To help courts effectively handle the growing number of guardianship cases, the National Center for State Court’s Center for Elders and the Courts developed a webinar that outlines specific steps courts can take to improve services. The webinar, sponsored by the National Association for Court Management (NACM), based on its Adult Guardianship Guide — encourages courts to improve data collection and move toward performance measures.
Category: News
National Summit on Human Trafficking and the State Courts
The National Summit on Human Trafficking and the State Courts was held October 7-9, 2015, in New York City. Each state sent a team made up of judges, court managers, and other key stakeholders, as appointed by that state’s chief justice. The Summit was an overwhelming success, with teams from 46 states, 4 U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia.
The first day was filled with expert panel discussions on human trafficking from the judicial perspective; labor trafficking; engaging stakeholders; and innovative strategies to address human trafficking by courts and communities. The second day included breakout sessions for state teams to work on their state court action plans for responding to human trafficking. The state teams then reconvened to report back on the action planning and discuss their goals moving forward.
The Summit was hosted by the New York Unified Court System, under the leadership of Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), National Center for State Courts (NCSC), New York State Bar Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York also partnered on this incredible event. More information about the Summit, including plenary session videos, will be released soon.
New Guide on Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors and the State Courts
The Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) are increasing state court capacity to address the increasing number of immigrant children likely to appear in state courts. With SJI support, CPPS and the NCSC recently released a Guide to State Court Cases Involving Unaccompanied Immigrant Children. The purpose of the Guide is to increase understanding among state court judges, court administrators, and other key stakeholders regarding:
- Federal immigration law, policy, and practice, and the impact on state court cases involving Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs);
- How the work of the state courts in cases involving UACs intersects with the needs of the federal immigration system;
- The different types of cases and matters where UACs might appear in state courts; and
- The potential role of the state courts in providing factual findings in cases involving UACs.
While there are other forms of federal immigration relief for refugees, victims of human trafficking, and other groups, the Guide focuses solely on the state court findings required for use in federal determination of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). The Guide also provides recommended action steps for state courts to use in addressing cases involving UACs.
To date, CPPS and the NCSC have: hosted a national webinar on the UAC issue, which is available online; created a webpage for additional resources; released an information card for judges and court practitioners on SIJS.
SJI Awards FY 2015 Fourth Quarter Grants
The SJI Board of Directors met on September 21, 2015, at the Supreme Court of Texas in Austin to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of ten (10) new grants. The Board awarded a Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) to support the National Conservatorship Accounting Project. Through this project, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) will further expand conservator monitoring software first developed in Minnesota (also with SJI support). The project will: 1) disseminate, adapt, and pilot conservatorship accounting software developed in Minnesota to three additional states; and 2) develop and test tools to identify problematic cases and direct critical resources to those cases. As part of these efforts, the NCSC will convene a Conservatorship Accountability Project Network to encourage more states to adopt this software. The Board also awarded a SIG to the NCSC to support the State Courts Election Law Resources project in preparation for the 2016 elections. This project will result in an election law curriculum that each state can use to develop its own customized lesson plans; a series of on-demand webinars featuring prominent subject matter experts; and a resource toolkit on election law available to state court judges.
Six (6) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were approved, including: assistance to the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court for an operational review; a Family Law Unit Reengineering project in the Orange County, California, Superior Court; assistance to the Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts for a statewide juvenile probation officer review; funding to the Fulton County, Georgia, Juvenile Court to support a project focusing on educational neglect cases; training tools for state court judges on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status provided by American University; and, a court consolidation impact assessment for the 25th District Court of Michigan.
Two (2) Curriculum Adaptation & Training (CAT) Grants were approved: support to the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) for judicial education on human trafficking issues, including a new focus on developing jurisdictional collaborative teams to address human trafficking; and the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts for an online pretrial services education program which will be made available to all state courts.
New Mexico Continues to Provide National Language Access Training
Supported by SJI, the New Mexico Center for Language Access at the Administrative Office of the Courts, initiated and developed a portal for obtaining language access training in the courts. The Language Access Basic Training (LABT) Suite consists of interactive modules that provide introduction to language access for both monolingual and bilingual court staff. The training provides court staff with a basic understanding of their ethical and legal obligations, as well as current best practices in serving limited English proficient and non-English speaking individuals. LABT also provides training modules and an optional skills assessment for bilingual court staff. Outside of New Mexico, Alaska, Pennsylvania, and Nevada are top users of the LABT Suite, having trained several hundred court staff. New Mexico has used the training for its language access specialists and bilingual judiciary staff certified to provide language access services outside the courtroom. Other states have expressed interest in incorporating this online training into their overall training and education programs.
Individual courts staff and entire courts are eligible to access the LABT Suite for a low cost ($15.00 – $35.00/user based on the total number of users), and the Bilingual Skills Assessment is also available. Courts interested in customizing the experience for their employees may also explore this option by contacting the LABT administrator. To learn more about the LABT Suite, including training topics, computer software and hardware requirements, and the time necessary to complete each module, please review the website which contains demos of some of the training module content.
Trends Publication Highlights the Use of Technology to Better Serve SRLs
Earlier this month, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) released its 2015 Trends in State Courts. The annual publication highlighted leadership and technology featuring several articles in covering each area. Featured in the article “Litigant Portals Provide a New Approach to Help Self-Represented Litigants,” by Dr. Thomas Clarke, is mention of an SJI grant (SJI-14-P-041) to the NCSC and the Self-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN). This Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) is enabling the NCSC and the SRLN to develop technical requirements for future court customer service portals for self-represented litigants. The project also includes assessments of programs and technologies that provide remote services for self-represented litigants. Included in the evaluation are the court systems in California, Utah, Alaska, Minnesota, and Maryland, as well as a the Orange County, California, Superior Court. Results from this project will be available later in 2015.
Human Trafficking Toolkit for State Courts
With support from SJI, the Center for Court Innovation (CCI) has just released its latest resource for state courts and communities, Responding to Sex Trafficking in Your Jurisdiction: A Planning Toolkit. This toolkit offers a step-by-step process to help courts and communities assess their current approaches to human trafficking and prostitution, and develop or enhance a state court-based response. The materials in the toolkit are based on promising practices identified through both CCI’s demonstration projects, and national training and technical assistance. For more information, or to request assistance, contact CCI, which offers training and technical assistance to state courts as a member of the SJI-funded Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative.
SJI Board Member Honored
In May, Judge Gayle Nachtigal received the 2015 Emma C. McKinney Distinguished Citizen award from the Hillsboro, Oregon Chamber of Commerce. The award is presented every year in honor of the longtime Hillsboro Argus matriarch. The Argus will make a $500 donation to a nonprofit organization of Judge Nachtigal’s choice. Judge Nachtigal currently serves as a Senior Circuit Court Judge in Washington County, Oregon. Her leadership in a range of national organizations, including the American Judges Association, National Center for State Courts’ Court Consulting Advisory Board, and SJI, have made her a sought after voice on issues relevant to the state courts. Judge Nachtigal has been a member of the SJI Board of Directors since 2010, and serves as the Board’s Secretary.
Update on FY 2016 Appropriations
The House Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Subcommittee on Appropriations marked up the FY 2016 CJS bill on May 14, 2015, which included SJI’s full request totaling $5,121,000 (the same level as FY 2015). The bill was subsequently approved by the full Appropriations Committee on May 20th, and the House on June 4th. The Senate CJS Subcommittee marked up the bill on June 10th, and the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill on June 11th, both of which also included SJI’s full request.
SJI Awards FY 2015 Third Quarter Grants
The SJI Board of Directors met on June 29, 2015, at the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in Portland to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of fifteen (15) new grants. The Board awarded a Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) to support Phase III of the Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative. With additional funding, the HT Collaborative will continue to provide resources, training, and technical assistance to the state courts on this critical issue.
Two (2) Project Grants were approved: the Hawaii Judiciary to complete a workload and workflow assessment of Court Operations staff; and, the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts to conduct the statewide Chief Justice’s 2015-2017 Multi-Disciplinary Study Commission.
Eight (8) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were approved, including: assistance to the NCSC to develop a peacemaking model in the state courts; a courthouse design project for the Mohave County Superior Court in Arizona; assistance to the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts for a statewide data repository project; funding to the Missouri Office of the State Courts Administrator to support a collection of best practices in municipal courts; a planning project for the Superior Court of Santa Barbara County, California; assistance to the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida for its Miami-Dade Civil Courthouse P3 Effective Solution; and, case management improvement projects for the 15th Judicial Circuit Magistrate’s Court in Florida and the Appellate Courts of the State of Washington.
Four (4) Curriculum Adaptation & Training (CAT) Grants were approved: support to the Virginia Supreme Court to deliver a workshop via distance learning; the 10thJudicial Circuit of Florida to deliver court communications programming to personnel; and, two grants to the National Judicial College (NJC) for development of two courses, including a web version of Taking the Bench: An Online Course for New Judges, and an advanced water rights course, Established Water Rights, Changing Conditions.