Data Collection and Reporting For the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act

Description

The Judicial Council of California (“Judicial Council”), chaired by the Chief Justice of California, is the chief policy making agency of the California judicial system. The California Constitution directs the council to improve the administration of justice by surveying judicial business, recommending improvements to the courts, and making recommendations annually to the Governor and the Legislature. The council also adopts rules for court administration, practice, and procedure, and performs other functions prescribed by law.

The Sargent Shriver Evaluation Project. AB 590 (Feuer) established a pilot project program to be administered by the Judicial Council for the appointment of legal representation for unrepresented low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues, such as domestic violence, child custody, housing, and elder abuse so that judicial decisions are made based on the necessary information and the parties having an adequate understanding of the orders to which they are subject. The legislation required the Judicial Council to conduct a study to demonstrate the effectiveness and continued need for the pilot program and report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 31, 2016.

The legislation requires that the study shall:

• Report on the percentage of funding by case type and shall include data on the impact of counsel on equal access to justice and the effect on court administration and efficiency, and enhanced coordination between courts and other government service providers and community resources.​
• ​​​​​​Describe the benefits of providing representation to those who were previously not represented, both for the clients and the courts, as well as strategies and recommendations for maximizing the benefit of that representation in the future.
• Describe and include data, if available, on the impact of the Shriver programs on families and children. The report shall include an assessment of the continuing unmet needs and, if available, data regarding those unmet needs.

The Judicial Council seeks a service provider with expertise in social science, civil justice research and/or public entity research with 5-10 years of professional experience in program evaluation. A prospective service provider shall be familiar with California trial courts, particularly in the areas of housing, high conflict child custody cases, guardianship, conservatorship, domestic violence, and elder abuse and should have experience in gathering and synthesizing information from multiple datasets. The selected service provider will provide the Judicial Council with the Deliverables set forth within the RFP.

Questions should be directed to solicitations@jud.ca.gov and must be received no later than 1:00 pm Pacific Time, April 18, 2025.

Proposals must be received by the Judicial Council no later than 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, May 9, 2025.

Further details regarding the solicitation are set forth in the RFP No. CFCC-2024-49-SB and related documents provided below: