Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP)

Link

https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/o-bja-2024-171978

Additional Links

Notice of Funding Opportunity (Grants.gov)
Solicitation Overview

Deadline

Application Deadline: May 9, 2024

Sponsor

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

Purpose

Supports cross-system collaboration programs to reduce criminal justice system involvement and improve outcomes for individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders who come into contact with the justice system or are leaving a custodial setting. Provides healthcare, treatment, social services, and other activities designed to enhance public safety and public health targeting preliminarily qualified individuals with mental health disorders (MHD) or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (MHSUD).

Program objectives include:

  • Strengthen, expand, and operate mental health drop-off crisis stabilization treatment centers that can provide screening and assessment, crisis care, residential treatment, outpatient mental health treatment, primary care, telehealth, and other services for people involved in the justice system
  • Build workforce capacity in communities for certified mental health peer support specialists and increase wraparound services for individuals with MHD and MHSUD
  • Increase capacity to identify, treat, and support the recovery of individuals at the intersection of justice and mental health at the state, tribal, and local levels
  • Create or expand existing justice and mental health collaboration programs at any point in the criminal justice system, such as jails, courts, and prosecutors, along with community supervision and/or capacity building for criminal justice professionals to target individuals with MHD or MHSUD at risk of recidivism
  • Increase policy and programmatic strategies to improve access to care for people in the criminal justice system

In fiscal year (FY) 2024, the focus of this program is on pretrial, prosecution, courts, probation/parole, and addressing the needs related to the criminal activity of adults with mental health conditions in the criminal justice system and leaving incarceration who are living in homelessness or marginalized communities with minimal access to treatment and are in need of wraparound services. There are 2 funding categories for this opportunity

  • Category 1: Criminal Justice System Collaboration: Pretrial, Prosecution, Courts, Behavioral Health Grants
  • Category 2: Community Justice and Collaboration: Jails & Prisons, Probation & Parole, Behavioral Health Grants

Category-specific objectives, deliverables, and other requirements can be found in the funding announcement.

Funds can be used to plan and implement activities to connect individuals with MHD and MHSUD with treatment and social services, including:

  • Support for the 988 national suicide and mental health crisis lifeline
  • Case management
  • Crisis stabilization units and pre-arrest diversion
  • Mental health courts or other court-based approaches to preliminarily qualified individuals
  • Prosecutor- or defense-led diversion strategies
  • Supported employment services for people with behavioral health needs
  • Specialized caseloads for probation
  • Cross-system training of public safety officials and mental health providers
  • Enhanced cooperation between state and local governments to better support individuals with MHD or MHSUD

Amount of Funding

Award ceiling: $550,000
Project period: 36 months
Estimated number of awards: 25
Estimated total program funding: $13,750,000

Applicants must provide matching funds for a portion of the project. Generally, an award may not exceed 80% of the total project cost in years 1 and 2. Awards may not exceed 60% of the total project cost in year 3.

Who Can Apply

Eligible applicants include:

  • States
  • City, township, county, and special district governments
  • Federally recognized Indian tribal governments
  • Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
  • Agencies with a different legal status are eligible to apply only if they meet the following 2 requirements:
    • Applicant is designated by the state mental health authority to provide services as a unit of the state or local government
    • Applicant must attach documentation to support this designation

In order to be eligible, proposed projects must demonstrate they will be administered jointly by an agency with responsibility for criminal or juvenile justice activities and a mental health agency.

Funding priority consideration areas include:

  1. Proposals that promote racial equity and support the removal of barriers to access and opportunity for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, adversely affected by inequality, and disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization .
  2. Proposals that address 1 or more program-specific priorities, including:
    • Promoting effective strategies for the identification and treatment of females with MHD involved in the criminal justice system
    • Promoting effective strategies to expand the use of mental health courts and related services
    • Interventions that have been shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism
    • Using validated assessment tools to target offenders with a moderate or high risk of recidivism and a need for treatment services as appropriate
    • Demonstrating that funds are used for public health and public safety
    • Demonstrating active participation of co-applicants in administrating the program
    • Demonstrating that funds used for the treatment of incarcerated populations will provide transition and reentry services for participants

To receive funding priority consideration, applicants must identify which priority consideration is being sought in the proposal abstract, and describe how it will be addressed in the proposal narrative.

Geographic Coverage

Nationwide

What This Program Funds

Capacity Building • New Program • Operating Costs and Staffing • Training Providers

Application Process

Application instructions, requirements, and other information about the online application process can be found in the funding announcement.

Applications must be submitted electronically through a 2-step process:

  • Step 1: Applicants will submit an SF-424 and an SF-LLL in grants.gov by the May 9, 2024 deadline.
  • Step 2: Applicants will submit the full application, including attachments, in the JustGrants grants management system by the May 14, 2024 deadline.

Contact

For questions on submitting in grants.gov:
800-518-4726
support@grants.gov

For questions on submitting in JustGrants:
833-872-5175
JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov

For programmatic and technical questions:
Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Response Center
800-851-3420
TTY at 301-240-6310
grants@ncjrs.gov

Rural Awards

Past awards communities received in FY 2023 can be found on the program website.

Rural communities who have received funding include:

Topics This Program Addresses

Community Planning and Coalition Building • Community Supervision • Crime Reduction • Healthcare Workforce • Housing and Homelessness • Justice System • Mental Health • Social Services • Substance Use Disorder • Treatment • Violence, Trauma, and Abuse