As part of its ongoing work developing and providing training on domestic violence to custody evaluators and other evaluative professionals such as guardians ad litem (GALs) and courtappointed 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 hosted the Recovering and Reuniting training in Santa Fe to train judges on best practices for families affected by opioids and other substance use disorders.

The NCJFCJ’s second National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence (NJIDV) 25th Anniversary Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases (EJS) workshop was hosted in Santa Fe, including pre-institute workshops on firearms and child custody in domestic violence cases.

Judge Rosemary Cosgrove-Aguilar with the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court is a member of the NCJFCJ Judicial Response to Animal Cruelty Issues Advisory Work Group. In 2024, Judge Cosgrove Aguilar initiated outreach to the New Mexico state judicial education office to develop a state-specific bench tool on the link between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence. The NCJFCJ is providing training and technical assistance to Judge Cosgrove-Aguilar on creating the tool.

The state of New Mexico contributes juvenile court data to the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). This national project of the NCJFCJ provides detailed and accurate information on the activities of the nation’s juvenile courts to juvenile justice professionals, policy makers, researchers, and the public.

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.

Judicial system professionals from New Mexico participated in the Rural, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Program New Grantee Orientation hosted by the NCJFCJ’s Technical Assistance to Technical Assistance Provider’s (TA2TA) Resource Center and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).

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