Community Courts

During this reporting period, the NTCRC continued to implement design changes to improve the user experience on our website in addition to regular maintenance updates to information being presented (homepage changes monthly, adding resources as necessary). Additionally, the NTCRC is working to include information on places that NTCRC research has been cited. The NTCRC maintained an ongoing index of federal grants that were open to treatment court programs, as well as grant writing resources for successful applications. Mobile optimization and design work continues.

On August 7th, 2024, the Center hosted a third virtual Regional Convening. This one-day event provided a space for community court collaborators—including judges, prosecutors, court coordinators, public defenders, law enforcement, case managers, and community partners—to share best practices, explore emerging innovations, build relationships, and identify community resources.

Throughout the reporting period, Center staff continued to host virtual calls with the sites from the FY22, on an as-needed basis. This included conducting outreach with sites to encourage them to attend a regional convening, responding to their inquiries and keeping them abreast of national developments via the Court-Builders listserv, and providing individual consultations as needed. Some notable TTA instances follow here.

Center TTA staff engaged in outreach with research staff and data analytics staff to prepare to work on this deliverable in the coming fiscal year.

Last reporting period, in conjunction with subject matter expert staff from the Center’s data analytics and applied research team, TTA staff presented an interactive webinar on Data Collection and Analysis during this reporting period. This webinar included a guided exploration of the Center’s publication called Building the Research Base: An Evaluation Blueprint for Community Courts, which details the conventional and unconventional data points that effective community courts should be tracking daily.

Center staff developed, tested, and published a series of self-guided online Criminal Court Assessment Tool (CCAT) Training Modules hosted on the Center’s website, free and available to the public to better train all practitioners who use the CCAT and understand its purpose and uses. The four training modules cover the following topics: Introduction to risk-need-responsivity, Data collection and fairness, Administering the CCAT, and Best practices for implementation.

MJO hosted 7 members of the South Dallas Community Court to inform about MJO programming. MJO Staff provided an overview of the ranger of alternatives to incarceration offered at Manhattan Justice Opportunities, with a focus on Felony ATI and Restorative Justice

MJO hosted a delegation of 9 prosecutors, public defenders, and community organizers from Los Angeles to discuss work happening at MJO. MJO staff provided an overview of the Manhattan Felony ATI, including the development and current operations of the court, areas of success and challenges. MJO also coordinated a dialogue with defense attorneys.