Volume 24, No. 11 August 2014 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

Human Trafficking 

Guide 

1-2 

Remote Interpreting 

Pilot in Wisconsin 

2 

SRLN Title IV-D 

Project Update 

3 

4th Quarter Grant 

Applications 

3 

Unaccompanied Immigrant Children 4 

Page 1 

New Guide to Addressing Human Trafficking 

and the State Courts 

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For important national resource 

announcements and partner 

updates, look no further than the 

SJI Facebook and Twitter pages. 

An electronic version of the National Association for 

Court Management (NACM) Guide to Addressing 

Human Trafficking in the State Courts is now available online. The HT Guide was produced by the 

Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative, an initiative funded by SJI. The release of the 

downloadable, 11-chapter, electronic version of the 

HT Guide follows the mid-July mailing of the hard copy version to the 

entire NACM membership. A limited 

number of hard copies of the HT 

Guide are still available. Please contact Dr. David Price for information 

about obtaining a hard copy. 

The HT Guide provides state court 

practitioners a comprehensive resource that: 

links to other resources to assist courts in addressing trafficking-related problems. 

Furthermore, the HT Guide has been prepared to support the courts not only in their traditional role as 

independent adjudicators, but also as justice system 

and community leaders. Even though state court 

judges and staff are the primary audience for the HT 

Guide, numerous other groups 

concerned about human trafficking – such as health and 

human service organizations, 

law enforcement agencies, and 

victim advocates – will find 

the HT Guide valuable. The 

HT Guide authors include 

court practitioners as well as 

leading experts knowledgeable 

about the types, dynamics, and implications of modern day slavery. 

The HT Guide was released by the HT Collaborative 

in partnership with NACM. Its origins date back to 

early 2013 when SJI provided initial funding to form 

the Collaborative to address the impact of human 

trafficking and the state courts. The Collaborative 

initially included the Center for Public Policy Studies 

(CPPS), the Center for Court Innovation (CCI) and 

the National Judicial College (NJC). Since then, the 

National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ), 

clarifies the types and dynamics of sex and 

labor trafficking involving U.S. citizens and 

foreign nationals; 

identifies how traffickers and victims may appear in different types of state court cases, including criminal, family, juvenile, child protection, ordinance violation, and civil cases; 

provides tools and guidelines to help courts 

identify and process cases where trafficking is 

involved; and, 

Continued on page 2 
E-SJI News Volume 24, No. 11 August 2014 

Page 2 

With SJI support, the National Center for State 

Courts (NCSC) recently completed a statewide 

assessment for the Wisconsin Director of State 

Courts Office (DSCO) to conduct a needs 

assessment for developing pilot remote interpreting services (SJI-12-P-015). Specifically, 

the scope of the assessment was to develop a 

method for choosing pilot counties and an 

action plan for developing a proposal to pilot 

remote interpreting services within a number 

of courtrooms, courthouses, counties, or judicial administrative districts. 

The project began by identifying a number of 

counties willing and able to implement remote 

interpreting, and developed a series of recommendations for the creation of an initial pilot 

program, as well as broader recommendations 

for expanding the use of remote interpretation 

throughout Wisconsin’s courts. The project 

included three phases: 

1) pre-assessment to develop a work plan 

and needs assessment strategy; 

2) survey information and data gathering 

from administrative and fiscal sources; 

and, 

Wisconsin Needs Assessment 

for Remote Interpreting 

3) evaluation through site visits and development of the written report. 

The NCSC assisted in the development of a 

survey, which covered types of technology 

used for remote interpreting, current situations used for remote interpreting, and attitudes towards remote interpreting. The information from the survey assessed the courts’ 

ability to provide remote interpreting services 

and created an information source, which 

when combined with other data allowed the 

remote interpreting working group to understand the following: 

Continued from page 1 

Existing hardware and connectivity 

within courthouses for remote interpreting through telephonic, computer, and 

video. 

Frequency of interpretation and the fiscal 

impacts of interpretation at the court 

level, across all language types. 

Internal and external challenges that may 

inhibit the use of remote interpreting 

services. 

By using a range of information sources, the 

Wisconsin DSCO is better able to develop a 

pilot and create testable business cases to adjust their model. This project will better inform the Legislature about the impacts of remote interpreting on court operations, use of 

certified interpreters, and the possible fiscal 

implications of incorporating technology to 

better manage costs and increase service quality. 

A downloadable copy of the report is available 

in the NCSC Library eCollection. 

Legal Momentum, and the National Council of 

Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) 

have joined the Collaborative, and all six organizations are now working to address the 

following strategic priorities: 

increase understanding and awareness 

about the challenges faced by state courts 

in dealing with cases involving trafficking victims and their families; 

develop and test state and local approaches for assessing and addressing the 

impact of human trafficking victims and 

defendants in the state courts; 

improve court services affected by human 

trafficking-related case processing demands; and, 

build effective national, state, and local 

partnerships for addressing the impacts of 

human trafficking case processing in the 

state courts. 

For the latest updates from the Collaborative, 

visit their website, Facebook and Twitter

pages. 
Page 3 

E-SJI News Volume 24, No. 11 August 2014 

The Self-Represented Litigation Network 

(SRLN) recently released a Resource 

Guide for court-based self-help programs. 

Developed through an SJI Grant (SJI-12-P086), this guide is intended to facilitate and 

support cooperation and coordination between the state courts and state Title IV-D 

child support agencies (IV-D agencies) to 

provide self-help services to parents and 

others who are navigating the child support 

process. The guide discusses the provision 

of federal resources and rulings that facilitate this process, and makes a case for how 

Self-Represented Litigation Network Releases 

Title IV-D Resource Guide for State Courts 

self-help models at the state court level can promote access to justice and further the goals of 

fairness and understanding during court proceedings. 

The guide provides details on how state courts 

may use Title IV-D child support funding to 

provide self-help services to self-represented 

litigants, including those involved in the following types of activities: 

Paternity establishment; 

Child support establishment; 

Child support modification; and, 

Enforcement processes. 

The guide offers details regarding five program 

areas impacted directly by the court’s processes 

that IV-D agencies are responsible for reporting 

metrics on, and are utilized in the configuration 

of payment. Furthermore, it delineates impacts 

and concerns state courts may face when establishing additional self-help services. A roadmap 

for developing a model cooperative agreement 

and relationship with IV-D agencies is also provided. 

More information on the SRLN and its work can 

be found on the SRLN website. 

SJI Receives FY 2014 Fourth Quarter 

Grant Applications 

SJI received seventeen (17) grant applications 

requesting a total of $1,246,000 for the 4th quarter of FY 2014. 

The Board will meet on September 5, 2014, to 

make decisions on grant awards for the 4th quarter. The next deadline for grant and Education 

Support Program (ESP) applications is November 1, 2014 (1st quarter, FY 2015). 

More information regarding application and reporting deadlines can be found online.
Page 4 

SJI Board of Directors

Chairman 

James R. Hannah 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Arkansas 

Little Rock, AR 

Vice Chairman 

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Senior Circuit Court Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

President & CEO 

Public Counsel Law Center 

Los Angeles, CA 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

Jonathan Lippman 

Chief Judge of the State of New York 

New York Court of Appeals 

New York, NY 

David V. Brewer 

Justice 

Oregon Supreme Court 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

Executive Director 

Legal Policy Strategies Group 

Bloomfield, CT 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

Isabel Framer 

President 

Language Access Consultants, LLC 

Copley, OH

Jonathan D. Mattiello 

Executive Director 

The State Justice Institute is a federallyfunded, non-profit corporation established by 

federal law in 1984 to improve the quality of 

justice in the state courts. 

E-SJI News Volume 24, No. 11 August 2014 

On August 14, 2014, the National Center 

for State Courts (NCSC), in partnership 

with Casey Family Programs held a webinar on the recent influx of Unaccompanied 

Webinar Provides Information 

on Unaccompanied Children and 

the State Courts 

Alien Children (UAC) across the U.S./Mexico 

border. The webinar provided background information for state court judges and practitioners 

on the UAC issue, and the potential impact on 

juvenile and family cases. The webinar panel 

included Judge Patricia Macias (ret.), Casey 

Family Programs; Dr. John Martin, Center for 

Public Policy Studies (CPPS); and David Slayton, State Court Administrator of Texas. Panelists presented statistics on this recent trend, explained the state courts’ role, shared effective 

court practices, and provided recommendations 

for state courts to prepare for this influx of unaccompanied immigrant children. 

E-SJI News 

Submissions 

SJI is always accepting submissions 

from its grantees for the E-SJI News. 

Articles of 500 words or less from 

projects that are either: a) ongoing, 

with information to share; or, b) have 

recently completed and could be 

beneficial to a larger state court audience, are of greatest interest. SJI reserves the right to edit all submissions for any reason. 

Submissions, including all article 

content in Microsoft Word, images or 

logos, and any links, should be sent 

to us electronically at 

kathryn.tuck@sji.gov by the 15th of 

each month.