Contact: 
Sandy Adkins
Communications Specialist
National Center for State Courts
757.259.1515

National Court Reform Nonprofit Receives $3 Million in Grants

Money will fund various justice-related projects in fiscal 2010

Williamsburg, Va. (October 20, 2009) — The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has been awarded nine grants totaling more than $3.3 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out projects related to court performance and organization as well as court response to issues like domestic violence and elder abuse. The majority of the funding, which came from various offices and bureaus with the Department of Justice, is for fiscal 2010.

 

 

“In order for our nation’s courts to continue serving the public effectively and efficiently, they must have access to tools, information, and expert technical assistance,” said Mary C. McQueen, NCSC president. “The funding that the National Center has received will assist us in providing those elements, along with leadership and service, to state courts.”

 

 

The projects will be implemented by the National Center’s Research Division with assistance from NCSC’s educational arm, the Institute for Court Management. On several of the projects, the National Center will collaborate with other justice organizations, including the Conference of Chief Justices, Conference of State Court Administrators, the Center for Court Innovation, and SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics.

 

 

The grant names, amounts, and awarding bureaus or offices are as follows:

·         Translating Drug Court Research into Practice — $499,536
Bureau of Justice Assistance

·         A Curriculum to Promote High-Performing Courts — $450,000
Bureau of Justice Assistance

·         A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Red Hook Community Court — $438,065
National Institute of Justice

·         Court Statistics Project 2009 — $414,962
Bureau of Justice Statistics

·         National Leadership Summit on State Court Responses to Domestic Violence — $399,963
Office on Violence Against Women

·         National Instant Criminal Background Check System State Records Estimates Development and Validation Project — $399,694
Bureau of Justice Statistics

·         State Court Organization 2009 — $375,559
Bureau of Justice Statistics

·         Risk and Needs Assessment Instruments: A Guide to Courts — $264,747
Bureau of Justice Assistance

·         Elder Abuse Toolkit for the Courts — $149,555
Bureau of Justice Assistance

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National Center, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.

 

National Center for State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA  23185-4147