Notice of Funding Opportunity: National Community Courts Initiative (US)

Deadline: 24-Jun-24

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) seeks applications for funding.

OJP is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety, protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community.

With this solicitation, BJA seeks to support efforts by state, local, and federally recognized American Indian tribal governments to establish and enhance community courts in their jurisdictions. This program furthers the DOJ’s mission by providing resources to communities to enhance public safety and build trust between law enforcement and the community.

Goal 

• The goal of the National Community Courts Initiative is to support efforts by state, tribal, and local governments to establish and enhance community courts in their jurisdictions to enhance public safety and build trust between law enforcement and the community.

Objectives 

• The objectives of the National Community Courts Initiative are:
  • Establish or enhance court-based intervention programs that prioritize and expedite the provision of treatment and recovery services to individuals who are frequent users of justice, health, and other services and who commit misdemeanor offenses.
  • Increase and enhance alternatives to incarceration by tailoring sentences to each defendant to improve community safety, enhance confidence in justice, and reduce recidivism.
  • Build and maximize the capacity of jurisdictions to ensure all participants are identified, assessed, and referred to services.
  • Enhance the use of community services by participants in the community court docket, including case management, housing assistance, and service coordination.
  • Develop and maintain partnerships and collaborations with service providers to enhance the provision of treatment and recovery support services.
  • Support the development, enhancement, and translation of research and knowledge of researcher-practitioner partnerships.
  • Collect lessons learned and other examples of use to the field at large from grantees and disseminate the information via publications, media platforms, and conference presentations.

Priority Areas 

• In order to further OJP’s mission, OJP will provide priority consideration when making award decisions to the following:
  • Applications that propose project(s) that are designed to meaningfully advance equity and remove barriers to accessing services and opportunities for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, adversely affected by inequality, and disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization.
    • To receive this consideration, the applicant must describe how the proposed project(s) will address identified inequities and contribute to greater access to services and opportunities for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, adversely affected by inequality, and disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization.
  • 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 percent of the requested award funding, as demonstrated in the Budget web-based form) are a population specific organization that serves communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, adversely affected by inequality, and disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization.
    • For purposes of this solicitation, population specific organizations are nonprofit, nongovernmental, or Tribal organizations that primarily serve members of a specific underserved population and have demonstrated experience and expertise providing targeted services to members of that specific underserved population.
  • They will give priority consideration to applications that seek to expand access to services to rural and or tribal communities.
    • To receive this consideration, the applicant must describe how the proposed project(s) will identify rural and or tribal communities and expand access to services consistent with the needs of the communities as determined by the communities. Applicants should propose activities that address the cultural (and linguistic, if appropriate) needs of communities, outline how the proposed activities will be informed by these communities, and implement culturally responsive and inclusive outreach and engagement.
  • In addition to Priority areas above they will give priority consideration to applications that seek to partner with research experts to facilitate evaluation and assessment activities. These activities may include, but are not limited to, a needs evaluation, identifying the target population, ensuring equity and inclusion in programming, tracking program implementation, and mapping critical resources in the community.
    • 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.

Categories

• The BJA FY24 National Community Courts Initiative solicitation offers the following two grant categories:
  • Category 1 Planning and Implementation 
    • Category 1 provides funding to plan or implement community court programs that address individuals experiencing substance use and/or co-occurring disorders and other issues using evidence-based principles and practices.
    • Planning and implementation grants are available to eligible jurisdictions that are planning and/or ready to establish a community court. An applicant may propose to use funding for case management, supervision and treatment services, and the provision and coordination of recovery support services. Courts must ensure that participants are tested periodically for the use of controlled substances, including medical marijuana. Courts must impose graduated sanctions that increase punitive measures, therapeutic measures, or both whenever a participant fails a drug test.
  • Category 2 Enhancement 
    • Category 2 provides funding to enhance existing community court programs that address individuals experiencing substance use and/or co-occurring disorders and other issues using evidence-based principles and practices.
    • Enhancement grants are available to eligible jurisdictions with an existing community court that has been fully operational for at least one year as of March 2, 2023. An applicant may propose to use funding to scale up the court program’s capacity; enhance court operations to serve a specific population such as the homeless population; expand or enhance court services; improve the quality and/or intensity of services based on needs assessments; or complete a program evaluation.

Funding Information

• Anticipated Maximum Dollar Amount per Award: Awards will be up to $900,000
  • Category 1 anticipated maximum amount: $900,000
  • Category 2 anticipated maximum amount: $900,000
• Anticipated Number of Awards: 10
  • Category 1: 5
  • Category 2: 5
• Period of Performance Start Date: October 1, 2024
• Period of Performance Duration (Months): 48
• Anticipated Total Amount to be Awarded under this Solicitation: $9,000,000

Eligibility Criteria

• For Category 1: Planning and Implementation and Category 2: Enhancement, the following entities are eligible to apply:
  • State governments
  • Special district governments
  • City or township governments
  • County governments
  • Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
  • Native American tribal governments (federally recognized)
  • Other: Public or private entities acting on behalf of a single treatment court through agreement with State, city, township, county, or tribal governments
  • Other: Units of local government, such as towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, or other general purpose political subdivisions of a State
• An applicant may submit more than one application, if each application proposes a different project in response to the solicitation. Also, an entity may be proposed as a subrecipient (subgrantee) in more than one application.
• BJA will consider applications under which two or more entities (project partners) would carry out the federal award; however, only one entity may be the applicant for the solicitation. Any others must be proposed as subrecipients (subgrantees).

For more information, visit Grants.gov.