SJI Newsletter

February 2021 | Volume 31, No. 5

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 inperson 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 HEADQUARTERS RELOCATION

Effective March 1, 2021, SJI Headquarters will be located at the following address:

12700 Fair Lakes Circle, Suite 340

Fairfax, VA 22033

For questions, please email: contact@sji.gov
SJI Board of Directors

Chair

John D. Minton, Jr.

Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Kentucky

Frankfort, KY

Vice Chair

Daniel J. Becker

State Court Administrator (ret.)

Utah AOC

Salt Lake City, UT

Secretary

Gayle A. Nachtigal

Senior Circuit Court Judge

Washington County Circuit Court

Hillsboro, OR

Treasurer

David V. Brewer

Justice

Oregon Supreme Court

Salem, OR

Jonathan Lippman

Chief Judge of New York (ret.)

of Counsel

Latham & Watkins, LLP

New York, NY

Chase T. Rogers

Chief Justice (ret.)

Supreme Court of Connecticut

Partner

Pitney Day, LLP

Hartford, CT

Wilfredo Martinez

Senior Judge

State of Florida

Orlando, FL

Marsha J. Rabiteau

Executive Director

Center for Human Trafficking Court Solutions

Bloomfield, CT

Hernan D. Vera

Principal

Bird Marella P.C.

Los Angeles, CA

Isabel Framer

President

Language Access Consultants, LLC

Copley, OH

Jonathan D. Mattiello

Executive Director

The State Justice Institute is a federally-funded, non-profit corporation established by federal law in 1984 to 

improve the quality of justice in the state courts.

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