Category: News And Announcements

Dual Status Youth – Technical Assistance Workbook, Updated Edition

The RFK National Resource Center has released the Dual Status Youth – Technical Assistance Workbook, Updated Edition to enhance its practical guidance for state and local jurisdictions on behalf of dual status youth. The highly successful framework, originally developed in 2003, continues to be presented in its original form given the successful outcomes it has generated for dual status youth and their families—as well as multi-system, youth-serving agencies throughout the country—for nearly two decades. 

This updated Technical Assistance Workbook provides access to a wealth of practical new examples of replicable products (e.g., memoranda of understanding, information sharing agreements, policies, procedural narratives, multi-disciplinary team structure and operations, system performance and outcome measures, data collection and reporting methods) that will support state and local jurisdictions seeking to undertake this important work. The RFK National Resource Center’s Dual Status Youth Practice Network and Peer Mentors are featured, demonstrating how peer-to-peer partnerships can assist jurisdictions in effectively navigating through challenges and obstacles to create successful outcomes. Additionally, the updated Technical Assistance Workbook highlights the increased importance of Implementation Science principles and tenets to ensure sustainability of dual status youth initiatives.

Currently, the RFK National Resource Center is working in five states and nine jurisdictions to positively impact multi-system initiatives on behalf of dual status youth. These efforts, combined with its long history of intensive technical assistance partnerships, have resulted in lessons learned, replicable products, and practice methods in more than thirty jurisdictions across the country. These are presented in the updated Workbook.

Like its predecessor, the updated Workbook serves as a companion piece to the Guidebook for Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare System Coordination and Integration: A Framework for Improved Outcomes, Third Edition (2013). Look for the red Guidebook icon in the workbook to reference to additional materials found in the Guidebook. 

Four-Part Series Explores Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Criminal Justice System

Through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, NIJ has made available the following final technical reports (these reports are the result of an NIJ-funded projects but were not published by the U.S. Department of Justice):

Title: Artificial Intelligence in the Criminal Justice System: Demystifying Artificial Intelligence, its Applications, and Potential Risks
Authors: James Redden, Molly O’Donovan Dix
Links: Summary, Full Document (pdf, 10 pages)

Title: Artificial Intelligence Applications in Law Enforcement: An Overview of Artificial Intelligence Applications and Considerations for State and Local Law Enforcement
Authors: James Redden, Brian Aagaard, Travis Taniguchi
Links: Summary, Full Document (pdf, 10 pages)

Title: Artificial Intelligence Applications for Criminal Courts: An Overview of Artificial Intelligence Applications for Prosecutors and Associated Considerations for the Criminal Court System
Authors: James Redden, Duren Banks
Links: Summary, Full Document (pdf, 11 pages)

Title: Artificial Intelligence in Corrections: An Overview of AI Applications and Considerations for Systems Administrators a Policy Makers
Authors: James Redden, Christopher Inkpen Ph.D., Matthew DeMichele Ph.D.
Links: Summary, Full Document (pdf, 8 pages)

View all recently added publications and multimedia.

Ethics Awareness Month

March is Ethics Awareness Month. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has published the winter issue of the Judicial Conduct Reporter and is available online. The issue reviews judicial ethics and discipline in 2020 with stories on:
• State judicial discipline in 2020
• Removal cases in 2020
• Top judicial ethics and discipline stories of 2020


What judges said to women that got them in trouble:
• Judicial participation in demonstrations, protests, marches, and rallies
• Judicial ethics and discipline during a pandemic


What judges said that got them in trouble in 2020:
• What they said to or about litigants that got them in trouble • What they said to or about criminal defendants that got them in trouble
• What they said to or about attorneys that got them in trouble
• What they said to court staff that got them in trouble
• What they said in election campaigns that got them in trouble
• What they said to law enforcement that got them in trouble
• What they said off-the-bench that got them in trouble
• What they said on social media that got them in trouble


The Judicial Conduct Reporter is published electronically on NCSC’s website, and an index and current and past issues of the Reporter are available online. Anyone can sign up to receive notice when a new issue is available.

The SJI Funding Toolkit: An Important Resource in Supporting Court Applicants for Federal Grants

The FY 2021 Federal Grant Season is well underway with numerous open solicitations available.  Make sure to visit SJI’s Funding Toolkit for the latest grant information.  The Toolkit includes current grant solicitations, along with templates that can be used to prepare a grant application.  

As a reminder, applicants for DOJ/Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grants should be aware there is a new process this year that includes both grants.gov and JustGrants.  Make sure you are aware of the deadlines and separate requirements to ensure your application is accepted.

The Toolkit also includes  FAQs about the grant making process, along with an answer from a grant expert.  Follow SJI on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest FAQ and funding announcements.  Send your funding and grant questions to fundingtoolkit@sji.gov.  Experts will provide answers, as well as references to additional resources.

New Resources to Address Human Trafficking

SJI continues to addresses the impact of federal and state human trafficking laws on the state courts, and the challenges faced by state courts in dealing with cases involving trafficking victims and their families.  These efforts are intended to empower state courts to identify victims, link them with vital services, and hold traffickers accountable.  Several new resources are now available:

The National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) at the American University/Washington College of Law, working in partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ)  is launching a National Judicial Network: Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts (“The Network”).  The Network will provide a forum for judges to: engage in peer-to-peer learning sessions with judges from across the country; participate in webinars; communicate with other judges in a member-only confidential Listserv; access topic-specific publications; and attend future in-person trainings on issues that arise in state courts involving human trafficking and immigrant victims.

The U.S. Department of Justice/Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) continues to provide resources that can help organizations and programs increase identification of, and enhance service delivery to, survivors of human trafficking:

  • The Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center helps organizations and tribes start, sustain, or expand their anti-trafficking work. Visit the new website for more information about the Center, its services, and a wealth of downloadable anti-trafficking resources.
  • The Development and Operations Roadmap for Multidisciplinary Anti-Human Trafficking Task Forces publication, produced by the International Association of Chiefs of Police with funding from OVC and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, provides new and experienced anti-human trafficking task forces with guidance to assess and plan task force development from start to sustainability.
  • The Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) recently released the Human Trafficking Action Research Toolkit. The toolkit provides information, strategies, tools, and other resources to help organizations and programs understand and conduct action research.
  • The Understanding Human Trafficking training, another resource offered by OVC TTAC, provides foundational learning on trauma-informed and victim-centered approaches to human trafficking through five interactive online modules designed so that a wide audience can benefit.

For more information and resources on anti-human trafficking efforts, please visit the Human Trafficking section of OVC’s website.

NIWAP and NCJFCJ Launch “The Network”

The National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) at the American University/Washington College of Law, working in partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ)  is launching a National Judicial Network: Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts (“The Network”).  

The Network will provide a forum for judges to engage in peer-to-peer learning sessions with judges from across the country, participate in webinars, communicate with other judges in a member-only confidential Listserv, access topic-specific publications, and attend future in-person trainings on issues that arise in state courts involving human trafficking and immigrant victims.  The Network Forums are intended to help judges learn more about these complicated issues and, consequently, improve access to justice for human trafficking and immigrant victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and other crimes. 

NIWAP is inviting judges to join bi-monthly, peer-to-peer virtual learning sessions on the first Tuesday of every other month from 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST.  Each session will be led by a judicial facilitator, with topics set in advance by The Network’s steering committee. The first peer-to-peer session will be March 2, 2021, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST.   During the first session, NIWAP will discuss the purpose of The Network, one of whose objectives is to identify best practices and tools that NIWAP can develop under its SJI grant.  You will hear from experienced judges about the goals of The Network, including the development of live webinar trainings, which can be uploaded and shared with your local jurisdiction.  As a member of The Network, you will be invited to participate in a Network members-only confidential Listserv through which you can communicate with other judges about human trafficking and immigration law issues that arise in your court or other state court cases. 

If you are interested in joining The Network, please register through this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VGY9VJM

Registrants will receive regular updates and registration information for peer-to-peer sessions, the confidential Listserv, and webinars/trainings.

NIWAP also has a current SJI grant is titled, Human Trafficking Victims: Developing Training and Tools for Courts.  Under this grant, NIWAP is developing materials on human trafficking, providing technical assistance, and offering pilot trainings for state court judges and judicial employees on human trafficking and the T Visa.  To view current deliverables under this grant, please use this link:

https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/sji-jtn-materials

Utah Pilots ODR in Select Courts for Small Claims Caseload

With grant support from SJI, and technical assistance provided by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the Utah Courts have completed a multi-year review of the online dispute resolution (ODR) program.

In September of 2018, Utah became one of the first states to initiate an ODR pilot effort to aid in the processing of small claims cases effectively and efficiently.  Often litigants are self-represented, and the dockets fill quickly – lending these case types to benefit greatly from streamlined and procedural improvements made possible through technology.  

The report, titled Impact of the Utah Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Pilot Program, provides a thorough evaluation of Utah Courts’ in-house, customized ODR system, the procedural requirements for ODR, and impact of their system.  In the recommendations, the consultant advises the Courts to review the findings of the 2020 University of Arizona’s usability study, to help guide improvements to the current ODR platform in advance of statewide deployment.

Ultimately, both reports acknowledge that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, court users were both receptive and ready for online solutions.  With COVID-19, the national trend finds jurisdictions embracing remote courts as a way of creating fair, just, and equitable online legal environments that meet the needs of all users.

Report Details Nationwide Preliminary Findings of Adoption of Virtual Services in Judicially-Led Diversion Programs

The SAMHSA-funded Opioid Response Network, with efforts by its grantees, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), Rulo Strategies, and Wayne State University, Center for Behavioral Health and Justice, has added a new report to their resources.

Adoption of Virtual Services in Judicially Led Diversion Programs: Preliminary Survey Findings is the first nationwide exploration of virtual services in judicially led diversion programs.  Since March 2020, public health measures designed to slow community spread of COVID-19, necessitated that practitioners in judicially led diversion programs quickly deliver services virtually to facilitate what had traditionally been in-person interactions.  

Released this month, the 43-page report highlights preliminary survey findings based on 500 respondents involved in judicially led diversion programs.  The survey respondents represent 298 unique judicially led diversion programs in forty states and territories and reflect the perspectives of practitioners from court operations, treatment and recovery support, and community supervision in November and December 2020.

SJI Provides Resources to Assist Grant Applicants

Three grant deadlines remain for FY 2021 SJI Grant funding:

  • February 1, 2021 (2nd QTR)
  • May 1, 2021 (3rd QTR)
  • August 1, 2021 (4th QTR)

All new SJI grant applications must be submitted via the online Grant Management System (GMS).  Refer to the Grant Application Guide for additional information.

The SJI Funding Toolkit provides support to local courts, state courts, and their justice system partners pursue federal and philanthropic funding opportunities.   

Recent additions to the toolkit include:

  1. New Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) updated weekly: https://fundingtoolkit.sji.gov/faq/

Updated Court ¢ents podcast addressing Formula Block Grant Opportunities for Courts: https://anchor.fm/funding-toolkit/episodes/Formula-Block-Grant-Opportunities-for-Courts-eolveu/a-a49suh9