September 2019
Justice Programs Office Hosts Chilean Delegation to Discuss Fair Justice
The Justice Programs Office (JPO) recently hosted a Chilean delegation as part of the United States (US) Department of State, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and the Chilean Prison Management and Prisoner Rehabilitation project. 

Research professor and JPO director Kim Ball and her team (Leola Abraham, John Eassey, Zephi Francis, and Preeti Menon) met with nine Chilean government officials representing the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and Congress as well as judges, public defense, and other government and civilian organizations. 

The JPO team spoke about the evolution and the role of drug courts in advancing a fair justice system that promotes human dignity and respect; and the fair administration of justice in criminal issues related to drug misuse in the US. The team also presented on the National Drug Court Resource, Policy, and Evidence-Based Practice Center (NDCRC) and ways the resource center supports state and local drug courts. The presentation was followed by Q&A. 

JPO manages the  NDCRC website , the nation’s leading resource for treatment court practitioners. The website offers the drug court field a wide variety of resources, research, and  tools , and supports treatment court professionals in running their courts more effectively. 

The 10-day Department of State’s IVLP program welcomes participants to the US to learn best practices in prison management, public-private partnership development, prisoner job training and social re-entry programs as well as best correctional practices and policies regarding juvenile incarceration and rehabilitation. 
The Justice in Government Project Is Co-authoring a Newsletter
The  Justice in Government Project  (JGP) in JPO and the  National Legal Aid & Defender Association  (NLADA) recently launched a new co-authored monthly newsletter,  Just Research Just Research  presents the most recent peer-reviewed research on legal aid, legislative updates, and sources of federal funding that can support legal aid. Each newsletter will focus on a different topic - see  the August edition on Reentry here .

Upcoming topics include civil legal needs of veterans, rural populations, victims of crime, and people affected by the opioid crisis. If you are interested in signing up for the newsletter, please  sign-up . Expect September's edition on the legal needs of veterans in your inbox early September!
ICYMI: MOSAICS Webinar Recording Now Available
JPO's recent MOSAICS webinar, on the topic of responding to human trafficking survivors’ trauma in court proceedings, is now  available to watch online .

A foundational understanding of trauma is key to assisting survivors of both labor and sex trafficking because the effects of trauma are significant and wide-reaching. Individuals who have experienced trauma can face barriers to participating in primary health services, substance treatment and recovery, child welfare systems, and other community services. And often, trauma manifests in behaviors that are perceived as incompatible with traditional court proceedings. 
 
Learn how to mitigate these barriers to successful judicial outcomes and respond to trauma with the  latest webinar from MOSAICS . And  stay tuned  for our upcoming webinar on the Scope of Criminalization of Trafficking; Beyond Prostitution, on November 12 at 2:00 p.m. EST. 
JPO Joins Georgetown Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Fellows
JPO's Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Training and Technical Assistance Initiative team (JDTC) was selected as new members of  Georgetown University’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Fellows Network . The team attended a week-long training at the center on strategies to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system, and they have applied the knowledge and skills gained from the training to the development of a  
long-term capstone project.  

The project uses JPO’s expertise in training, technical assistance, and data collection to provide targeted assistance to individual JDTCs on racial and ethnic disparities. In addition, the data from individual JDTCs will be collected and aggregated by JPO to examine systematic disparities across JDTCs nationwide. 
 
The JDTC team is currently developing the data collection protocol and plans to roll out a  pilot version of the tool in early fall . If your court is interested in being a part of the pilot project, please let us know by emailing  jdtc@american.edu .
Upcoming
Find JPO Director Kim Ball at the  Smart on Crime Conference  held September 24-25 at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, New York. This year, the 3rd annual conference will continue to raise some of the deep questions around criminal justice reform. Ball will speak about JPO's  Right to Counsel National Campaign
 
JPO's second edition of the  Drug Court Review  academic journal is set to release this month. For updates on the journal’s release, follow  @theNDCRC . To read our last edition, visit  ndcrc.org .
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