2019 Conducting a Cost-Benefit Analysis of Self-Help Center Programs (Pathways to Justice Preconference Session)

The Judicial Council Center for Families, Children & the Courts will be conducting a cost-benefit study of self-help services, as required by the 2018 Budget Act, with the participation of courts across the state. This interactive session will focus on methods for collecting data to measure the costs and benefits of self-help services provided by the courts. 

The session will also provide an opportunity for self-help programs statewide to share information about the data they are currently collecting and to highlight successes and challenges with improving efficiency, expanding self-help services, and resource allocation.

John M. Greacen is currently a principal of Greacen Associates, LLC. Mr. Greacen has conducted research and evaluations of court processes, including of comprehension of court proceedings by self-represented litigants, in multiple states and one foreign country. Mr. Greacen received the National Association for Court Management Award of Merit in 1999 and the Ernest J. Friesen Award in 2017. Mr. Greacen is project consultant to the Self-Represented Litigation Network and special projects advisor to the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. He was consultant to the Pew Charitable Trust for its development of an access to civil justice funding program in 2017. His most recent publication is Eighteen Ways Courts Should Use Technology to Better Serve Their Customers, forthcoming from the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.