The Atlantic Philanthropies, in conjunction with the Public Welfare Foundation and the Open Society 

Institute, awarded the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges the Judicially Led 

Responses to Eliminate School Pathways to the Juvenile Justice System in March of 2012. The 

NCJFCJ will provide training and technical assistance to help judicial leaders develop efforts to 

reduce referrals of youth to juvenile courts for school-based misbehaviors and to expand the use of 

positive disciplinary practices in schools. The NCJFCJ’s goal for this project is to support student 

engagement and reduce school exclusion as outlined in the resolution passed by the NCJFCJ Board 

of Trustees in the spring of 2012. 

Project Activities

 Develop a Practice Guide designed to include components of judicial leadership, engaging 

stakeholders, problem-solving, dynamics of school-to-juvenile justice penetration, and 

diversion and alternative case handling. (Completed April 2014) 

 Train facilitators to work with local jurisdictions to conduct site assessments, convene 

stakeholders, and develop strategic action plans including protocols and policies for school 

referrals to the justice system. (Completed August 2012) 

 Conduct on-site technical assistance, training and strategic planning for up to 16 jurisdictions 

struggling to address the school-to-juvenile justice system pipeline. (Beginning April 2014) 

 Present at national conferences on the fundamental issues of the school-to-juvenile justice 

system and emerging responses to limit system penetration. (Beginning in 2013) 

 Author a technical assistance bulletin containing an overview of the project, lessons learned, 

outcomes, and promising practices. (To be published June 2015) 

 Dedicate a section on the NCJFCJ’s website to house links, publications, and resources for 

eliminating the school-to-juvenile justice pipeline. (Ongoing) 

The NCJFCJ received 55 applications from courts across the country wanting to participate in the 

project. The NCJFCJ was able to fund 16 court sites to participate in the project. The review 

committee had the difficult task of not only reviewing and scoring applications, but also took into 

consideration the geographic spread and population size of the jurisdictions in order to ensure that 16 

diverse sites were selected for the project. The 16 sites selected for participation in the project are: 

•Tehama County Superior Court (Red Bluff, CA) 

SCHOOL PATHWAYS TO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM PROJECT
•Tippecanoe County Superior Court (Lafayette, IN) 

•Hoopa Valley Tribal Court (Hoopa, CA) 

•Muskegon County 14th Judicial Circuit Court (Muskegon, MI) 

•Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Pasco & Pinellas Counties (Clearwater, FL) 

•Kentucky Statewide Initiative with focus on Fayette & Campbell Counties (Lexington & Newport, KY) 

•Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County (Memphis, TN) 

•Fulton County Juvenile Court (Atlanta, GA) 

•Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of El Paso County (Colorado Springs, CO) 

•Middletown Superior Court (Middletown, CT) 

•Middlesex County Juvenile Court (Lowell, MA) 

•26th Judicial District Court of Mecklenburg County (Charlotte, NC) 

•Superior Court of Sacramento County (Sacramento, CA) 

•Family Court of the State of Delaware (Wilmington, DE) 

•Third Judicial District Court of Dona Ana County (Las Cruces, NM) 

•Circuit Court for Prince George's County (Upper Marlboro, MD) 

Selected sites have been be assigned a Site Visit Facilitator recruited by the NCJFCJ due to their 

knowledge of school-court issues and/or experience with team facilitation and strategic planning. 

Each selected site will receive at least one onsite visit to help identify problematic issues with school 

referrals to the court system and to facilitate strategic planning to address those issues. Site Visits will 

begin in April 2014 and will continue through March 2015. Free online training and additional 

technical assistance may be offered to the selected sites on special topics. 

For more information contact the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges at: 

Phone (775) 784-6012 | Fax (775) 784-6628 | P.O. Box 8970 | Reno, Nevada 89507 | www.NCJFCJ.org