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                  - Home
                  - Grants                      - Project Grants
                    - Technical Assistance Grants
                    - Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grant
                    - Strategic Initiatives Grants
                    - Education Support Program
                    - Funding Toolkit 
                  - News
                  - Grantee Spotlights
                  - Priority Investment Areas                      - Court Pandemic Response and Recovery Grant Program 
                  - Grant Management
                  - About SJI                      - Board of Directors
                    - Executive Director
                    - Past Members
                    - SJI Budget 

### Supporting the Nation's Judicial System & the Public it Serves

## SJI Grantee Spotlights

FEATUREDApril 1, 2024

### 												The Housing Navigator Program											

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.

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                        - Iowa-JB-Seal  (43 kB)
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### The Supreme Court of Ohio – Ohio ODR Pilot Program

September 1, 2022

The emergence of COVID-19 has had widespread effects throughout the court system and quarantine orders slowed operations. The Supreme Court of Ohio anticipated an influx of evictions and foreclosure filings in Ohio’s trial courts, as well as a backlog of civil cases.  Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor directed the Office of Court Services to convene stakeholders ... 

 Read More**

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### King County Superior Court, Washington – The Response of the King County Superior Court to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Recommendations

August 1, 2022

King County, Washington, was ground zero for the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The Washington State Supreme Court suspended most court operations in all courts on March 18, 2020.  Acknowledging access to justice is of critical importance, King County Superior Court (KCSC) leadership vowed to continue to hold matters on all ... 

 Read More**

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### Council of State Governments Justice Center – Courting Judicial Excellence in Juvenile Justice- A 50 State Study

July 1, 2022

Juvenile court judges are the most important public figures in the juvenile justice system–their decisions impact whether hundreds of thousands of youth each year become court involved and for how long, whether they are involuntarily removed from their homes and communities, and the services they receive. Despite the importance of these judges, states and locales ... 

 Read More**

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### Mississippi Center for Justice – Justice Court Access Program

June 1, 2022

Each county in Mississippi contains its own Justice Court where community members bring legal actions to settle local, small-dollar disputes. Court regulations and policies vary in each county, and they can be incredibly confusing for Mississippians to navigate, almost all of which are pro se litigants. The COVID-19 pandemic created more variation as judges and ... 

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### Texas Dispute Resolution System / Office of Dispute Resolution for Lubbock County – Mediation and Mental Health

May 2, 2022

Participating in the judicial system can be traumatic and stressful. Mediation is a tool used for resolving many judicial matters, thus mediators often encounter disputants experiencing the worst time of their lives. With this in mind, Texas Dispute Resolution SystemTM (TDRS) began a process to enhance their mediators’ skills and knowledge when engaging disputants during ... 

 Read More**

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### District of Columbia Courts – Language Access Project

April 1, 2022

The State Justice Institute awarded a key grant to the District of Columbia Courts’ Office of Court Interpreting Services to launch the Courts’ Interpreter Registry and the first-ever Amharic Court Interpreter Certification Examination.  These initiatives demonstrate the Courts’ commitment to increase access for Limited English Proficient (LEP) and deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals to the judicial ... 

 Read More**

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