US: Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program

Deadline: 9-May-23

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) seeking applications for funding for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program.

This program furthers the DOJ’s mission by providing resources to state, local, and Tribal governments to create and enhance juvenile drug treatment court (JDTC) programs for youth in the justice system with substance use disorders.

OJJDP’s guiding philosophy is to enhance the welfare of America’s youth and broaden their opportunities for a better future. To bring these goals to fruition, OJJDP is leading efforts to transform the juvenile justice system into one that will Treat Children as Children; Serve Children at Home, With Their Families, in their Communities; and Open Up Opportunities for System-Involved Youth. OJJDP encourages all proposed applications that work with youth to highlight how the proposed program aligns with these priorities.

OJJDP envisions a juvenile justice system centered on the strengths, needs, and voices of youth and families. Young people and family members with lived experience are vital resources for understanding and reaching persons involved or at risk of involvement with youth-serving systems. OJJDP asks stakeholders to join us in sustainably integrating bold, transformative youth and family partnership strategies into their daily work. OJJDP believes in achieving positive outcomes for youth, families, and communities through meaningful engagement and active partnerships, ensuring they play a central role in collaboratively developing solutions.

Applicants must describe how their proposed project/program will integrate and sustain meaningful youth and family partnerships into their project plan and budget. Depending on the nature of an applicant’s proposed project, youth and family partnership could consist of one or more of the following:

• Individual-level partnership in case planning and direct service delivery (before, during, and after contact with youth-serving systems).
• Agency-level partnership (e.g., in policy, practice, and program development, implementation, and evaluation; staffing; advisory bodies; budget development).
• System-level partnership (e.g., in strategic planning activities, system improvement initiatives, advocacy strategies, reform efforts).

Categories

• Category 1: Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Planning and Implementation Program
• Category 2: Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Enhancement Program.

Goals & Objectives

• Category 1: Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Planning and Implementation Program
  • Goals
    • The goal of this category is to support jurisdictions that identified a need to establish a JDTC.
  • Objectives
    • The objective is to support courts in providing treatment and accountability to youth with substance use disorders by offering access to treatment and recovery services that will ultimately ensure public safety and productive adults.
    • Funding under this category will support a 12-month planning process that will educate the JDTC team about the basic components of a JDTC and develop a program that integrates court and treatment functions. OJJDP expects the court to be operational and providing services at the conclusion of the planning process.
• Category 2: Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Enhancement Program
  • Goals
    • The goal of this category is to enhance existing JDTCs by enhancing one or more of the following areas using the evidence-based Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Guidelines:
      • Implement workforce development strategies to increase substance use and mental health providers, as well as peer recovery supports. This can include building the expertise of juvenile probation counselors on adolescent substance use and mental health disorders.
      • Develop effective strategies to increase access to and the availability of adolescent substance use and mental health treatment.
      • Enhance adolescent substance use disorder treatment services in existing JDTCs, including screening, assessment, case management, recovery support services, and program coordination to JDTC participants.
      • Enhance monitoring of the court’s behavioral health progression of services from referral to treatment, treatment entry, treatment retention, and treatment completion.
      • Build or enhance the jurisdiction’s data management system to intentionally collect and examine access and retention data to ensure that disparities do not exist for race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability in admission protocols or elsewhere in the JDTC program.
      • Develop effective case management.
      • Deliver effective incentives and sanctions.
      • Address criminogenic needs.
      • Implement or enhance evidence-based screening tools.
      • Develop an innovative approach to serve court-involved youth who are not moderate to high risk to offend but have substance use challenges and can benefit from a brief intervention.
      • Successful applicants will be expected to provide a coordinated, multisystem approach designed to combine the judicial oversight authority of JDTCs with effective substance use disorder treatment services to reduce recidivism and substance use.
  • Objectives
    • The objectives of this program are to improve access and availability of adolescent (and family when appropriate) substance use disorder treatment services to a larger number of clients, increase the number of individuals served, and/or propose enhancements to improve the quality of treatment services by adding workforce development strategies, evidence-based treatment approaches, or new treatment services to address unmet or emerging trends.

Priority Areas

• The Department of Justice is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and racial equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety and protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community.
  • . Priority Considerations Supporting Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government 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.
  • OJJDP will give priority consideration to applicants that demonstrate a commitment to ensuring fairness, equity, and access to justice for all children and families regardless of  their race or ethnicity; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity or expression; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.
  • To receive this priority consideration, applicants must include in their application a plan that describes how the applicant will incorporate these values and priorities into their program design.

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.

Funding Information

• Anticipated Maximum Dollar Amount of Awards Category 1: $750,000; Category 2: $1,000,000
• Period of Performance Duration (Months) 48.

Eligibility Criteria

• City or township governments
• State governments
• County governments
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• An applicant entity 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.

Requirements

• The JDTC must also meet the requirements, including:
  • Continuing judicial supervision over youth, and other individuals under the jurisdiction of the court, with substance abuse problems, who are not individuals who are charged with or have committed a violent offense.
  • Coordination with the appropriate state or local prosecutor.
• The integrated administration of other sanctions and services, which will include:
  • Mandatory periodic testing for the use of controlled substances or other addictive substance during any period of supervised release or probation for each participant.
  • Substance use treatment for each participant.
  • Diversion, probation, or other supervised release involving the possibility of prosecution, confinement, or incarceration based on noncompliance with program requirements or failure to show satisfactory progress.
  • Case management and aftercare services such as relapse prevention, healthcare, education, vocational training, job placement, housing placement, and childcare or other family support services for each participant who requires such services.
  • Payment, in whole or in part, by the participant for treatment costs to the extent practicable, such as costs for urinalysis or counseling.
  • Payment, in whole or in part, by the participant for restitution, to the extent practicable, to either a victim of the participant’s offense or to a restitution or similar victim support fund.
  • Note: Although the JDTC Program authorizing statute contains requirements related to participants paying for treatment and restitution. The authorizing statute, however, does not permit imposing a fee on a client that would interfere with their rehabilitation.
  • Applicants should describe in their application how youth and parent/guardians will be notified of the program fees and include provisions and practices for determining how these costs would not interfere with the engagement, recovery, and success for the youth and family.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.