February 2008

E-SJI News

Vol. 18, No. 5

What’s Inside

SJI Grant Programs 2 FY 2008 2nd Quarter Grant Applications 2 Scholarship Reimbursement 3

Reminders 3 New SJI Website 4 Contact the staff 4

SJI/PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS PARTNERSHIP

ON EVIDENCE-BASED SENTENCING

SJI recently finalized a new Partner Grant with Pew

Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety Performance Project.

The goal of these activities is to promote fiscally

sound, data-driven policies and practices on sentencing

and corrections that protect the public safety, hold

offenders accountable, and control correctional costs.

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the

Crime and Justice Institute (CJI), and the National

Judicial College (NJC) will be working together to

provide technical assistance, education, and training to

State courts in this vital area. The participating organizations are pleased to be working together on this

partnership activity.

The three main areas of activity for this project are:

1) educating and mobilizing chief justices and other

state court leaders in support of state sentencing and

corrections reforms; 2) helping create national visibility and awareness of the need for state sentencing and

corrections reforms; and 3) training state judges and

other court leaders in select states on the use of evidence-based practices, particularly in the areas of

offender risk assessment, correctional programming,

responding to technical violations of probation, and

performance measurement. As part of these activities,

NCSC and CJI will work intensively in select states

where the Public Safety Performance Project is working to provide non-partisan research, analysis, training,

and consulting services regarding evidence-based

practices to court officials and community corrections

executives. Information and services will also be

available to state courts and judges across the United

States. In addition, NCSC and NJC will develop an

innovative model curriculum for state judges on evidence-based practices to reduce recidivism.

The Pew Public Safety Performance Project currently

works in 11 states to promote policies that maintain

public safety, hold offenders accountable, and control

corrections costs. For more information please visit

the project’s website: www.pewpublicsafety.org. 
Page 2 E-SJI News - Vol. 18, No. 5

SJI received 21 grant applications requesting a total of $843,349 for the 2nd quarter of FY 2008. This represents

an increase of $311,434 (or 59 percent) over the amount requested for the 2nd quarter of FY 2007. For the 1st

and 2nd quarters of FY 2008, SJI has received 27 grant applications requesting a total of $1,062,841. The Board

will meet on April 18, 2008, to make decisions on grant awards for the 2nd quarter. The results of this Board

meeting will be available the following week. 

FY 2008 2nd QUARTER GRANT APPLICATIONS

SJI’s mission is to improve the quality of justice in

State courts, and foster innovative, efficient solutions

to common issues faced by all courts. To fulfill this

mission, SJI awards grants that benefit the nation’s

judicial system and the public it serves. SJI currently

awards six types of grants, each of which is specifically targeted:

Project Grants – are the centerpiece of the SJI’s efforts

to improve the administration of justice in State courts

nationwide. Project Grants are intended to support

innovative technical assistance, education and training,

and demonstration projects that can improve the

administration of justice in State courts locally or

nationwide.

Partner Grants – allow SJI and Federal, State, or local

agencies or foundations, trusts, or other private entities

to combine financial resources in pursuit of common

interests.

Strategic Initiatives Grants – provide SJI the flexibility

to address national court issues as they occur, and

develop solutions to those problems. For FY 2008, SJI

is using this program to address immigration issues in

the State courts. 

Technical Assistance (TA) Grants – designed to provide State and local courts with funding to obtain

expert assistance to diagnose a problem, develop a

response to that problem, and initiate implementation

of any needed changes. Only State or local courts may

apply for Technical Assistance grants.

Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants –

enable courts to modify and adapt model curricula or

course modules to meet State or local jurisdiction educational needs; train instructors to present portions or

all of the curricula; and pilot-test them to determine

their appropriateness, quality, and effectiveness. 

Scholarships – enhance the skills, knowledge, and abilities of judges and court managers by supporting attendance at programs sponsored by national and state

providers that they could not otherwise attend because

of limited State, local, and personal budgets. SJI has

reserved at total of $175,000 for scholarships for

FY 2008.

There are no funds reserved specifically for Project,

Partner, TA, or CAT grants. SJI reviews applications

for these grants on a competitive basis (in the case of

Partner Grants, other review factors are used) to determine awards. Applicants may directly apply for each

of the grant types above, within the requirements contained in the FY 2008 SJI Grant Guideline. The exception is Strategic Initiatives Grants, which are awarded

by SJI directly to select grantees based on the scope

and objectives of the issue being addressed. Potential

applicants are strongly encouraged to contact SJI with

any questions prior to submitting grant applications, or

to discuss ideas about future projects. 

SJI GRANT PROGRAMS

nd
SCHOLARSHIP REIMBURSEMENT

In recent months, SJI has been carefully reviewing the Scholarship Program and making various changes which

have been mentioned in previous versions of the E-SJI News. Current scholarship recipients who will be submitting reimbursement requests are reminded of the following:

Scholarship recipients are encouraged to refer to the FY 2008 Grant Guideline for more information, or contact

SJI with any questions prior to submitting the reimbursement request.

Scholarship awards and payment requests may not exceed $1,500.

Scholarship funds may only be used to cover the costs of reasonable lodging expenses not to

exceed $150 per night.

Recipients who drive to a program site may only receive $.485/mile up to the amount of the

advanced-purchased round-trip airfare between their homes and the program sites.

Funds to secure conference fees, meals, materials, transportation to and from airports, and local

transportation (including rental cars) – at the program site must be obtained from other sources

or borne by the scholarship recipient.

To receive the funds authorized by the scholarship award, recipients must submit a paid tuition

statement from the program sponsor, a transportation fare receipt (or statement of driving

mileage to and from the recipient’s home to the site of the educational program), and a lodging

receipt. Copies of methods of actual payment for each expense (i.e. checks, credit cards, etc.)

may also be submitted.

Payment requests must be for the course specified in the original application. A scholarship

award is non-transferable to another individual.

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Page 3 E-SJI News - Vol. 18, No. 5

REMINDERS

NEXT GRANT & SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DEADLINE

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

for the 3rd 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 early

June. New grant awards should be made by the end of the month, depending on the date of the Board

of Director’s meeting. The date of that meeting will be placed on the SJI website as soon as possible,

so that you will know the earliest start date for approved projects. 
Page 4 E-SJI News - Vol. 18, No. 5

SJI News is published by the State Justice Institute

1650 King Street, Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314 

(703) 684-6100 Fax: (703) 684-7618 Web site address: http://www.statejustice.org

Editors

Janice Munsterman

Jonathan Mattiello

Design/Layout

Candice Jackson

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

Van Debrick

Chief Financial Officer

The State Justice Institute is a private, nonprofit corporation established by Congress

in 1984 to provide support for projects to

improve the quality of justice in State

courts. SJI is governed by a Board of

Directors appointed by the President and

confirmed by the Senate.

CONTACT THE STAFF

Are you on the E-SJI News e-list? Would you like to be? If so, please send your name and email

address to esjinews@statejustice.org to start receiving the E-SJI Newsletter. 

Janice Munsterman, Executive Director

jmunsterman@statejustice.org, Ext. 202

Jonathan Mattiello, Deputy Director

jmattiello@statejustice.org, Ext. 210

Van Debrick, Chief Financial Officer

vdebrick@statejustice.org, Ext. 203

LaVerne Durham, Program Manager

ldurham@statejustice.org, Ext. 204

Candice Jackson, Office Manager

cjackson@statejustice.org, Ext. 200

Ryan Williams, Finance Manager

rwilliams@statejustice.org, Ext. 206

NEW SJI WEBSITE

SJI launched its new website in October 2007. The goal of this website is to

provide information about what SJI does, in addition to useful information

and forms to grant applicants and current grantees. The website contains the

latest news, copies and archives of E-SJI News, an “About Us” tab that provides information about SJI and its Board of Directors, and information on the

different types of grants. Just as important, the website contains a forms page

that includes all the SJI forms required to apply for and manage a SJI grant.

These electronic forms can be saved by the user and are in formats that are

compatible with the vast majority of computer operating systems. SJI is committed to further improving the website, and we hope that you find the information contained on the website helpful.