SJI Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grant Program

The State Justice Institute is accepting applications for its Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grant Program.

Donor Name: State Justice Institute

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of the Grant: Grant

Deadline: 05/01/2022

Size of the Grant: $40,000

Grant Duration: 12 months

Details:

Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grants are intended to: enable courts or national court associations to modify and adapt model curricula, course modules, or conference programs to meet states’ or local jurisdictions’ educational needs; train instructors to present portions or all of the curricula; and pilot-test them to determine their appropriateness, quality, and effectiveness; or to conduct judicial branch education and training programs, led by either expert or in-house personnel, designed to prepare judges and court personnel for innovations, reforms, and/or new technologies recently adopted by grantee courts.

Funding Information

• Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants may not exceed $40,000 and 12 months in duration.

Eligibility Criteria

SJI is authorized by Congress to award grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to the following entities and types of organizations:

• State and local courts and their agencies (42 U.S.C. 10705(b)(1)(A)).
• National nonprofit organizations controlled by, operating in conjunction with, and serving the judicial branches of state governments (42 U.S.C. 10705(b)(1)(B)).
• National nonprofit organizations for the education and training of judges and support personnel of the judicial branch of state governments (42 U.S.C. 10705(b)(1)(C)). An applicant is considered a national education and training applicant under section 10705(b)(1)(C) if:
  • The principal purpose or activity of the applicant is to provide education and training to state and local judges and court personnel; and
  • The applicant demonstrates a record of substantial experience in the field of judicial education and training.
• Other eligible grant recipients (42 U.S.C. 10705 (b)(2)(A)–(D)).
  • Provided that the objectives of the project can be served better, the Institute is also authorized to make awards to:
    • Nonprofit organizations with expertise in judicial administration
    • Institutions of higher education
    • Individuals, partnerships, firms, corporations (for-profit organizations must waive their fees)
    • Private agencies with expertise in judicial administration
    • SJI may also make awards to state or local agencies and institutions other than courts for services that cannot be adequately provided through nongovernmental arrangements (42 U.S.C. 10705(b)(3)).

SJI is prohibited from awarding grants to federal, tribal, and international courts.

Selection Criteria

In addition to the criteria detailed below, SJI will consider whether the applicant is a state or local court, a national court support or education organization, a non-court unit of government, or other type of entity eligible to receive grants under SJI’s enabling legislation; the availability of financial assistance from other sources for the project; the diversity of subject matter, geographic diversity; the level and nature of the match that would be provided; reasonableness of the proposed budget; the extent to which the proposed project would also benefit the federal courts or help state or local courts enforce federal constitutional and legislative requirements; and the level of appropriations available to SJI in the current year and the amount expected to be available in succeeding fiscal years, when determining which projects to support.

CAT Grant applications will be rated based on the following criteria:

• Goals and objectives of the proposed project
• How the training would address a critical need of the court or association
• Need for outside funding to support the program
• Soundness of the approach in achieving the project’s educational or training objectives
• Integration of distance learning and technology in project design and delivery
• Qualifications of the trainer(s) to be hired or the specific criteria that will be used to select the trainer(s) (training project)
• Likelihood of effective implementation and integration of the modified curriculum into the state or local jurisdiction’s ongoing educational programming (curriculum adaptation project)
• Commitment of the court or association to the training program (training project)

Expressions of interest by judges and/or court personnel, as demonstrated by letters of support

For more information, visit State Justice Institute.