As part of the Implementation Sites Project, the NCJFCJ provides targeted training and technical assistance to the Pueblo of San Felipe Contemporary Tribal Court to improve practice in the handling of child abuse and neglect cases, reduce the number of children in foster care, and improve outcomes for children in care.

As part of its ongoing work developing and providing training on domestic violence (DV) to custody evaluators and other evaluative professionals such as guardians ad litem (GALs) and court-appointed special advocates (CASAs), the NCJFCJ’s Enhancing DV Practice project has provided targeted technical assistance and training to court-based clinicians, GALs, and other evaluative professionals doing evaluative work in New Mexico’s First and Second Judicial District Courts as well as other courts in the state. The court-based state-level focus of the technical assistance and training for evaluative professionals is designed to incorporate local issues and requirements for these professionals into nationally accepted domestic violence best practices.

The NCJFCJ’s Civil Protection Order Project provided technical assistance and resources to New Mexico courts regarding temporary civil protection order hearings, safety in between the filing of an order and the final hearing, and the appointment of guardians ad litem for minors.

The NCJFCJ hosted the Courting Judicial Excellence: A Juvenile Justice Judicial Training Institute in Albuquerque. The Institute, sponsored by the Council for State Governments and the NCJFCJ and with funding from the State Justice Institute, provided an intensive and interactive 4.5-day program designed to give participants increased knowledge, practical tools, and an essential foundation of best practices to use in delinquency cases. The faculty included current and former judicial officers, as well as content area experts from academic and applied settings who shared their insights about a wide variety of topics.

Judicial system professionals from New Mexico attended the Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases (EJS) workshop. Participants engaged in practical courtroom exercises and learned about victim and perpetrator behavior and fairness and culture issues in domestic violence cases.

A New Mexico judicial system professional attended the Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases (EJS) workshop. Participants engaged in practical courtroom exercises and learned about victim and perpetrator behavior and fairness and culture issues in domestic violence cases.

A judicial system professional from New Mexico attended the NCJFCJ’s Judicial Engagement Network (JEN) Leadership in Practice Summit. The Summit focused on highlighting strategies currently implemented by jurisdictions to promote, implement, and sustain positive systemic changes that improve court and community responses to intimate partner violence in civil and criminal settings.

Judge John J. Romero, Jr. (Ret.) of Albuquerque is an NCJFCJ Past President.