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May 2008 Vol. 18

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, No. 8 

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SJI AWARDS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES GRANTS

In May 2008, SJI finalized FY 2008 awards for the Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program. In FY 2008, SJI 

is using the SIG Program to focus on the impact of immigration in the state courts. Two grants were awarded; 

one to the Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS); and another to support a collaborative effort between the 

National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the National Judicial College (NJC). 

CPPS will work with three diverse jurisdictions to learn what challenges they face in addressing the needs of 

immigrant populations that use the courts; and how best to address those challenges. A guidebook will be 

developed for addressing the impacts of immigration in the state courts that can be used in courts across the 

United States. The guidebook will build on the work of this project by incorporating the practical lessons 

learned from the three pilot sites, and provide useful information and tools for other courts to adapt to meet their 

own needs. CPPS will also prepare a bench book for assisting judges across the United States in addressing the 

practical implications of immigration in the state courts for a variety of topics including pretrial release 

decisions, eligibility for and conditions of probation, the effects of guilty pleas on immigration status, and the 

intersection of federal and state laws – to include the impact of foreign law/treaty agreements, and federal 

notifications. CPPS and SJI are currently working to finalize the pilot sites and will provide more detail about 

those in future editions of the E-SJI News. 

The second SIG grant was awarded to NCSC and NJC to support and coordinate state and local efforts to 

address immigration issues. This project will gather current information from court leaders about the problems 

they are facing and solutions they have implemented to address this topic. Immediate, expert technical 

assistance will be provided to address critical trial court issues in dealing with both documented and 

undocumented immigrants. This technical assistance will use both proven case flow processes, in addition to 

developing new approaches to determining needs and providing solutions. In addition to the technical 

assistance, the project will develop an education curriculum, based on a needs assessment of trial judges and 

court staff confronting issues involving immigration. 

 As these projects move forward, SJI will provide updates in future editions of the E-SJI News and on the SJI 

website. 

Next Grant & Scholarship Deadline 2

Inside

Grant & Scholarship Deadlines 2 Maryland Truancy Grant 3
GRANT AND SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DEADLINES 

In FY 2008, SJI aligned the application deadlines for both new grant and scholarship applications. These 

deadlines, November 1; February 1; May 1; and August 1, correspond with the federal fiscal year quarters. The 

SJI Board meets on a federal fiscal year quarterly basis to make funding decisions because SJI is 100 percent 

federally funded. This structure allows SJI to start awarding new grants once its budget is provided by 

Congress each fiscal year, and award the grant funding across four fiscal quarters. 

While scholarship applications are considered on a “first come – first served” basis, the Board still has to 

consider them on a quarterly basis as outlined above. SJI strongly encourages potential scholarship applicants 

to submit their applications as soon as possible after the start of the federal fiscal year (October 1). Demand for 

SJI scholarships is extremely high. 

The majority of state and local courts operate on a calendar quarter basis; meaning the first calendar quarter of 

the year is January – March. Because of this, some applicants (especially for scholarships) have been confused 

about when to submit new applications to SJI. Staff hopes the following tables, which will also be available on 

the SJI website, provide more information: 

Due Date Federal Fiscal 

Year QTR

4 Oct-Dec 1-Nov 1

1 Jan-Mar 1-Feb 2

2 Apr-Jun 1-May 3

3 Jul-Sep 1-Aug 4

Calendar QTR for 

Submission

NEW GRANT APPLICATIONS

Due Date Federal Fiscal 

Year QTR

For Courses 

Beginning After

4 Oct-Dec 1-Nov 1 1-Jan

1 Jan-Mar 1-Feb 2 1-Apr

2 Apr-Jun 1-May 3 1-Jul

3 Jul-Sep 1-Aug 4 1-Oct

Calendar QTR for 

Submission

NEW SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS

NEXT GRANT & SCHOLARSHIP 

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Applications for all grants and scholarships must be received by SJI on August 1, 2008, to be considered for the 

fourth quarter of FY 2008. Please be advised this is not a mail date, but the date the application must be 

physically received by SJI. Notification of awards for scholarships will be completed by the beginning of 

September. New grant awards will be made by the end of September.

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 18, No.8 
Board of Directors

Chairman

Robert A. Miller 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

Supreme Court of South Dakota 

Pierre, SD 

Vice Chairman

Joseph F. Baca 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

New Mexico Supreme Court 

Santa Fe, NM 

Secretary

Sandra A. O’Connor 

States Attorney of Baltimore 

County (Ret.) 

Towson, MD 

Executive Committee Member

Keith McNamara, Esq. 

McNamara & McNamara 

Columbus, OH 

Terrence B. Adamson, Esq. 

Executive Vice-President 

The National Geographic Society 

Robert N. Baldwin 

Executive Vice President and 

General Counsel 

National Center for State Courts 

Carlos R. Garza, Esq. 

Administrative Judge (Ret.) 

Round Rock, TX 

Sophia H. Hall 

Administrative Presiding Judge 

Circuit Court of Cook County 

Chicago, IL 

Tommy Jewell 

Presiding Children’s Court Judge 

(Ret.) 

Second Judicial District Court 

Albuquerque, NM 

Arthur A. McGiverin 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

Supreme Court of Iowa 

Des Moines, IA 

Janice Munsterman 

Executive Director 

Jonathan Mattiello 

Deputy Director 

The State Justice Institute is a 

private, nonprofit corporation 

established by Federal law in 1984 

to improve the quality of justice in 

state courts, and foster innovative, 

efficient solutions to common 

issues faced by all courts. SJI is 

governed by a Board of Directors 

appointed by the President and 

confirmed by the Senate. 

MARYLAND JUDICIARY WORKS TO REDUCE 

TRUANCY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

The Maryland Judiciary was awarded a grant in FY 2008 to conduct an 

evaluation of three truancy court models. The goal of this evaluation is to 

provide the Judiciary with critical information on the most effective role 

Maryland’s judges can play in truancy intervention. Under provisions of the 

Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the State’s courts are 

charged to participate in enforcement of Maryland’s compulsory school 

attendance laws. In lieu of punitive sanctions, which include fines and 

imprisonment of parents or guardians of truant children, Maryland’s judges 

are also given the authority to intervene to “establish the terms and conditions 

which would promote the child’s attendance.” This authority to intervene is 

reflected in a pilot court-based truancy intervention program in Maryland’s 

First Judicial Circuit. It is also reflected in the voluntary participation of 

judges in a non-court program in Baltimore City. 

The objectives of this grant are to: 1) evaluate the processes and outcomes of 

the First Judicial Circuit and Baltimore City truancy intervention programs; 2) 

evaluate a mediation-oriented (non court-based) truancy intervention program 

operated by the University of Maryland’s Center for Dispute Resolution; and 

3) perform a comparative analysis of the three programs to assess the most 

appropriate and effective roles for courts and judges in truancy intervention 

activities. SJI is looking forward to future reports on this important topic. 

 

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SJI E-News is published by the State Justice Institute 

1650 King Street, Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314 

(703) 684-6100 Fax: (703) 684-7618 www.sji.gov

 Editors Design/Layout

Janice Munsterman Jonathan Mattiello 

Jonathan Mattiello 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 18, No.8