U.S. Department of Justice announces Adult Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program

Deadline: 14 May 2020

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications to enhance drug court services, to include coordination, management of drug court participants, and recovery support services.

This program furthers the Department’s mission by providing resources to state, local, and federally recognized tribal governments to enhance drug court programs and systems for nonviolent offenders and veterans with addictions, including opioid abuse and overdose.

The Adult Drug Court (ADC) and Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) Discretionary Grant Program provides financial and technical assistance to states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments to enhance the operations of adult drug courts or to implement new veterans treatment courts.

For the purposes of this solicitation, an adult “drug court” is defined as a court program managed by a multidisciplinary team that responds to the offenses and treatment needs of participants who are diagnosed with a substance use disorder. This definition explicitly excludes drug offenders who have committed acts of violence.

Objectives

Ensure drug court practitioners have tools to effectively provide judicial and community supervision, mandatory and random drug testing, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and appropriate incentives and sanctions.
Utilize evidence-based practices and principles, which are incorporated into the NADCP drug court standards.
Build and maximize the capacity of jurisdictions to ensure that all potential participants are identified and assessed for risk and need.
Enhance the provision of recovery support services, including transitional clean and sober housing assistance to reduce recidivism.

Categories

The FY 2020 ADC and VTC Discretionary Grant solicitation offers the following three grant categories:

Category 1: Implementation of Veterans Treatment Court;
Category 2: Enhancement of Adult Drug Courts and Veterans Treatment Courts;
Category 3: Statewide Strategies to Support Adult Drug Courts and Veterans Treatment Courts.

Priority Areas

In FY 2020, and in addition to executing any statutory prioritization that may be applicable, OJP will give priority consideration to applications under Category 1 and Categroy 2 as follows:

Applications that address specific challenges that rural communities face.
Applications that demonstrate that the individuals who are intended to benefit from the requested grant reside in high-poverty areas or persistent-poverty counties.
Applications that offer enhancements to public safety in economically distressed communities (Qualified Opportunity Zones).

Funding Information

Category 1: Implementation of VeteransTreatment Courts. Grant maximum: $500,000. Period of performance: 36.
Category 2: Enhancement of Adult Drug Courts and VeteransTreatment Courts. Grant maximum: $500,000. Period of performance: 36 months.
Category 3: Statewide Strategies to Support Adult Drug Courts and VeteransTreatment Courts. Grant maximum: $750,000. Period of performance: 36 months.

Eligibility Criteria

For Category 1 & 2
- States and territories,
- State and local courts,
- Counties,
- Units of local government, and
- Federally recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior) on behalf of a single jurisdiction drug court or veterans treatment court.
For Category 3
- State agencies such as the State Administering Agency, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the State Substance Abuse Agency.
An eligible applicant currently receiving federal funding for a part of its drug court program may apply to the BJA ADC and VTC Discretionary Grant Program; however, it will be ineligible if the request is for the same focus area and/or court type as its active federally funded drug court program.
An eligible applicant may also apply to fund the same focus area and/or court type as a current grant if its end date is before the start date of this grant.
Public and private nonprofit organizations are considered ineligible applicants; therefore, they are restricted from applying, although they may serve in a key supporting role to the drug court program as a subrecipient (subgrantee).