There is a pervasive stereotype that survivors of human trafficking are physically isolated from society, hidden in homes or businesses and rarely have meaningful contact with other people. While extreme physical isolation and restraint is certainly a feature of some human trafficking cases, it is not inclusive of all survivors’ experiences.

Survivors can walk through their communities while their exploiter controls their income, behavior, and will with threats, fraud, or false promises. So how do we identify survivors and provide them with the resources they need to remove themselves from their exploiters’ control? Criminal court systems can be a crucial point of contact between survivors and public society, as many survivors are arrested and prosecuted for crimes related to their trafficking. However, too often, courts fail to recognize survivors of human trafficking facing criminal charges as victims in need of support.

MOSAICS seeks to change that. MOSAICS, a JPO training and technical assistance project, will assist courts to better identify, understand, and meet the needs of survivors of both sex and labor trafficking. Applications to receive training are now open! Apply here.

The big idea behind The Justice in Government Project is to embed civil legal aid into state and local governments’ existing priorities, programs, and appropriations to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness for low-and moderate-income people and communities. The Justice in Government Project’s Toolkit was developed to do just that. The Toolkit provides research on how legal aid can help states further their policy and programmatic goals, information about funding legal aid, and examples of successful partnerships and programs. 

This Toolkit helps government policymakers, practitioners, grant administrators, legal profession leaders, social service providers, and legal aid or other advocates:  

• Learn about the evidence base for using legal aid to further government policy and program goals;
• Identify sources of executive branch funding for legal aid; and
• Find examples of states that currently advance their policy priorities with already appropriated federal block and other public funds that allow spending on legal aid.

This Toolkit will continue to grow. To hear about updates and new tools or to provide feedback, send an email to jgp@american.edu 
JGP Toolkit

This fall on JPO's "On the Docket with NDCRC" podcast, we're exploring the opioid epidemic. Listen now to hear how one Montana drug treatment court is battling a flood of opioids in its community.

Listen to the Podcast

This season on the podcast Serial, host Sarah Koenig and reporter Emmanuel Dzotsi explore the criminal justice system by examining ordinary cases and they asked JPO for help. They spent a year at the Justice Center in Cleveland, Ohio, which they selected because it let them record everywhere — courtrooms, back hallways, judges’ chambers, prosecutors’ offices – and then follow those cases outside the building, into neighborhoods, into people’s houses, and into prison.

We watched how justice is calculated in cases of all sizes, from the smallest misdemeanor to the most serious felony. This season, we tell you the extraordinary stories of ordinary cases. One courthouse, week by week.

Don’t miss this new season and in particular, listen to episode 2: You’ve Got Some Gauls. JPO’s Senior Policy Counsel Zoë Root consulted on this episode.
Listen to the Podcast

Learn More about JPO's Role

If you were not able to join the Justice Programs Office at American University and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys in September for webinar about the role prosecutors play in ensuring the constitutional right to counsel, a recording is now available.

Watch now to hear from Marlene Biener, Deputy General Counsel at the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, Justin Bingham, City Prosecutor of Spokane, Washington, and Genevieve Citrin Ray, Senior Policy Advisor and R2C Project Director at the Justice Programs Office at American University. Ms. Citrin Ray will also preview findings from a Right to Counsel (R2C) National Campaign roundtable that was held with prosecutors in December 2017 and focused on what prosecutors can do to ensure the right to counsel and effective public defense delivery systems.
Watch the Webinar

Issues within the justice system tend to disproportionally effect the least fortunate members of society. Similarly, the overuse of resources by business entities create environmental impacts that tend to disproportionally effect those same members of society. Therefore, the Justice Programs Office is committed to environmental stability. By participating in American University’s Green Office Program, we have a concrete set of goals to reduce our carbon footprint, reduce our use of resources, and increase our recycling efforts. This is accomplished by working directly with American University’s Office of Sustainability and informing staff and students on sustainable office practices.  

Follow us on social media to stay up to date on our latest news, publications, resources, events, and more. 

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Visit the Just Thoughts, the JPO blog, to read weekly posts from our staff on issues ranging from right to counsel and juvenile justice to treatment courts.

We release three newsletters a month. Subscribe today to keep up with the latest happenings at the Justice Programs Office, learn more about our National Drug Court Resource Center, and receive the latest publications, research, multi-media resources, policy changes, news items, and relevant opportunities related to behavioral health, mental health, and criminal justice issues faced by veterans and military personnel.
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