Judicial leaders recently adopted formal guidance to promote the use of diversion programs to manage high-volume civil dockets.
By supporting the Guiding Principles for Civil Diversion Programs, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) encourage courts to identify alternative pathways to dispute resolution to alleviate strains on both the system and litigants.
“Court-based civil diversion programs are an important innovation to offer alternative pathways for litigants to resolve disputes outside of traditional litigation. These innovative programs foster public trust and confidence in courts and expand access to justice,” said National Center for State Courts Managing Director Danielle Hirsch. “By connecting litigants with valuable community resources, legal assistance, and mediation, courts can provide
litigants on both sides of litigation with the time, information, and resources to resolve disputes in a less harmful way.”
NCSC is taking a closer look at these programs and the guiding principles during a webinar series that will conclude next month.
The first session, “Introduction to Civil Diversion,” explored how civil diversion programs can transform the court experience, improve judicial efficiency, and strengthen communities.
Subsequent webinars were scheduled to focus on community partnerships, outreach strategies, and insights from NCSC's Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI).
Now in its third year, EDI is an example of how civil diversion programs can work effectively and reduce the sometimes harmful impact of the legal process, especially for self-represented litigants.
Grants awarded through EDI support housing-court programs in over 20 courts nationwide.
While program designs vary by community, they share a common goal: to improve the court process by providing landlords and tenants with the time, information, and resources necessary to resolve housing disputes in the least harmful way.
“The eviction diversion model can be adapted to any court, regardless of size or structure,” says EDI Program Manager Samira Nazem. “We hope this initiative provides courts with tools to help them reimagine the eviction process, offering a more holistic approach to resolving landlord-tenant disputes and promoting greater housing stability within their communities.”
To learn more about civil diversion programs and register for the civil diversion webinar series, visit www.ncsc.org/consulting-and-research/areas-of-expertise/access-to-justice/civil-diversion-webinar-series.
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