Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program

 

Goal: The overall goal of the Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program (ADC Discretionary Grant Program) is to equip courts and community supervision systems with the necessary tools and resources, utilizing the most current evidence-based practices and principles, to intervene with participants who abuse substances while preparing them for success in the community. Objectives: ? Assisting courts that utilize evidence-based practices and principles, which are incorporated into the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) drug court standards. ? Building and maximizing the capacity of jurisdictions to ensure that all potential participants are identified and assessed for risk and need. ? Ensuring all participants receive targeted evidence-based services. ? Enhancing the provision of recovery support services, including transitional clean and sober housing assistance to reduce recidivism. ? Reducing obstacles to successful recovery, including the provision of specified civil legal assistance. ? Supporting strategies that ensure drug court practitioners have the tools to effectively manage these interventions, including data collection and analysis to inform system improvement and implementation fidelity, training and technical assistance, and tracking and improving drug court performance.

Active 16.585 Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2018 BJA received a total of 139 Adult Drug Court (ADC) and Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) applications and made 83 awards. All 83 BJA ADC and VTC applicants were to demonstrate that their drug court would include treatment and services to address opioid abuse reduction, to the extent that substance abuse treatment and related services are funded by this award. All BJA training and technical assistance providers were required to expand and enhance training and technical assistance to address opioid abuse reduction. All VTCs received additional funds ($50,000 Implementation/Enhancement and $100,000 Statewide) to support the creation of peer mentoring programs that leverage the support of other veterans in the community for VTCs.
Fiscal Year 2019 It is anticipated that 160 applications will be received and 95 awards will be granted. U.S.C. 34 § 10611, et. seq
Additional authority for awards under this program may be provided by act appropriating funds for the Department of Justice in the current fiscal year. Grants can be awarded to states, state courts, local courts, units of local government and Indian tribal governments, acting directly or through agreements with other public or private entities. Applicants may choose to submit joint applications with other eligible jurisdictions for statewide, regional, and multijurisdictional drug court programs. With joint applications, one organization must be designated as the applicant and any co-applicants designated accordingly. The applicant organization must be eligible and the other agencies/organizations must provide supporting documentation. All applicants must demonstrate that they have the management and financial capabilities to effectively plan and implement projects of the size and scope described in the application kit. Nonprofit and for-profit agencies are not eligible applicants. For an application from a subunit of government (e.g., county probation department, district attorney's office, pretrial services agency) to be considered, it must be designated by letter as representing an eligible applicant (described above). For example, the county court or county executive may designate the county probation or county district attorney's office as its representative for the purpose of application. In this instance, the applicant continues to be the designating state, court system, or unit of local government. The county probation, district attorney's office, or other designated subunit, is the organization authorized to submit an application on behalf of the eligible applicant. States, local governments, Indian tribal governments, public or private entities. The application must include: Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424); applicant Information page; a one-page program abstract summarizing the goals and objectives of the grant request; program narrative; letters of support; detailed budget and budget narrative; administrative requirements; and assurances and certifications. See program announcement for more information. Preapplication coordination is required. Prospective applicants may view the preapplication requirements by visiting the web site at https://www.bja.gov. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. All competitive grant applications must be submitted electronically through the Grant Management System (GMS) at http://grants.ojp.usdoj.gov. Applications or supplemental materials received by facsimile or postal mail will not be accepted. For additional information, see the current fiscal year's solicitation available at www.bja.gov. An award is granted by the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, and must be accepted by the applicant agency or institution according to the special conditions of the grant or cooperative agreement. The FY 19 solicitation deadline is April 16, 2019. Approximately 60 days. For Formula awards, please see 28 CFR Part 18. There are no appeal rights for rejection of a discretionary application, but for discretionary awards, please see 28 CFR Part 18. Grants can be extended by submitting a written justification for an extension to the Bureau of Justice Assistance office for review. Extensions are subject to approval by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and renewals subject to congressional funding. Criteria are described in the OJP Program Announcement available at http://www.ojp.gov/funding/solicitations.htm and/or www.bja.gov. Allowable uses of funds are outlined in the Drug Court Program Guideline available from the Department of Justice Response Center. Assistance can be used by assisting states, local court, and tribal nonviolent adult and juvenile offenders by involving early and continuous judicial supervision over these offenders. The administration of appropriate incentives and sanctions will help to reduce recidivism and substance misuse among high-risk participants with substance use disorders and increase their likelihood of successful rehabilitation. Drug Court Programs under Title V will be for nonviolent adult and juvenile offenders and involve early and continuous judicial supervision over the nonviolent substance use disorder offenders and the integrated administration of sanctions and services including: (1) mandatory and random drug testing for the use of controlled substances or other addictive substances during any period of supervised release or probation; (2) evidence-based substance use disorder treatment for each participant according to need; (3) diversion, probation, or other supervised release involving the possibility of prosecution, confinement, or incarceration based on noncompliance with program requirements; and (4) programmatic offender management and aftercare services. Not applicable. Payments and transactions are subject to audits by the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General, state or local government auditors, and auditors from independent public accounting firms. Jurisdictions must follow their local policies and procedures, including maintenance of reliable and accurate accounting systems, record keeping, and systems of internal control. All grantees are required to establish and maintain accounting systems and financial records in order to account for funds awarded to them. In accordance with the requirement set forth in 2 CFR 200, Subpart F, grantees must maintain all financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to the award for at least 3 years following the close of the most recent audit. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is mandatory. 25%. Federal funds awarded under this program may not cover more than 75 percent of the total costs of the program being funded. The applicant must identify the source of the 25 percent non-federal portion of the total program costs and how it will use match funds. If a successful applicant’s proposed match exceeds the required match amount, and OJP approves the budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes mandatory and subject to audit. (“Match” funds may be used only for purposes that would be allowable for the federal funds.) Recipients may satisfy this match requirement with either cash or in-kind services. For additional information, please see the current fiscal year’s solicitation available at www.bja.gov.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Project duration period will be up to 3 years for Implementation, Enhancement, and Statewide Grants. For additional information, please see the current fiscal year’s solicitation available at www.bja.gov. By reimbursement None/Not specified. Gregory D. Torain
Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Department of Justice, 810 Seventh Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20531 US
AskBJA@usdoj.gov
Phone: 202-616-6500 or (1-866) 859-2687 http://www.bja.gov/ 15-0404-0-1-754 (Project Grants) FY 18$86,475,359.00; FY 19 est $77,000,000.00; FY 20 est $75,000,000.00; FY 17$38,944,583.00; - Varies based upon appropriation. Consult the solicitation available at http://www.ojp.gov/funding/solicitations.htm and/or www.bja.gov. Solicitation guidelines are posted on the Office of Justice Programs web site at http://www.ojp.gov/funding/solicitations.htm. For additional guidance reference the Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide (http://ojp.gov/financialguide/index.htm) and Post award Instructions (http://ojp.gov/funding/Implement/Resources/PostAwardInstructions.pdf). Applicable administrative requirements and Department of Justice regulations applicable to specific types of grantees can be found in title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 C.F.R.). Fiscal Year 2018 Category 1 (Implementation): The 20th Judicial District is seeking funding of $500,000 for an Adult Drug Court – Category 1- Implementation grant. The 20th Judicial is a felony court located in a suburban and rural setting. The plan is to begin operations of an adult drug court (hybrid to include felony DUI cases) upon award in mid-2017. The Court is not currently operational and has no current participants. If awarded the grant, the Court will serve an estimated 78 participants, felony level offenders, with the underlying cause of the offenses to be alcohol or other drug dependency, over the 36-month project period with an average program participation time of 14 months. The Drug Court will be pre and post-adjudication as well as an alternative to probation revocation and will screen at least 50 candidates per year and serve at least 30 participants on any given day. The 20th Judicial Adult Drug Court has identified a target population of non-violent, felony level offenders who seek to enter drug court voluntarily and as an alternative to incarceration, and based on evidence-based screening tools including the RANT will have a high risk to re-offend and a high need for treatment. The target population is determined through chemical dependency screening, assessment and other evidence-based practices. MAT components will be intergraded into treatment for participants. Given that a majority of the geographic area includes Tribes, it is anticipated that a majority of participants will be tribal members. The Drug Court will support the use of MAT for participants when recommended and overseen by a qualified physician. MAT prescriptions and oversight will be provided by Addiction Treatment Services.
Fiscal Year 2019 Category 2 (Enhancement): The Veterans Treatment Court Program is seeking funding for the enhancement of their court to include enhancing court operations, expanding the number of participants and to enhance recovery support services. The program has been operational since February 2012. It has a capacity of 60 participants; currently serving 55 active participants and to date has graduated 65 participants. The first successful graduation was held in June 2014, two years after the program started. Since then, the program is averaging 16 graduates per year. If successfully funded, the program will have the capabilities to provide services to a total of 60 participants and as participants successfully graduate, the program will be able to accept participants immediately due to the additional resources provided by this grant. In total, the program anticipates to provide services to approximately 275 participants and successfully graduate 75 in the four years of this grant period. The program currently provides services to adult male and female defendants with behavioral substance abuse issues who have served honorably in the US armed forces. The goals of the program is to provide early identification of eligible program participants; design a treatment plan that focuses in the individual becoming stable, employed and substance free; reduce participant contacts with the criminal justice system; and reduce costs associated with criminal case processing and re-arrest. The Veterans Treatment Court is an immediate and highly structured judicial intervention process for substance abuse and/or mental health treatment for eligible offenders which expedites the criminal case, and requires successful completion of the plea agreement in lieu of incarceration. The minimum length of the program is 18 months; there is no set maximum although 36 months is stated in the Policy and Procedures manual as it is the goal of the program to successfully graduate participants within that timeframe. The average length of time in the program to date is 19 months. The Veterans Treatment Court connects participants to relevant treatment and support services that are best or promising practices, recovery-based, individualized, co-occurring capable, culturally sensitive and trauma-informed. The program has developed partnerships with local providers, various Veterans Agency Representatives and Liaisons, and the local VA.
Fiscal Year 2020 Category 3 (Statewide A & B): The Department of Justice, the State Administering Agency (SAA), in partnership with the Director of State Courts Office, the National Center for State Courts, and the Association of Treatment Court Professionals (ATCP), requests $500,000 in federal funds pursuant to Category 3, Subcategory A of the Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, for a 36-month project designed to build upon recent efforts to improve the functioning and outcomes of treatment courts through a multi-tiered project to develop performance measures for specific specialty treatment court models, to enhance data collection and reporting capabilities statewide for various types of treatment courts, and enhance statewide training for treatment courts. The following objectives support these Performance Measurement goals: (1) to develop the Performance Measures (PMs); (2) to document the specifications of these PMs; (3) to develop performance targets to accompany the PMs; (4) to add the data elements and reports necessary for tracking and analyzing the PMs to the statewide system developed for participant data collection (CORE); (5) to work with pilot county treatment court staff in the use of the PMs; (6) to develop training materials to train additional counties on the use of the PMs; and (7) to conduct an evaluable assessment of the treatment courts. The following objectives support the goal of enhanced statewide training for treatment courts: (1) to collaboratively develop a curriculum for statewide training based on the Statewide Treatment Court Standards Volume II; (2) to plan and coordinate two regional Treatment Court Standards 101 Trainings in year one, due to the increased number of new treatment courts emerging; (3) to provide follow-up technical assistance based on experience and assessment of the local treatment courts following the initial Standards 101 trainings; and (4) to coordinate with the Performance Measures Enhancement Project to develop and Advanced Treatment Court Standards Training and deliver an additional series of six regional, statewide trainings in year three, incorporating the new performance measures and the results of feedback and evaluations following the initial series of trainings. This project will benefit all Drug, Hybrid, OWI, Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Courts, and Veterans courts in the state. The performance measures will be designed to assess compliance with all of BJA’s seven design principles and provide a useful metric to measure performance and compliance with standards for new treatment courts. As a statewide grant, this project will serve both pre- and post-adjudication programs, and incorporate the evidence-based features detailed throughout the proposal. The communities served by this proposed statewide project are a mixture of rural, suburban, and urban. This statewide project will serve Drug, Hybrid, OWI, Veterans, and Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Courts.