SJI Newsletter

June 2021 | Volume 31, No. 9

 

Family-Centered Justice

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Family-Centered Justice is a court-wide 

approach committed to focusing on the family unit though meaningful, strength-based 

and trauma-responsive engagement, intentional case coordination, and 

multidisciplinary support. Similar to family-centered practice in child welfare, FamilyCentered Justice promotes the value of family voice and family well-being.

The Family-Centered Justice program aims to transform the delivery of justice to 

children and families in courts throughout the United States by infusing effective 

family drug court principles into the broader family and dependency court system. 

The objective is to increase the capacity of state courts to intervene effectively with 

parents with substance use and/or co-occurring mental health disorders who are 
involved with the court as a result of child abuse and neglect issues. This program 

has the potential to impact of the lives of many children and families across the 

United States by supporting out-of-the-box solutions to address the shortcomings of 

traditional court processes. Through multi-disciplinary, collaborative work, 

participating jurisdictions will implement strategies believed to lead to improved 

outcomes for families impacted by parental substance use and child welfare 

involvement. The Family-Centered Justice funding opportunity is supported by SJI.

Family-Centered Justice Application Due Date: July 9th, 2021 at 5PM ET

Up to six sites will be selected to receive up to $50,000 in funding for a twelve-month 

project that includes a planning period. Applicants must demonstrate, at a minimum, 

buy-in from the courts, child welfare, and treatment. Selected grantees are expected 

to have a collaborative infrastructure in place that is capable of building the locality’s 

capacity to meet a broad range of needs for families involved with substance use 

disorder treatment, child welfare systems, court, and other service organizations. 

Grantees are expected to implement targeted approaches designed to increase wellbeing, improve permanency outcomes, and enhance the safety of children and 

families experiencing substance use disorders.

Access the Family-Centered Application

Access the full Family-Centered Solicitation and Application
Children and Opioids In State Courts Toolkit

Difficult Conversations Webinar Series Recording

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), with 

support from SJI, hosted a series of five webinars titled Opioids and the 

Courts- Difficult Conversations. NCJFCJ and expert faculty explored 

challenges associated with referring children and families to services in 

dependency and delinquency cases. The faculty and webinar attendees had 

the opportunity to discuss how courts and services providers can work together 

to meet the needs of families and improve their lives. Recordings of this 

webinar series and links to related resources can be found on the NCJFCJ

website.

In addition to the webinar series, the NCJFCJ provided training and technical 

assistance to juvenile and family courts across the country to address the 

effects of opioid use disorders (OUDs) and other substance use disorders 

(SUDs) on children and families. 

The project involved recruiting judicially-led court sites to engage in Targeted 

Resource Mapping to document the continuum of services available for 

children and families affected by OUDs and other SUDs. The project had two 

primary, interrelated goals for the sites to 1) gain knowledge of existing 

services on a local level; and 2) identify and address service gaps in an effort 

to ensure a healthy and effective continuum of services.

As a result of that work, the NCJFCJ developed the Targeted Resource 
Mapping Toolkit (Mapping Toolkit). The Mapping Toolkit includes templates to 

develop a Targeted Resource Map (resource map), Targeted Resource 

Directory (resource directory), and Targeted Resource Mapping Action Plan 

(action plan).

The Mapping Toolkit is intended to encourage and provide guidance to courts 

that are seeking to better understand existing resources, identify and address 

service gaps, and build relationships with providers in their community.

Click here to learn more about the Lessons Learned in Targeted Resource 

Mapping.

Funds Available for Mental Health Courts

Funds Available for Mental Health Courts at the Bureau of Justice Assistance

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is now accepting applications for 

its Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program. This year, funding is 

available through this program to jurisdictions creating or expanding a mental 

health court.

The grant program seeks to provide support to justice system agencies 

partnering with mental health agencies to reduce crime and recidivism 
associated with people with mental illnesses and co-occurring mental health 

and substance use disorders.

Grants are awarded over a period of 36 months beginning October 1, 2021 and 

are valued at up to $550,000 per award.

Applicants must meet two deadlines as part of a new two-step application 

process for all Department of Justice grants:

• June 22, 2021: The SF-242 and SF-LLL must be submitted to Grants.gov

• July 6, 2021: The full application must be submitted to JustGrants

New this year, grant applicants must comply with Executive Order 13929 Safe 

Policing for Safe Communities. See the grant solicitation for details on 

complying with the order.

Download the Solicitation

Additional Resources for Applicants

Assistance is available on navigating the Department of Justice's new 

JustGrants system, including FAQs, an application submission checklist, and 

recordings of past virtual Q&A sessions. You can access the full library of 

training resources here.

For technical assistance with submitting the SF-424 and SF- LLL in 

Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 

or support@grants.gov.

For technical assistance with submitting the full application in DOJ’s Justice 

Grants System (JustGrants), contact the JustGrants Service Desk at 833-872-

5175 or JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov.
Guidance for Evaluations of Allied Legal Professional 

Programs

The National Center for State Courts has released an evaluation framework for Allied 

Legal Professional Programs. In response to increases in the number of selfrepresented litigants, several states have moved forward on plans to create an 

additional tier of legal service providers, who are authorized to give limited legal 

assistance at a lower price than attorneys.

These “allied legal professionals” (ALPs) go by several different names, including 

Non-lawyer Legal Service Providers, Licensed Paralegal Practitioners, Legal 

Paraprofessionals, Legal Document Preparers, Limited License Legal Technicians, 

or Limited License Practitioners. With a generous grant from the State Justice 

Institute (SJI-20-P-021), the NCSC has issued a new report that highlights factors 

that states should consider as they design new ALP programs as well as guidance 

on designing an evaluation plan to assess their effectiveness.

The evaluation framework employs a “balanced scorecard” approach to ensure that 

evaluation measures take into account perspectives of important stakeholders, 

including courts, ALP clients, and the ALPs themselves. All of the evaluation 

measures address the same underlying primary question: to what extent do ALPs 

improve access to justice? The report is available here. The NCSC project team is 

also available to provide technical assistance to courts designing new ALP programs 

or planning an evaluation strategy.
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.

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

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