The National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO) has developed a monograph, funded by SJI, for use as a guide in structuring modern-day activities and functions for governing and leading state and local trial courts regardless of size or jurisdiction. It outlines the basic duties each of the court’s top court leaders – the presiding or chief judge, and the court executive officer or court administrator – are expected to perform, the competencies required to do a good job, and the relationships that they must nurture with each other and other justice system stakeholders to be successful.
The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) held its final two Paths to Justice events which focused on racial justice by bringing together diverse perspectives to engage in a dialogue around inequities in the civil justice system, and how it relates to public trust and confidence. IAALS has published two issue papers highlighting outcomes and key takeaways.
This newly released report is the first national review of data that confirms what judges have anecdotally shared about remote hearings before and during the pandemic. The 12-month study analyzed both 1.25 million minutes of judicial data and focus group feedback from judges and court leaders in eight counties across Texas. The NCSC study, supported with generous funding from the State Justice Institute, found that remote proceedings take about a third longer than in-person hearings largely due to technology-related issues and lack of preparation by participants. But the study also found that remote proceedings take longer because they increase access to justice, as litigants can more easily attend and participate in hearings. To access the full report, click here.
Learn more about the findings and recommendations of this State Justice Institute funded study here.
On behalf of the Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC), we invite you to complete the questionnaire below to inform the development of a Rural Justice Roadmap. This initiative is part of the RJC’s 2022-2023 priorities as outlined here and will communicate the funding, training, technical assistance, and research needs of rural justice and public safety practitioners.
The questionnaire is designed to collect information from rural justice and public safety practitioners (e.g., judges, law enforcement, pretrial and probation officers, corrections, prosecutors, defense attorneys), rural justice and public safety partners (e.g., substance use treatment providers, public health staff, child welfare staff), and rural project coordinators managing cross-sector projects.
The RJC is partnering with the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) and RTI International to develop the Rural Justice Roadmap. IIR and RTI International support the Rural Responses to the Opioid Epidemic initiative sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program. This initiative receives funding and other support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Justice Institute (SJI).
The questionnaire should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. The deadline to complete the survey is April 1st, 2022.
The National Association for Court Management (NACM) Adult Guardianship Guide is an essential resource to assist courts in planning, developing, and sustaining a comprehensive court guardianship and conservatorship program. The update to the Adult Guardianship Guide emphasizes the recent recommendations from the State Justice Institute (SJI) and Borchard Foundation grant-supported Fourth National Guardianship Summit. It promotes person-centered planning and the least restrictive options necessary for persons who are unable to fully care for themselves. It identifies provisions within the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (UGCOPAA) and highlights advancements in court programs and initiatives which enhance existing guardianship practices. The updated Adult Guardianship Guide is publicly available through NACM, and is accessible here.
A newly released report from National Center for State Courts, supported with funding from State Justice Institute, adds a new number of considerable interest to state courts: 277. That’s the number of provisions in the U.S. Code – the body of laws adopted by the United States Congress – that ask state courts to take specific action (or to not take actions) with respect to federal matters.
In November 2020, the Family Center of the Conciliation Court (FCCC) within the Arizona Superior Court in Pima County, was awarded a Pandemic Response and Recovery grant from the State Justice Institute (SJI) to implement the Court’s vision of converting what was an employee-led, in-person parent education course to an on-demand, online, and self-paced e-Learning program. Grant funds were used to design, launch, and evaluate the e-Learning program and the process used to convert the course from an in-person format to an on-demand, virtual platform. In addition, doing so would enhance access and convenience to parents in the long-term, post pandemic. The Court also anticipated cost savings, gaining efficiencies, and building internal capacity (e.g., to convert other curricula to virtual, self-paced formats) as a result of this project.
FCCC began providing the state mandated Domestic Relations Education on Children’s Issues Course (A.R.S. §25-351), Microsoft Word – 2012-08.doc (azcourts.gov), known more commonly as the Parent Education Program, in house as of July 2007. Parent Education (pima.gov). The course is required for all parents going through a legal separation, divorce or paternity action who have minor children. Pre-COVID-19 pandemic, Parent Education classes were delivered in both English and Spanish by FCCC staff during the week, some evenings, and on weekends. More than 3,700 parents annually participated in these in-person classes.
In March 2020, mandatory parent education classes offered by the FCCC were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. This disruption gridlocked Family Law calendars because, pursuant to Arizona statute, parties involved in domestic relations cases are required to complete parent education training before legal processes can advance. Though course delivery was re-instated in July 2020 using Microsoft Teams, access limitations remained, resulting in continued domestic relations case backlog.
An interdisciplinary committee of Superior Court staff was involved in the design, development, and pilot implementation with the support of the Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). The Court and PRAXIS/Dr. Brenda Wagenknecht-Ivey collaborated on the project with PRAXIS taking the lead on the evaluation. At the inception of the pilot, one hundred and sixty-nine parents enrolled in the on-demand course between August 12th – October 14th, 2021. They comprised the pilot population; their responses to the end-of-course evaluation were used in this evaluation.
Superior Courts in Arizona use a standard set of questions developed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to assess the quality and effectiveness of parent education programs presented across the state, pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes and the Arizona Code of Judicial Administration. A few additional questions were added to the evaluation for purposes of this project and the pilot. They included:
Convenience of completing the online, e-Learning parenting class.
Ease of logging in to and navigating the e-Learning parenting modules.
Efficiency of completing the Court mandated requirement through the e-Learning parenting class.
Likelihood of recommending the e-Learning parenting course to a friend or colleague who also is required to complete the course.
Experience of Parents – Detailed Results
Parents who opted into the pilot and completed the e-Learning course overwhelmingly rated their experiences positively.
Relevance: 87% agreed that the class material was relevant to their personal situation
Easy to Understand: 96% agreed that the class materials were presented in a manner that was easy to understand
Convenience: 95% agreed they were able to complete the class modules at times that were convenient for them
Easy to navigate: 86% agreed it was easy to log-in/ navigate through the e-Learning modules
Efficiency: 95% agreed the e-Learning class was an efficient way to complete the Court mandated requirements
Key Finding: Parents were very satisfied with their experience, and most are extremely likely to recommend the e-Learning course to others.
All parents who completed the on-demand E-Learning parenting class were required to complete the course evaluation before receiving a Certificate of Completion. The course evaluation was built into the on-line program and parents were automatically directed to the evaluation questions upon successfully passing the end-of-course quiz (with 80% accuracy).
In addition to the above, in October 2021, Dr. Joi Hollis, FCCC Director, and committee co-chair, shared progress and demonstrated the e-Learning course to Arizona (AOC) staff, judicial officers, court administrators and Conciliation Court directors across Arizona. The presentations and updates to multiple audiences generated considerable interest in this project, with many other Arizona Courts expressing an interest in making it available to their court users. The Court is now working with the AOC as it plans to expand the e-Learning program to counties across Arizona and invest in developing a Spanish-speaking version.
As of February 2022, with the pilot now complete, the on-line version of the parent education program remains in high demand and has over 900 registrants since its inception in August 2021. For additional questions regarding the evaluation results, contact PRAXIS Consulting/Dr. Brenda Wagenknecht-Ivey at bwagen@praxisconsulting.org.
Ten programs in eight states and Puerto Rico will receive recognition for their work in rural communities by the Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC). The programs have been nominated for their innovative practices in justice, child welfare, behavioral health and public health. The RJC showcases the strengths of rural communities and highlights cross-sector collaboration success to overcome unique challenges that impact their ability to deliver fair and equitable justice. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is working with Rulo Strategies on the RJC, with funding support from the State Justice Institute. The work under the RJC is supported by an advisory council composed of rural judges along with additional stakeholders in the justice, child welfare, behavioral health, and public health systems.
Innovation sites selected in February 2022 include:
For All Seasons, Inc. Serving rural counties along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, For All Seasons is a behavioral health and rape crisis center that offers therapy, psychiatry, rape crisis and mental health services to clients regardless of one’s ability to pay.
Opioid Response as County Law Enforcement (ORACLE) initiative. This crisis-intervention and recovery response program based out of the Ulster County (NY) Sheriff’s Office provides direct assistance to people who overdose and works with public and private organizations to coordinate a wide array of services.
Gender Violence Initiative.Serving a rural population in Puerto Rico, the Gender Violence Initiative is a court-based program that works with community partners to connect domestic and sexual violence survivors with victim services and offer a specialized gender court.
Texoma Alliance to Stop Abuse, Inc. This rural Texas program provides batterers’ intervention and prevention classes and victims’ services including transportation, safety planning, counseling and financial assistance.
Benevolence Farm. A trauma-informed, nonprofit social enterprise, this program provides transitional employment and housing for formerly incarcerated women in Alamance County and rural communities in North Carolina. Residents develop various life skills, including small business practices, sustainable farming, and food and product preparation.
Journey Court is a voluntary trauma-informed drug treatment court that provides treatment and intervention services for addicted justice-involved people in Clinton County, Michigan. Participants receive case management, referrals to treatment providers or inpatient facilities, peer recovery support and relapse prevention planning.
Rankin County Youth Court. This juvenile court provides various intervention and treatment programs for young people and their families involved in delinquency and child protection cases in Mississippi.
Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy is a court diversion program operating out of Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson, and Sevier counties that serves justice-involved people who are at a lower risk for recidivism but have high behavioral health service needs due to substance use disorders and mental illness.
Lyon County Human Services Forensic Assessment Triage Team is a jail-based community re-entry program in Nevada that provides treatment intervention and reentry facilitation for the Lyon County Jail. Participants are evaluated for mental health, substance use, basic needs, and risk of reoffending.
Join us! SJI is hosting a free webinar on Federal Grant Management on February 28th, 2022 from 1:00-3:00PM EST.
The webinar will provide an overview of the federal grant system, focusing on key grant management requirements set forth in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (the “Uniform Guidance”) codified at 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (and at 45 C.F.R. Part 75 for Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) awards).
• Expanding Community Education on Estate Planning and Probate Administration;
• Simplifying Transfers of Certain Property and Notice Requirements;
• Increasing Access to Self-Help Materials and Legal Advice;
• Adjusting Levels for Allowances, Reimbursements, and Small Estates; and more.
When a person dies, their debts must be paid, and their property distributed, through the probate process. Probate is a complex area of law, and many people cannot afford an attorney to guide them through it. In January 2020, CCE and ATJC formed an expert Working Group to address the challenges faced by self-represented individuals during probate. The working group ultimately developed recommendations in 20 areas to strengthen probate processes for everyone and increase access to justice for low- and moderate-income people.
The report’s release comes after over two years of research into other jurisdictions, case reviews, and interviews with self-represented individuals, D.C. probate court employees, and legal practitioners. The diverse and distinguished Working Group included experienced probate lawyers, public interest advocates, independent subject-matter experts, and Superior Court judges and the Register of Wills as advisory members.
