Cost-Free Technical Assistance Opportunity for Juvenile Court Improvement: Summary and Application Requirements

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) have funding to provide cost-free technical assistance (TA) for 6–12 months to help 3–6 jurisdictions (county, state, or judicial district) advance juvenile justice court policy and practice improvements. Priority will be given to jurisdictions that participated in a 2025 Courting Judicial Excellence Juvenile Justice Training Institute. 

Technical Assistance Opportunity

The CSG Justice Center and NCJFCJ will partner with 3–6 county, state, or judicial district jurisdictions over 6–12 months beginning in fall 2025 to advance concrete jurisdiction-wide court policy and practice improvements for justice-involved youth aligned with research and best practices. Technical assistance will include the following:   

• Coordination and Collaboration: Assist court stakeholders in building out and supporting a team to participate in the TA process and develop an action plan for implementation.  

• Policy and Practice Review: TA providers will review any relevant court rules and policies, reports, and publicly available data related to the priority TA areas identified in the application (see below). This review will also include listening sessions with judges, attorneys, probation staff, and other stakeholders to assess what is working well and challenges and opportunities for improvement.  

• On-Site Training and Strategic Planning: TA providers will conduct a site visit to do the following:  
  • Educate and train judges and judicial leaders on juvenile court research and best practices, with a focus on key TA areas identified by the core team.   

• • Share results of the policy and practice review, facilitate strategic planning related to opportunities for improvement, and develop an action plan for system improvement.  

• Action Planning Support: Engage in monthly calls following the site visit to implement the action plan, including sharing best practices and connections to national experts and model states and providing ongoing training, policy development, and implementation support.  

Application Requirements

To apply for TA, eligible jurisdictions must submit a brief letter of interest signed by the state court administrator and/or chief justice for state applicants or a presiding judge for county/judicial district applicants. Letters will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis but must be submitted to Christina Gilbert at cgilbert@csg.org no later than September 30, 2025.  

Letters of interest must include brief descriptions of the following:  

• Problem statement/need for the TA  

• TA goals   

• Proposed point of contact to oversee the work and leadership/stakeholder buy-in 

• Identification of one to two discrete TA focus areas that include one or more of the following: 

• • Pre-court and court diversion decision-making, including risk and needs screening tools and diversion programming   

• • Dispositional decision-making, including level and length of supervision and use of risk and needs assessment tools to guide dispositional decisions  

• • Detention decision-making tools and alternatives to detention  

• • Rethinking probation conditions, enforcement, technical violations, and responses to challenging cases  

• • Probation transformation   

• • Youth, family, and community engagement 

• • Improving case planning and service matching, delivery, and quality 

• • Developing and implementing quality assurance and using data more effectively in court decision-making  
• Methods for and commitment to advancing concrete, jurisdiction-wide system improvement  

Jurisdictions will be selected for TA based on an assessment of their expressed TA needs, goals, leadership commitment and staffing, and openness to advancing jurisdiction-wide policy and practice change, such as through court rules and funding improvements. CSG Justice Center and NCJFCJ staff may reach out to applicants for screening calls as well. Sites will be selected no later than October 31, 2025.   

If you have any questions about the TA, letter of interest, or application process, please email Christina Gilbert at cgilbert@csg.org no later than September 30, 2025.