The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges^[1] (NCJFCJ) announced two honorees of the 4th annual Justice Innovation Awards recognizing Innovator of the Year and Impact of the Year recipients: the UNLV Immigration Clinic at the William S. Boyd School of Law^[2] in Las Vegas, Nev.; and the Honorable Donna Schmalberger from the Denver Juvenile Court and the Honorable Katherine Delgado from the 17th Judicial District Court. The honorees were recognized at the NCJFCJ’s 81st Annual Conference highlighting current and innovative topics and social issues, precipitating discussions about challenges facing the juvenile and family court system.

The Innovator of the Year Award honors an active, in-good-standing NCJFCJ member who has inspired, sponsored, promoted or led an innovation or accomplishment of national significance in juvenile justice, child abuse and neglect, family law, and/or domestic violence. The Impact of the Year Award recognizes, from the Annual Conference-host state (Colo.), an individual, state/local court, law firm, advocacy group, or service provider who has been instrumental in leading or implementing significant improvements or innovations which advance the mission of the NCJFCJ.

“It is the NCJFCJ’s honor to recognize the outstanding work of both the UNLV Immigration Clinic team at William S. Boyd Law School and Judges Donna Schmalberger and Katherine Delgado,” said Judge John J. Romero, Jr. NCJFCJ president. “We recognize their tireless commitment to serving vulnerable populations—immigrant and Native children and families—especially those who find themselves in our justice system. We hope that we can continue to raise awareness of these core issues that affect our nation’s families.”

The William S. Boyd School of Law is an organizational member of the NCJFCJ, and its UNLV Immigration Clinic trains student attorneys to defend people in deportation proceedings, allowing them the opportunity to provide innovative ways to offer legal services to immigrants in Nevada. The clinic serves as a resource of undocumented and DACAmented students.