State Justice Institute’s Strategic Initiatives Grants Program

The Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program provides SJI the flexibility to address national court issues as they occur, and develop solutions to those problems.

Donor Name: State Justice Institute

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of the Grant: Grant

Deadline: 05/01/2022

Details:

This is an innovative approach where SJI is actively addressing these critical issues. In this way, SJI uses its expertise and the expertise and knowledge of its grantees to address key issues facing state courts across the United States.

The funding is used for grants or contractual services and is handled at the discretion of the SJI Board of Directors and staff. SJI requires the submission of a concept paper prior to the full application process. Only applicants that submit an approved concept paper will be invited to submit a full application for funding. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact SJI prior to submitting a concept paper for guidance on this initial step.

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.

SIG applications will also be rated based on the following criteria: