The purpose of this on-line curriculum is to increase understanding among state court judges, court administrators, and court stakeholders about:

• Federal immigration law, policy, and practice, and the impact on state courts of cases involving Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs);
• How the work of the state courts in cases involving UACs intersects with the needs of the federal immigration system
• The different types of cases and matters where UACs might appear in state courts; and
• The potential role of the state courts in providing factual findings in cases involving UACs.

The contents of the curriculum posted here include:

• An inventory of core elements that should be included in educational programs for state court practitioners when working with unaccompanied immigrant children;
• Variations in the core elements that target the needs of state court level programs, trial court level programs, and juvenile and dependency court focused programs;
• A downloadable PDF of a Guide for State Courts in Cases Involving Unaccompanied Immigrant Children; and
• A downloadable PDF of an Unaccompanied Immigrant Children and the State Courts quick reference information card.

The curriculum was produced by the State Justice Institute, the National Center for State Courts, and the Center for Public Policy Studies. Since 2008, the Immigration and the State Courts Initiative has addressed four strategic priorities:

• Increasing understanding and awareness about the impacts of immigration on the state courts;
• Developing and testing state and local approaches for assessing and addressing the impact of immigration in the state courts;
• Enhancing state and local court capacity to improve court services affected by immigration; and
• Building effective national, state, and local partnerships for addressing the impact of immigration in the state courts.

NOTE: This course is for informational purposes only and does not issue a certificate of completion.