SJI NEWSLETTER 

In this Issue 

Page 1 

Volume 28, No. 4 

NACM 2018 Midyear 

Meeting 

1 

Military Families in Juvenile and Family Courts 

Initiative 

2 

NCSC Publishes 

Permanency Report 

2 

SJI and NJC Continue 

Support for Judicial Education 

3 

January 2018 

The National Association Court Management 

(NACM) is hosting its 2018 midyear meeting, February 11-13, 2018, in Orange County, California. Recently, NACM announced that the midyear meeting, 

“Bridging the Gap – the Power of Strategic Collaboration,” was closed to new and walk-in registrations. If 

you were previously waitlisted, you should know by 

the end of January whether NACM can make arrangements for your attendance. 

However, just because you are unable to attend inperson, does not mean you cannot participate. With a 

grant provided by SJI, live-streaming of midyear educational sessions and workshops will be available. In 

addition to the live-streaming and workshop broadcasts, there will be archived educational sessions for 

future viewing. SJI supports the development of educational content and its free dissemination online because court professionals are often unable to attend 

the NACM midyear and annual meetings in person. 

NACM Midyear Meeting: 

The Power of Strategic Collaboration 

Products and 

Resources

Since 2011, SJI has designated 

the library at the National Center 

for State Courts as the official 

repository of published work 

related to SJI-supported grant 

projects. You can search the 

ecollection online by using the 

term, State Justice Institute. 

The midyear meeting will address how strategic 

collaboration is vital for courts that seek to establish 

stronger partnerships and a greater sense of connection with the community. When courts and their 

partners collaborate, they work productively toward 

solutions that result in sustainable outcomes that 

impact public safety and access to justice. 

The midyear meeting will provide attendees with 

training and networking opportunities that will encourage them to consider how collaboration can be 

used to address systemic issues that intersect with 

internal and external interests of the judicial branch. 

The midyear meeting theme highlights the collaborative intersections that exist between the work of the 

court and the needs of the community by engaging 

the private sector and other governmental entities, all 

of which are essential in building a more responsive 

and forward-thinking model of justice. 

The agenda and video streaming will be available 

throughout the conference. 
Page 2 

SJI Newsletter Volume 28, No. 4 January 2018 

Military Families in Juvenile & Family Courts 

Earlier this month, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court 

Judges (NCJFCJ) announced 24 new and supplemental grant awards

from a variety of funders, including the State 

Justice Institute (SJI). This support, totaling more 

than $11 million, will ensure justice and improve 

outcomes for families and children in courts nationwide. 

SJI is pleased to support an initiative on military 

families in juvenile and family courts. In partnership with the U. S. Department of Defense, this 

initiative will allow the NCJFCJ to identify and 

recruit juvenile and family courts in jurisdictions 

with significant military presence; create an 

online national resource center; develop a training 

curriculum for judges, military command, and key 

stakeholders; and hold a second summit on military families and state courts for continuing and sustaining these efforts. 

Inaugural Permanency Report Provides Key Data on 

Foster Care and Placement 

care for more than 24 months and the percentage of foster children in the state who 

are waiting for adoption. The eight-page 

report utilizes data from Adoption and 

Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System 

(AFCARS) with measures provided by the 

National Data Archive on Child Abuse and 

Neglect and the Children's Bureau CFSR 

State Performance Workbook. While the 

report acknowledges that this is not the 

only or exhaustive way of evaluating permanency and progress, it identifies solid 

benchmarks for consideration. 

“The NCJFCJ is ecstatic to continue its partnership with the State 

Justice Institute to address issues faced by military families in the 

juvenile and family court system,” said Judge 

Anthony (Tony) Capizzi, NCJFCJ president. 

“Military families face unique challenges including long separations from one another as a 

result of deployments or relocations, chronic 

pain, traumatic brain injury and mental health 

including depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder. The NCJFCJ looks 

forward to working with judges to address the 

needs of military-connected families, with 

access to resources like counseling and child 

care services, while being sensitive to the traumas they may have experienced.” 

The National Center for State Courts 

(NCSC) released its inaugural Permanency 

Report. The report reveals state-by-state 

data on key foster care and permanency 

measures and the examples of strategies 

being implemented through the Reimagining Dependency Courts project, an effort 

supported by Case Family Programs. The 

project focuses on reducing court delay in 

achieving permanency for children and 

their families. 

Providing judicial leaders with children 

and family and outcome data, in addition to 

the court process measures courts are used 

to seeing, has been a very powerful driver 

of change at the statewide leadership level 

and among local trial court judges. 

Some of the measures found in the Permanency Report include the percentage of 

children in foster care who have been in 
Page 3 

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 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

Jonathan Lippman 

Chief Judge of New York (ret.) 

Of Counsel 

Latham & Watkins, LLP 

New York, NY 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

David V. Brewer 

Justice 

Oregon Supreme Court 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

President & CEO 

Center for HT 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 federallyfunded, non-profit corporation established by 

federal law in 1984 to improve the quality of 

justice in the state courts. 

SJI Newsletter Volume 28, No. 4 January 2018 

Please reference the 

2018 NJC Course 

Catalog online, as 

well as scholarship 

requirements. 

Scholarships are 

provided by individuals, foundations, the Bureau of 

Justice Assistance 

(BJA), the National 

Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the State Justice Institute (SJI). 

To learn more about financial assistance to attend NJC programs, please 

email njc-scholarships@judges.org or call (800) 25-JUDGE. 

SJI and NJC Continue to Support Judicial Education 

SJI and the National Judicial College (NCJ) continue to partner together 

to provide education for 

state court judges. 

In addition to funds leveraged through the SJI Educational Support Program, the NJC has also 

offered some of its our 

web-based, faculty-led 

courses for free. 

Among the upcoming NJC web-based courses of interest are: 

Evidence Challenges for Administrative Law Judges - February 

19 - April 6, 2018 

Fundamentals of Evidence - March 12 - April 27, 2018

Fundamentals of Evidence - March 12 - April 27, 2018