Improving Adult and Youth Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Program (US)

Deadline: 21-Mar-23

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) seeks applications for funding to state, local, and tribal governments, as well as community-based nonprofit organizations, to enhance or implement clinical services and other evidence-based activities or services to improve reentry, reduce recidivism, and address the treatment and recovery needs of people with mental health, substance use, or co-occurring disorders who are currently involved in the criminal justice system or were formerly involved.

The Second Chance Act (SCA), reauthorized by the First Step Act of 2018, provides a comprehensive response to assist in the transition individuals make from prison, jail, or juvenile residential facilities to their communities so that the transition is more successful and promotes public safety. SCA and reentry-focused grant funding is designed to help communities develop and implement comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the challenges posed by reentry and recidivism reduction. “Reentry” is not a specific program but rather an ongoing process that starts from the moment an individual is initially incarcerated and continues throughout that individual’s transition from incarceration and reintegration into the community.

With this solicitation, BJA seeks to implement programming and services in response to the Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act of 2020. It includes two categories for funding:

• Adult and Youth Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Programs—State and Local Governments
• Adult and Youth Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Programs—Nonprofit Organizations and Tribal Governments

The Improving Adult and Youth Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Program is part of the Second Chance Act suite of program in FY 2023. This year, a range of programs for states, local government units, tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations are being competed, including:

• Community Reentry
• Improving Adult Reentry, Education, and Employment Outcomes
• Improving Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Outcomes for Adults in
• Reentry
• Pay for Success
• Smart Supervision
• Swift, Certain, and Fair Supervision and HOPE Institute

Priority Areas

• In support of this Executive Order, OJP will provide priority consideration when making award decisions to the following:
  • Applications that propose project(s) that are designed to promote racial equity and the removal of barriers to access and opportunity for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality.
    • To receive this consideration, the applicant must describe how the proposed project(s) will address potential racial inequities and contribute to greater access to services and opportunities for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality, and identify how the project design and implementation will specifically incorporate the input or participation of those communities and populations disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and the criminal justice system overall. Examples addressing this requirement include, but are not limited to, the following: budgeted project planning and/or implementation meetings with community stakeholders representing historically underserved and marginalized communities; outreach and/or public awareness campaigns specifically tailored to historically underserved and marginalized communities to encourage participation in the proposed project(s); budgeted incorporation of members representing historically underserved and marginalized communities in program evaluation, surveys, or other means of project feedback; and partnership with organizations that primarily serve communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality.
  • Applicants that demonstrate that their capabilities and competencies for implementing their proposed project(s) are enhanced because they (or at least one proposed subrecipient that will receive at least 40% of the requested award funding, as demonstrated in the Budget Web-Based Form) identify as a culturally specific organization.
    • To receive this additional priority consideration, applicants must describe how being a culturally specific organization (or funding the culturally specific subrecipient organization(s)) will enhance their ability to implement the proposed project(s) and should also specify which populations are intended or expected to be served or to have their needs addressed under the proposed project (s).
    • Culturally specific organizations are defined for the purposes of this solicitation as private nonprofit or tribal organizations whose primary purpose as a whole is to provide culturally specific services to racial and ethnic groups, including, among others, Black people, Hispanic and Latino people, Native American and other Indigenous peoples of North America (including Alaska Native, Eskimo, and Aleut), Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and/or Pacific Islanders.
• Additional statutory priority considerations
  • As articulated in the Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act of 2020, priority consideration will be given to applications that make sure program participants receive care continuously and without breaks in service through a Community Care Provider Program and adopt policies that focus on programming, strategies, and educational components for reducing recidivism and probation violations.
  • For the purposes of this priority, continuous care shall involve the coordination of the correctional facility treatment program with qualified community behavioral health providers and other recovery supports, pretrial release programs, parole supervision programs, halfway house programs, and participation in peer recovery group programs, which may help in ongoing recovery after the individual is released from the correctional facility.
  • For the purposes of this priority, Community Care Provider Program means a community mental health center or certified community behavioral health clinic that directly provides to an individual, or assists in connecting an individual to the provision of, appropriate community-based treatment, medication management, and other recovery support services when the individual leaves a correctional facility at the end of a sentence or on parole.
  • To receive priority consideration under any of the areas listed earlier, applicants must specify, in the proposal narrative, how they will address the priority.
  • Note: Addressing these priority areas is one of many factors that OJP considers in making funding decisions. Receiving priority consideration for one or more priority areas does not guarantee an award.

Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables

• Goals
  • Provide clinical and recovery support services that support treatment, suicide prevention, and continuity of recovery in the community for people with mental health, substance use, or cooccurring disorders upon their release from a correctional facility.
• Objectives 
  • An applicant should address all the objectives that are relevant to their proposed program/project in the Goals, Objectives, Deliverables and Timeline web-based form.
  • Provide training and education for criminal and juvenile justice agencies, mental health and substance use agencies, and community-based behavioral health providers on interventions that support:
    • Best practice diversion models
    • Crisis response services
    • Engagement in recovery, treatment, and other support services
    • Access to medication while incarcerated and continuity of care during reentry into the community
    • Confirmation of memoranda of understanding/agreements (MOUs/MOAs) and a description of partnerships with one or more correctional agencies, if the correctional agency is not the lead applicant.
    • Make sure that individuals with serious mental illness are given timely access to appropriate recovery supports that may include peer support services, medication management (including long-acting injectable medications where clinically appropriate), case management, and psychosocial therapies.
• Deliverables
  • An action plan informed by and based on data developed with input from BJA and the assigned technical assistance provider and submitted within 6 months of receiving final budget approval.
  • A final report at the end of the project period.

Funding Information

• Anticipated Number of Awards 10
• Anticipated Maximum Dollar Amount of Awards $750,000.00
• Period of Performance Duration (Months) 36

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Applicants:         

• County governments
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• City or township governments
• State governments
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education

For more information, visit Grants.gov.