada. Executive Director, Jonathan Mattiello, and members of the SJI Board were joined by Justice Lidia S. Stiglich of the Nevada Supreme Court.
The Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR), on behalf of the State Justice Institute (SJI), is pleased to announce a peer exchange opportunity on June 13–14th, 2024, in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP). Up to six communities will be selected to receive travel scholarships through SJI to participate. These travel scholarships will allow each community to send a team of three to four practitioners to participate in the structured, 2-day peer exchange at no cost.
The peer exchange will be based in Montgomery County, Ohio, a community in the western part of the state that includes the city of Dayton. Throughout the 2-day site visit, the six visiting teams will have the opportunity to learn about and observe the many successful aspects of Montgomery County’s comprehensive, multidisciplinary substance use response.
Through this peer exchange, visiting teams can discuss and share best practices, exchange ideas and knowledge, and engage in peer networking events.
Visiting teams also will be provided opportunities to meet and process the information as a team. To learn more about Dayton/Montgomery Counties and other communities’ efforts to increase collaboration to address substance use, please read Cross-sector Collaboration Between Law Enforcement, Courts, Child Welfare, and Schools to Address the Impact of Substance Use Disorders on Children and Families in the United States.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this technical assistance opportunity, a community must meet the following criteria:
Please see the solicitation for additional eligibility information and peer site visit request requirements.
Full Details of Opportunity
Full details of this opportunity—including additional information about individual and cross-sector team eligibility requirements, the time commitment associated with this initiative, and the selection process—can be found in the solicitation at: https://www.cossup.org/Content/Documents/Funding/Cross-Sector_Collaboration_Site_Visit_Opportunity_Final.pdf.
How to Apply
Request forms will be reviewed and approved on a rolling basis, with submissions received by May 2, 2024, receiving priority consideration. Submissions will not be accepted after May 16, 2024.
Interested sites should submit their requests by completing this form. Once sites have completed the form and submitted their responses, they will receive a confirmation of receipt.
If needed, a PDF version of the questions is available here.
Questions
If sites have any questions about completing this form or have submission issues, they should email COSSUP@iir.com.
Courts seeking guidance on artificial intelligence (AI) now have access to two new resources, thanks to the AI Rapid Response Team (RRT).
The National Center for State Courts (NCSC)’s Getting Started and Platform Considerations resources provide practical interim guidance for courts on experimenting with AI tools, understanding how AI technologies use data, and evaluating contractual terms and conditions.
“This new guidance enables courts to confidently take some initial steps in experimenting with AI technologies to understand their potential moving forward,” said Shay Cleary, an NCSC Court Consulting Services managing director and AI RRT staff lead. “This guidance puts courts in the right direction.”
The AI RRT is a joint project of NCSC, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA).
Visit the AI RRT resource center to read the interim guidance and for current information and resources for both state and federal courts.
The Good Neighbor Emergency Assistance (GNEA) and the Iowa Judicial Branch have partnered to support The Housing Navigator Program. The Navigator at GNEA assists their clients in finding sustainable forms of housing assistance in Story County, Iowa, with the aim of preventing homelessness. They work with clients holistically to determine which programs offered by the state they may qualify for, and then offer help to apply for those programs. The navigator has helped individuals apply for SNAP, CIRHA, LIHEAP, Social Security, and Medicaid, as well as rent and utility assistance through Story County General Housing Assistance. The navigator also serves as a clearinghouse for information about job opportunities in the area, as well as other programs that they can direct clients to and offer help. They also work with various collaborations in Story County to ensure that GNEA is represented in landlord roundtables, as well as hunger, housing and transportation workgroups.
A large portion of the navigator’s time is spent in administering the Emergency Rent and Utility Assistance Program at GNEA. Much of that job involves liaising with the Story County General Assistance Program who performs a consolidated intake, working with clients on ensuring that their applications are complete, and connecting with landlords and utility companies to ensure that they are aware that assistance will be applied to the client’s account. This helps ensures that a client will not face late fees or be evicted, while during the application for assistance process.
The focus of the Navigator position expanded from dispute mediation to a more general homelessness prevention program. This has allowed agencies in the area to continue to work with landlords to resolve larger issues and to ensure that individuals themselves are not made homeless and can stay in their homes while assistance is being applied to their account. The program is valued by both the tenants and the landlords. Clients often do not get charged late fees (making it harder to pay back rent) and landlords do not have to go through the expense of evicting tenants that may eventually be able to pay rent on their own, and then re-renting the property.
The Navigator Program has accessed $219,395 in rent and utility assistance, and has spent more than 275 hours with clients helping them fill out forms, apply for more sustainable housing, food assistance and social security and Medicare. The navigator’s work has affected 575 households, which includes 590 children, 796 working age adults and 47 senior citizens. Their work has ensured that people remain in their homes, keep their utilities turned on, and get into programs that help them begin to take the steps toward more security in their lives. The Housing Navigator has been essential in upholding GNEA’s mission of homelessness prevention.
Upcoming #Webinar! Bureau of Justice Assistance Funding Opportunities for Courts. On Thursday, April 4th, 2024, at 03:00 PM EST, learn about the upcoming Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) funding opportunities that are available to state and local courts for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Among the presenters, is State Justice Institute‘s very own, Michelle White.
Presenters will detail the primary initiatives that BJA will fund and describe eligibility requirements, estimated funding amounts and application resources.
Register here.
Redesigning Legal with (IAALS) Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System is back on April 16th, 2024! Register today.
Register here: https://iaals.du.edu/events/redesigning-legal-cultivating-oasis-legal-service-deserts
In a newly released report, Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative, NCSC, shares examples of how courts expanded pre-pandemic virtual and hybrid proceedings or quickly adopted new technology and practices to accommodate new ways of doing business. The report notes that courts are now using remote and hybrid hearings throughout all 50 states in differing degrees for both civil and criminal case types. By definition, a hybrid hearing is one in which at least one participant is attending from the courtroom using the room’s audio/video infrastructure and at least one participant is attending remotely either via videoconferencing platform or phone, using audio, video, or both.
“The Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative was a natural extension of NCSC’s work during the pandemic,” said Lindsay Hafford, NCSC project director and principal court management consultant. “Connecting technology partners directly with courts provided an invaluable exchange for all participants as they worked toward the common goal of system improvement.”
The initiative reached courts in 28 states, two territories, and one tribal jurisdiction. The five technology partners — Cisco, Logitech, Speech 2 Data, televic, and Zoom for Government — supported the project with hardware, software, funding, and training.
The report features examples from 14 courts that demonstrate how funding; technology; facilities; staffing; and processes, procedures, and policies are all key to hybrid hearings’ success. Additionally, NCSC offers related resources, strategies, best practices, and guidance for successful virtual and hybrid hearings.
For more information and to read the full report, please visit: Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative | NCSC.
SJI has just released the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request. To read more, download now:
The SJI Board of Directors will be meeting on Monday, April 8, 2024, at 1:00 PM PT. The purpose of this meeting is to consider grant applications for the 2nd quarter of FY 2024, and other business.
ADDRESS: Nevada Supreme Court Law Library, 201 South Carson Street, Room 107, Carson City, Nevada.
