SJI NEWSLETTER SJI NEWSLETTER

In this Issue 

Page 1 

Volume 26, No. 1 

National Summit on Human Trafficking 

Promoting 

Our Work

SJI not only uses Facebook and 

Twitter to promote the work of 

its grantees, but also shares information of interest to the entire state court community. If 

your organization’s work complements ours, let us know and 

we will share that information. 

Factsheet on Domestice Violence, Sexual 

Assault, & Human 

Trafficking 

1 

Pilot States Needed for 

Conservatorship 

Accountability Project 

2 

Guardianship Webinar 

Now Available 

2 

Web Library for State 

Court Cases Involving 

Immigrants 

3 

The National Summit on Human Trafficking and the 

State Courts was held October 7-9, 2015, in New 

York City. Each state sent a team made up of judges, 

court managers, and other key stakeholders, as appointed by that state’s chief justice. The Summit was 

an overwhelming success, with teams from 46 states, 

4 U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia. 

The first day was filled with expert panel discussions 

on human trafficking from the judicial perspective; 

labor trafficking; engaging stakeholders; and innovative strategies to address human trafficking by courts 

and communities. The second day included breakout 

sessions for state teams to work on their state court 

action plans for responding to human trafficking. 

October 2015 

The state teams then reconvened to report back on the 

action planning and discuss their goals moving forward. 

The Summit was hosted by the New York Unified 

Court System, under the leadership of Chief Judge 

Jonathan Lippman. The Conference of Chief Justices 

(CCJ), Conference of State Court Administrators 

(COSCA), National Center for State Courts (NCSC), 

New York State Bar Association, and the Women’s 

Bar Association of the State of New York also partnered on this incredible event. More information 

about the Summit, including plenary session videos, 

will be released soon. 

the Center for Court Innovation and the SJI-funded 

Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative. 

Resources continue to be made available by the HT 

Collaborative. 

The Intersection of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking is designed for a wide 

range of justice system stakeholders and offers some 

practical advice for developing integrated solutions 

initiated by the court. 

Research indicates that the vast majority of human 

trafficking victims experience multiple forms of 

abuse, such as domestic violence and sexual assault. 

This factsheet helps justice system stakeholders understand the overlap between intimate partner violence and human trafficking, and offers advice for 

jurisdictions interested in planning or enhancing a 

court-based response. 

The factsheet also provides multiple resources for 

further reading including additional products from 

New Factsheet on Domestic Violence, 

Sexual Assault, & Human Trafficking 
Page 2 

SJI Newsletter Volume 26, No. 1 October 2015

Made possible through an SJI Grant, the Center for Elders and the Courts 

(CEC) at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), has posted a call 

for states to become pilots for the Conservatorship Accountability Project (CAP) (SJI-11-N-177). CAP aims to modernize conservatorship 

accounting and tracking processes and build safeguards to protect vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. A full synopsis of the CAP is 

available online. 

CEC invites state courts to apply to be one of three pilot sites that will 

receive free technical assistance from the NCSC. The application deadline is Friday, December 11, 2015. A selection panel will review applications and announcements will be made in January 2016. To be eligible 

for participation as a CAP pilot state, the following qualifications are 

required: 

1. Submit application from the highest court of each state; 

2. Assemble a team of experts representing, at a minimum, a project 

manager, court technologists, business analysts, and guardianship/

conservatorship experts, and end user expertise from professional 

and/or private conservators; 

3. Have the ability to pilot the software in the state within twelve 

months of the receipt of technical assistance; 

4. Have the capacity to integrate the software into the case management system. At a minimum, statewide conservatorship forms (e.g., 

budgets, audit forms, accountings) will be necessary to design the 

final software solution; and, 

5. Become founding members of the CAP Network and be willing to 

contribute to the development of a technical manual and an implementation guide. 

Conservatorship Accountability Project 

Seeks Pilot States 

For more detail regarding the application and project point of contact, 

please review the full, “Conservatorship Accountability Project (CAP) 

Pilot Sites Application Form,” online. 

NCSC is working closely with the Minnesota Judicial Branch and its 

Conservator Account Auditing Program, which oversees the nation’s 

only conservatorship software program, MyMNConservator (MMC). 

Through the CAP pilot, the state courts selected will receive resources 

to move their conservatorship case management closer towards implementation of a similar system. Courts interested in participating in the 

pilot, but not yet familiar with the MMC, may attend an online demonstration on Wednesday, November 4, at 12:00 CST. To register 

for the demonstration, please contact Minnesota’s Conservatorship 

Account Auditing Program (CAAP) Program Manager, Cate Boyko, 

at Cate.Boyko@courts.state.mn.us. 

Guardianship Webinar Offers Ways to Improve 

Protocols and Practices in the State Courts 

To help courts effectively handle the growing number of guardianship 

cases, the National Center for State Court's Center for Elders and the 

Courts developed a webinar that outlines specific steps courts can take 

to improve services. 

The webinar, sponsored by the National Association for Court Management (NACM), based on its Adult Guardianship Guide — encourages courts to improve data collection and move toward performance 

measures. 
Page 3 

SJI Board of Directors

Chairman 

James R. Hannah 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Arkansas 

Little Rock, AR 

Vice Chairman 

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Senior Circuit Court Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

Principal 

Bird Marella P.C. 

Los Angeles, CA 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

Jonathan Lippman 

Chief Judge of the State of New York 

New York Court of Appeals 

New York, NY 

David V. Brewer 

Justice 

Oregon Supreme Court 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

Executive Director 

Legal Policy Strategies Group 

Bloomfield, CT 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

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 26, No. 1 October 2015

Legal Momentum, through its partnership with the National Immigrant 

Women's Advocacy Project (NIWAP, pronounced new-app), received 

successive Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) grant awards in 

2012 and 2013 to develop and provide resources to assist courts and 

judges in cases involving immigrant parties, victims, and witnesses (SJI12-E-169 and SJI-13-E-199). 

These resources, including bench cards, charts, and other tools, assembled over the past three years, have now been cataloged in a web library, 

hosted by the American University, Washington College of Law. Included in the web library for use by state courts and their partners are: 

1. DHS: Immigration Options for Crime Victims (Brochure)

2. U-Visa Certification Tool Kit for Federal, State and Local Judges, 

Commissioners, and Magistrates (February 3, 2014)

3. Judicial Ethics of U Visa Certifications

4. Bench Card: DHS Enforcement Priorities Information for State 

Court Judges

5. Securing Attendance of Immigrants in Detention at State Court 

Proceedings

6. Economic Remedies, Services and Public Benefits For Crime Victims and Children

Web Library for Cases Involving Immigrants 

7. Recordings from Webinars and Webcasts for Judges and Court 

Staff

Also included in the web library are slideshow presentations given 

across the United States to judges and court administrators, including: 

State Courts and the Protection of Immigrant Crime Victims and 

Children (Austin, TX)(October 18, 2013)

State Courts and the Protection of Immigrant Crime Victims and 

Children (Wisconsin Dells, WI)(November 8, 2013)

State Court Rulings and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status 

(Washington, D.C.) (December 5, 2013)

State Courts and the Protection of Immigrant Crime Victims and 

Children - Webcast, Washington D.C. (January 31, 2014) State 

Courts and the Protection of Immigrant Crime Victims and Children - Fairfax, VA July 29, 2014

Additional items found in the web library include several legal and 

social science bibliographies, as well as information regarding additional training opportunities available from NIWAP and Legal Momentum.