September 2025 In-Person Slides
Workshop Title and Description
Conference on Child Welfare and the Courts (Dells, WI) – In The Best Interests of Children: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Safety Net Services in Wisconsin (September 25, 2025)
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) provides humanitarian immigration relief and a path to lawful permanent residency for vulnerable immigrant children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one of their parents. This workshop will discuss the important role Congress created for state juvenile and family court judges issuing orders containing SIJS judicial determinations. Faculty will provide up-to-date information about SIJS including tips, tools, and best practices for findings and court orders. The workshop will offer an overview of the full range of benefits and services immigrant children, including those applying for SIJS, that judges encounter in court are eligible to receive in Wisconsin. Attendees will receive a bench book, case law, and on-line tools that provide judges with easy access to legally correct information about SIJS and public benefits eligibility of immigrant children.
CIP Webinar: In The Best Interests of Children: Immigration Issues in CHIPS Cases (February 10, 2026)
Description
In this webinar, you discover how knowledge of accurate immigration law ensures just and fair outcomes for vulnerable children and families. Participants learn to identify the specific facts qualifying a child for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) while exploring the unique role Congress designated for state court judges in this process. We examine how to best serve the interests of immigrant survivors by identifying the specific benefits they are eligible to receive and through effectively using the CPS Toolkit.
Faculty
- Judge Ramona Gonazlez (Ret.). Presiding Judge, La Crosse County, Circuit Court, La Crosse Wisconsin,
- Leslye E. Orloff, Director, NIWAP American University, Washington College of Law
The National Judicial Network
The NJN provides a forum for judges to engage in peer-to-peer learning sessions with judges from across the country, participate in webinars, communicate with other judges in a participants-only confidential email group, access topic-specific publications, and attend future in-person trainings on issues that arise in state courts involving human trafficking and immigrant victims.
- Take a Look at Our Outreach Letter
- Sign Up Here
- State Justice Institute (SJI) and National Judicial Network Training Materials (October 21, 2025)
For more information, please visit NJN’s webpage metioned below.
The National Judicial Network
Child Protective Services Toolkit
- Child Protective Services Agency Toolkit: U Visa Certification, T Visa Declaration, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Violence Against Women Act Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrant Children (July 8, 2024)
- CPS Toolkit Quick Reference Guides – From U Visa Certification, T Visa Declaration, SIJS and VAWA Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrant Children (July 8, 2024)
- CPS Role Toolkit Excerpts – CPS Role Practice Pointers, From U Visa Certification, T Visa Declaration, SIJS and VAWA Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrant Children (July 8, 2024)
- U Visa Certification and T visa Declaration Toolkit for Federal, State and Local Judges, Commissioners, Magistrates and Other Judicial Officers (June 17, 2021)
Public Benefit Charts
- Access to State-Funded Public Benefits in Wisconsin for Survivors (Updated November 5, 2024)
- Wisconsin Public Benefits Screening Chart for Immigrant Survivors by Forms of Immigration Relief (updated January 19, 2025)
- Wisconsin Benefits Infographic – VAWA Self-Petition (February 8, 2026)
- Wisconsin Benefits Infographic – U Visa (February 8, 2026)
- Wisconsin Benefits Infographic – T Visa (February 8, 2026)
- Wisconsin Benefits Infographic – SIJS (February 8, 2026)
- Table Comparing Public Benefits Access for Immigrant Survivors – Wisconsin (February 8, 2026)
- All State Public Benefits Charts and Screening Charts
- Public Benefits Map
- The Public Benefits Map can be used to look up benefits in neighboring states.
- Bench Card: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Immigration and Public Benefits Eligibility Process (July 14, 2022)
Brochure and Screening Tools
- Immigration Relief for Abused, Abandoned, or Neglected Children Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification (January 2024)
- DHS Interactive Infographic on Protections for Immigrant Victims (November 2021)
Promoting Access to Justice for Immigrant Families
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and State Courts
- National Judicial Network Webinar – New Regulations, Policies, and Court Rulings: The Impact on State Courts Issuing Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Orders (October 4, 2022)
- Answers to Questions from State Court Judges on the 2022 Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Regulations (April 4, 2023)
- Special Immigrant Juveniles USCIS Policy Manual
Special Immigrant Juvenile Statius Bench Book
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Case Law
- Settled Law: The Role of State Court Judges in Making Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Judicial Determinations (November 26, 2024)
- Appendix X – SIJS Case Law Chart (Updated October 1, 2024)
When an SIJS Eligible Child May Be Involved In Criminal Activities