Volume 22, No. 4 January 2012 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

SJI Request for Concept Papers 1 

Maryland Judiciary 

Truancy Court 

Evaluation 

2 

SJI Grant Reports & 

NCSC Digital Library 

2 

Texas Shared 

Solutions Summit 

3 

SJI is accepting concept papers to address selfrepresented litigation in the state courts – one of 

SJI's new Priority Investment Areas. SJI is seeking 

to fund project(s) that are innovative and national or 

statewide in scope, and will improve the efficiency 

and effectiveness of the state courts in addressing this 

critical issue. Some examples include (but are not 

limited to) unique approaches to maximizing court 

self-help centers and court-based volunteer attorney 

programs, and application of technology solutions to 

improve access for self-represented litigants and the 

state courts. Applicants must follow the concept 

paper guidelines. 

Page 1 

Request for Concept Papers: 

Self-Represented Litigation in the State Courts 

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING A CONCEPT PAPER 

Concept papers must not exceed 2 pages in length. All papers should be on official letterhead, structured according to the four sections below: 

Section I: Organization Information

Provide the following information about your organization in narrative form: 1) Name of organization and mission; 2) Services provided and target population; Current organizational budget; 3) Tax Status (nonprofit, government agency, etc.); and 4) Any work performed in the past 5 years 

in partnership, or on a contract basis with the state courts. 

Section II: Project Description

Provide the following information about your proposed project in narrative form: 1) Summarize in not more than one page your project; include 

its goals, target population, your capacity to provide the services, etc.; 2) Specify whether this project has national, state, and/or local significance, 

and to what extent this project could be replicated; 3) Identify any state court support specific to this project that has already been secured; and 4) 

List your measurable outcomes and briefly describe how you will evaluate impact. 

Section III: Budget Information

In narrative form, provide information specific to only this proposed project: 1) Dollar amount requested from SJI and number of months required 

for this project; 2) Total cost of the project (if different from requested amount); and 3) Specify when your most recent audit was performed and 

if there were any findings. 

Section IV: Contact Information and Authorization

Provide the following information as part of the overall concept paper: 1) Contact Information for Project Lead; 2) Full Name and Title; 3) Phone 

and Fax Numbers; 4) Mailing Address; 5) E-mail Address; and 6) Organizational Website. 

Concept papers will be reviewed and the SJI Board 

will decide which potential project(s) merit further 

exploration and possible funding. Concept papers 

must adhere to the guidelines below and address 

issues of content specified in the request. In addition, 

SJI may have additional requirements should the 

project(s) be funded. SJI's Grant Guideline will govern any award(s). The project(s) will be funded as a 

Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG). 

Concept papers are due to SJI via mail by February 15, 2012. Applicants must submit one original 

and two hard copies. The Board will make final 

decisions on award(s) by the end of April 2012. 
SJI Grant Products are Available at the NCSC Library 

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) 

Library is the official repository for all SJI 

grant products, including reports, curricula, 

media, and any documents in their final version created by SJI grant funding. Beginning 

in FY 2011, The NCSC Library became a 

centralized holding of these items, which 

replaced the previous requirement for SJI 

grantees to disseminate their final products to 

all 50 state court libraries. 

Applicants are strongly encouraged to research previously-funded SJI grants by reviewing grant products and presenting this 

information in their application. A benefit of 

the collaboration with the NCSC Library is 

their convenient online searchable catalog and 

digital archive. The catalog contains a list of 

all holdings at the physical location in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the digital archive 

allows users to access the electronic versions. 

All grantees are required to forward one hard 

copy and one digital copy (preferably in Adobe 

PDF or Microsoft Word) of their final grant 

product(s) to SJI. Project Grant recipients are 

requested to send three hard copies and one 

digital copy upon completion of their grant 

product(s). SJI makes all final grant products 

available to the NCSC Library for posting. 

Follow SJI on 

Facebook and Twitter 

For the latest information on projects, 

grant application deadlines, and updates. 

Connect with us on both forums by visiting our Facebook and Twitter pages. 

The Maryland Judiciary recently completed a 

multi-year project grant (SJI-08-N-086) designed to evaluate three different types of truancy courts that are currently active in the 

state. 

Under provisions of the Education Article of 

the Annotated Code of Maryland, the State’s 

courts are charged with participating in the 

enforcement of Maryland’s compulsory school 

attendance laws. In lieu of punitive sanctions, 

Maryland’s judges are also given authority to 

intervene to “establish terms and conditions 

which would promote the child’s attendance.” 

To help meet these requirements, the Maryland Judiciary completed an evaluation of 

three different programs that handle truancy 

cases. The goal of the evaluation was to provide feedback to Maryland’s courts and judges 

regarding truancy intervention. 

In total, a five-report series was produced 

through this grant, authored by the research 

and evaluation team from the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts, in collaboration with faculty and staff at the University of 

Maryland School of Social Work Ruth H. 

Young Center for Families and Children 

Maryland Judiciary Completes Evaluation of 

Three Unique Truancy Court Models 

E-SJI News Volume 22, No. 4 January 2012 

Page 2 

(RYC), and the University of Maryland Institute for Governmental Service and Research 

(IGSR). Each of the reports are summarized 

as follows: 

Evaluation of the Truancy Reduction Pilot 

Program in the First Judicial Circuit – this is 

the first report in the series presenting the 

evaluation of the Truancy Reduction Pilot 

Program (TRPP), which is a court-based truancy reduction intervention in the juvenile 

courts of the First Judicial Circuit of Maryland. 

Evaluation of the Truancy Court Program 

in Baltimore City – this second report in the 

series documents an evaluation of the schoolbased Baltimore City Truancy Court Program 

(TCP). 

Evaluation of the BSMART Program – the 

third report in the series evaluated “Baltimore 

Students: Mediation About Truancy Reduction” (B-SMART), a mediation program that 

works with students, parents, and schools to 

improve communication and address factors 

that may be contributing to student truancy. 

A Contextual Analysis: Truancy in Baltimore City and First Judicial Circuit – this 

fourth report in the series analyzed the social, 

economic, and other correlates and indicators 

of truancy in Maryland. 

Assessing School Attendance Problems 

and Truancy Intervention in Maryland: A 

Synthesis of Evidence from Baltimore City and 

the Lower Eastern Shore – this fifth report 

discusses and provides an overall background 

on truancy and truancy intervention ongoing in 

Maryland, as well as synthesis of findings and 

other relevant information from the other four 

reports. 

Where relevant, each individual intervention 

report contains information about the program’s impact on students’ academic performance, attendance, and court-involvement. 

The cadre of researchers, agencies, and the 

courts highlight where truancy is not the exclusive jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system and emphasize through the reports where 

significant community, school, and family 

collaborations have enhanced the relevance or 

effectiveness of the initiative. 

The reports can be downloaded from the 

NCSC Library Digital Archive. 
Page 3 

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 

Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

President & CEO 

Public Counsel Law Center 

Los Angeles, CA 

Robert A. Miller 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

Supreme Court of South Dakota 

Pierre, SD 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

David V. Brewer 

Chief Judge 

Oregon Court of Appeals 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

Policy Consultant 

Rabiteau Consulting 

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 22, No. 4 January 2012 

Shared Solutions Summit Charts a Course 

for Texas Trial Courts 

The Texas Judicial Council Shared Solutions 

Summit, (SJI-11-N-178) was held January 8 – 

10, 2012, at the AT&T Conference Center on 

the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. 

The Texas Judicial Council and the Conference of Urban Counties convened local justice 

leaders to share promising practices, plan collaborative local strategies, analyze data and 

identify opportunities, and chart a course for 

Texas courts that are both economical and 

effective. The goal of the summit was for the 

14 attending teams to be motivated and 

equipped to launch and sustain local justice 

system improvements in the context of criminal, child protection, mental health, juvenile 

Class C, and self-represented civil cases. 

Attendees generally regarded the Summit as 

an innovative first step towards collaboratively 

county district to pass files electronically and 

securely. Another attendee county received 

valuable information from the Travis County 

Office of Parental Rights to assist them in 

setting up an attorney representation model 

that includes assistance from social workers. 

Teams will continue to work on the process 

improvements plans drafted at the Summit and 

receive technical assistance from the OCA. 

addressing problems and issues currently impacting the courts in Texas. 

Although the Summit was only held recently, 

some “quick wins” have already been identified by the organizers. An attendee county 

approached the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) with a technology problem 

dealing with the sharing of case files. OCA 

provided a free solution that will enable a five-