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                  - Home
                  - Grants                      - Project Grants
                    - Technical Assistance Grants
                    - Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grant
                    - Strategic Initiatives Grants
                    - Education Support Program
                    - Funding Toolkit 
                  - News
                  - Grantee Spotlights
                  - Priority Investment Areas                      - Court Pandemic Response and Recovery Grant Program 
                  - Grant Management
                  - About SJI                      - Board of Directors
                    - Executive Director
                    - Past Members
                    - SJI Budget 

### Supporting the Nation's Judicial System & the Public it Serves

## SJI Grantee Spotlights

FEATUREDApril 1, 2024

### 												The Housing Navigator Program											

The Good Neighbor Emergency Assistance (GNEA) and the Iowa Judicial Branch have partnered to support *The Housing Navigator Program*. The Navigator at GNEA assists their clients in finding sustainable forms of housing assistance in Story County, Iowa, with the aim of preventing homelessness.  They work with clients holistically to determine which programs offered by the state they may qualify for, and then offer help to apply for those programs.  The navigator has helped individuals apply for SNAP, CIRHA, LIHEAP, Social Security, and Medicaid, as well as rent and utility assistance through Story County General Housing Assistance.  The navigator also serves as a clearinghouse for information about job opportunities in the area, as well as other programs that they can direct clients to and offer help. They also work with various collaborations in Story County to ensure that GNEA is represented in landlord roundtables, as well as hunger, housing and transportation workgroups.A large portion of the navigator’s time is spent in administering the Emergency Rent and Utility Assistance Program at GNEA.  Much of that job involves liaising with the Story County General Assistance Program who performs a consolidated intake, working with clients on ensuring that their applications are complete, and connecting with landlords and utility companies to ensure that they are aware that assistance will be applied to the client’s account.  This helps ensures that a client will not face late fees or be evicted, while during the application for assistance process.

The focus of the Navigator position expanded from dispute mediation to a more general homelessness prevention program.  This has allowed agencies in the area to continue to work with landlords to resolve larger issues and to ensure that individuals themselves are not made homeless and can stay in their homes while assistance is being applied to their account.  The program is valued by both the tenants and the landlords.  Clients often do not get charged late fees (making it harder to pay back rent) and landlords do not have to go through the expense of evicting tenants that may eventually be able to pay rent on their own, and then re-renting the property.  The Navigator Program has accessed $219,395 in rent and utility assistance, and has spent more than 275 hours with clients helping them fill out forms, apply for more sustainable housing, food assistance and social security and Medicare.  The navigator’s work has affected 575 households, which includes 590 children, 796 working age adults and 47 senior citizens.   Their work has ensured that people remain in their homes, keep their utilities turned on, and get into programs that help them begin to take the steps toward more security in their lives.  The Housing Navigator has been essential in upholding GNEA’s mission of homelessness prevention.

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### Monitoring Guardianships and Conservatorships

March 1, 2023

To improve guardianship case management, the National Center for State Courts is leading two SJI-funded projects to help guide courts through guardianship monitoring. Developing a Judicial Response Protocol to Address Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in Guardianship Cases features an interactive tool designed to help judges respond to allegations of harm to individuals subject to guardianship. ... 

 Read More**

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### DV AWARE Dissemination Project: Building the Training Capacity of States, Meeting the Security Needs of Courts and Families

February 1, 2023

DV AWARE stands for Domestic Violence Analysis, Warning, Action, Recovery, and Engagement. Perpetrators of domestic violence can threaten the safety and well-being not only of their intimate partners and children, but also courts and communities. Beginning with a grant from SJI in 2021, the DV AWARE Project sought to support juvenile and family court systems ... 

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### National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness

January 1, 2023

On March 30, 2020, the Boards of Directors of the Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators took action to establish National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts Response to Mental Illness to assist state courts in their efforts to more effectively respond to the needs of court-involved individuals with serious mental illness. ... 

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### Puerto Rico Judicial Branch Electronic Court

December 1, 2022

During the pandemic, the Puerto Rico Office of Courts Administration (OCA) created an email account through which self-represented litigants (SRLs) seeking an emergency restraining order, a temporary detention or an involuntary admission order related to the Mental Health Code could file their petition to the Municipal Court.  SRLs could download, complete, and submit the applicable ... 

 Read More**

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### Convening County, Court & Justice Leaders: A Framework for Cross-System Collaboration Initiative

November 1, 2022

In January 2022, the National Association of Counties, Rulo Strategies, and Praxis Consulting launched a new initiative to support justice-oriented strategic planning co-led by judges and elected county leaders. This timely project leveraged the renewed interest many courts have, coming out of the pandemic, in partnering with local stakeholders to expand the resources available to ... 

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### Kentucky’s Responsive Education to Support Treatment in Opioid Recovery Efforts (RESTORE)

October 1, 2022

In 2020, the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) received a SJI grant to assess the court’s access to and use of mental health and substance use recovery services within the community. Funding allowed the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI) to conduct an assessment of strengths, opportunities and challenges that judges, court personnel and ... 

 Read More**

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#### LATEST NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

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#### SJI NEWSLETTER

March 2024 Vol.34 No.6

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