Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity for Adult Drug Courts

Post Date

March 5th 2009

Application Due Date

May 8th 2009

Funding Opportunity Number

TI-09-003

CFDA Number(s)

93.243

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Grant

Funding Activity Categories

Health

Number of Awards

39

Eligibility Categories

Other

SAMHSA/CSAT is restricting eligibility to existing individual misdemeanor or felony Adult Treatment Drug Courts that have demonstrated relationships and agreements with existing community-based substance abuse treatment providers in order to create the necessary networks to successfully implement these grants. Adult Treatment Drug Courts are the eligible entities for this program because such courts are the catalysts for adults involved in the criminal justice system to enter a treatment drug court program. Although public and private nonprofit organizations have a pivotal supporting role in treatment drug court programs and may be sub-recipients/contractors to the applicant, they are not the catalysts for entry into drug court and are restricted from applying. Funding is intended to serve individual drug courts, although some States/Counties have restrictions prohibiting individual courts from applying for this type of funding. Only if there is a formal legislative, administrative, or policy restriction preventing an individual court from applying for a grant or legally administering grant or treatment funds can the State or County apply for this grant. In those cases, the State or County will be the award recipient, the entity responsible for satisfying the grant requirements and must provide the documentation of the restriction that prohibits the individual court from applying in Appendix 5 of the application. When the State or County is the applicant, all grant funds awarded must be dedicated to the individual drug court with the exception of a small set aside, not to exceed two percent of the total award, that is permissible to cover the cost of administration and oversight of the grant. Although funding is intended for individual drug courts, SAMHSA recognizes the scarcity of treatment resources in some rural communities. Therefore, it is allowable for contiguous rural counties in one State to apply as a multi-county partnership to serve more than one drug court within the identified counties. However, in such situations, one county unit of government must assume the role of lead applicant, which will oversee and administer the grant for the multiple jurisdictions. This grant program is not intended to provide start-up funds to create new treatment drug courts. Applicant drug courts must be operational for at least one year at the time of application. Operational is defined as a judge being designated as a “drug court” judge wi

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $11550000

• Award Range:

  $0 - $300000

Grant Description

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2009 Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Adult Drug Courts (Adult Treatment Drug Courts). The purpose of this program is to expand and/or enhance substance abuse treatment services in “problem solving” courts which use the treatment drug court model in order to provide alcohol and drug treatment, recovery support services supporting substance abuse treatment, screening, assessment, case management, and program coordination to adult defendants/offenders. Priority for the use of the funding should be given to addressing gaps in the existing continuum of treatment. Grantees will be expected to provide a coordinated, multi-system approach designed to combine the sanctioning power of treatment drug courts with effective treatment services to break the cycle of criminal behavior, alcohol and/or drug use, and incarceration or other penalties. Treatment Drug Courts use regular appearances of the client before a judge (who is part of, or guided by, a team of relevant professionals) in order to monitor compliance with court ordered conditions and substance abuse treatment. There is a significant disparity between the availability of treatment services for persons with alcohol and drug use disorders and the demand for such services. According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 22.3 million individuals needed treatment for an alcohol or illicit drug use problem. Only 10 percent of these individuals received treatment at a specialty facility in the past year. This disparity is also consistent for criminal justice populations, as estimates show only 10 percent of individuals involved with the criminal justice system who are in need of substance abuse treatment receive it as part of their justice system supervision. By providing needed treatment services, this program is intended to reduce the health and social costs of substance abuse and dependence to the public, and increase the safety of America’s citizens by reducing substance abuse related crime and violence. Treatment Drug Courts are problem-solving courts, often used as an alternative to incarceration, that quickly identify substance abusing offenders and place them under strict court monitoring and community supervision as well as provide the participant with effective treatment services. They are being created at a high rate with over 2,100 in existence in 2008, but many lack sufficient funding for substance abuse treatment. Treatment Drug Courts represent the coordinated efforts of the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities to actively intervene and break the cycle of substance abuse, addiction and crime. Stakeholders work together to give individual clients the opportunity to improve their lives, including recovery from substance use disorders, and develop the capacity and skills to become fully-functioning parents, employees and citizens. SAMHSA’s interest is to actively support and shape Adult Treatment Drug Courts, including Driving While Impaired (DWI) Courts, so that clinical needs are met and clients are treated using evidence-based practices consistent with the disease model and the problem-solving model, rather than with the traditional court case-processing model. A long-term goal of this program is to build sustainable systems of care for adult persons needing treatment drug court services. Adult Treatment Drug Courts is one of SAMHSA’s services grant programs. SAMHSA’s services grants are designed to address gaps in substance abuse and mental health prevention and treatment services and/or to increase the ability of States, units of local government, American Indian/Alaska Native Tribes and tribal organizations, and community- and faith-based organizations to help specific populations or geographic areas with serious, emerging mental health and substance abuse problems. SAMHSA intends that its services grants result in the delivery of services as soon as possible after award. Service delivery should begin by the 4th month of the project at the latest. As of April 2008, approximately 1.64 million men and women have been deployed to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in support of the Global War on Terror. Individuals returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk for suffering post-traumatic stress and other related disorders. Experts estimate that up to one-third of returning veterans will need mental health and/or substance abuse treatment and related services. In addition, the family members of returning veterans have an increased need for related support services. To address these concerns, SAMHSA strongly encourages all applicants to consider the unique needs of returning veterans and their families in developing their proposed project. Adult Treatment Drug Court grants are authorized under Section 509 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2010 focus area 26 (Substance Abuse) of the Public Health Service Act.

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of Health and Human Services

• Office:

  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin

• Agency Contact:

  Kathleen Sample
  Office of Program Services, Division of Grants Management
  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  1 Choke Cherry Road
  Room 7-1089
  Rockville, Maryland 20857
  (240) 276-1407

• Agency Mailing Address:

  kathleen.sample@samhsa.hhs.gov

• Agency Email Address:

  kathleen.sample@samhsa.hhs.gov

• More Information:

  Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity for Adult Drug Courts