Veterans Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program

Link

https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/o-bja-2024-172098

Additional Links

Notice of Funding Opportunity (Grants.gov)

Deadline

Application Deadline: Jun 20, 2024

Sponsor

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

Purpose

Offers financial and technical assistance to states, state courts, local courts, local governments, and federally recognized Native American tribes to plan, implement, and enhance the operations of veteran treatment courts (VTC). Provides treatment courts and community supervision systems with materials and resources to reduce recidivism, increase access to treatment and recovery services, and prevent overdoses among veterans in the criminal justice system with substance use, mental health, and/or co-occurring disorders, including those with a history of violence, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to their military service.

Aims to improve public safety and outcomes by accomplishing the following objectives:

Increase the number of potential participants screened and assessed for criminogenic risk, substance use or mental health conditions
Administer mandatory and random drug and alcohol testing of participants to monitor substance use and treatment progress
Provide or develop access to evidence-based SUD treatment and recovery support services
Provide or develop the capacity to access all 3 forms of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- approved medications to treat SUDs
Increase graduation rates for all treatment court participants actively participating in the grant program
Reduce the current recidivism rate among program participants
Ensure all grantees have access to BJA treatment court technical assistance resources to carry out program activities, incorporate evidence-based practices and principles,and provide equal access to participants that is validated by program data

Eligible applicants may apply for funding under the following program categories:

Category 1: Planning and Implementation grants support jurisdictions that are ready to commit to a 6-month planning phase followed by an implementation phase for an evidence-based VTC.

Category 2: Enhancement grants offer funding to jurisdictions with an operational VTC. Assists courts in implementing strategies that scale up existing program capacity; enhance court operations and services; build or enhance the collection and use of data, and provide access to or enhance treatment and support services.

Category 3: Statewide grants help state agencies to improve, enhance, or expand VTC services statewide. Activities may include scaling up VTC program capacity; helping local or rural jurisdictions to launch a new VTC; expanding treatment and services; supporting a VTC alumni network and/or peer recovery programs; providing training and technical assistance, assisting with data collection and analysis, and supporting staff to expand services statewide

Additional information about program activities, objectives, and deliverables can be found in the program guidance.

Amount of Funding

Award ceilings:

Category 1: $900,000
Category 2: $1,000,000
Category 3: $2,500,000

Estimated number of awards:

Category 1: 5 awards
Category 2: 10 awards
Category 3: 2 awards

Project period: 48 months
Estimated total program funding: $19,500,000

Who Can Apply

Eligible Category 1 and Category 2 applicants include:

States and territories
City, township, county, or special district governments
Other units of local government, such as towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, or general purpose political subdivisions of a state
Federally recognized Indian tribal governments
Public housing authorities and Native American housing authorities
Public or private entities acting on behalf of a single veterans treatment court through an agreement with a state, city, township, county, or tribal government

Eligible Category 3 applicants are state agencies such as:

State administering agency (SAA)
Administrative office of the courts
State substance abuse agency
State criminal justice agencies
Other state agencies involved with the provision of substance use and/or mental health services, or related services for court and related criminal justice programming

Priority consideration is given to 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.
Implement and/or enhance VTC programs by demonstrating the following strategies:
- Identify eligible veterans early for referral to VTCs by coordinating with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and their local Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists (VJOs) and by using Veterans Reentry Search Services (VRSS) and/or the mobile Status Query and Response Exchange System (SQUARES) tools to identify veterans
- Develop and implement a plan to expand services to veterans who cannot or do not have access to VA resources and/or groups of veterans who are not accessing VTCs in numbers representative of those veterans in the criminal justice system
- Build strategies to ensure risk assessments for violence and self-harm for veterans in VTC programs and for appropriate supervision and service delivery

Geographic Coverage

Nationwide

What This Program Funds

Capacity Building • New Program • Operating Costs and Staffing

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 June 20, 2024 deadline.
Step 2: Applicants will submit the full application, including attachments, in the JustGrants grants management system by the June 27, 2024 deadline.

Applicant webinar
May 14, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern

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 fiscal year 2023 can be found on the program website.

One rural community who received funding is the County of Navajo in Oklahoma which will enhance their treatment court by increasing the number of participants from 40 to 80, making systemic improvements, and offering more treatment and support services through collaboration with local stakeholders.

Topics This Program Addresses

Community Supervision • Crime Reduction • Education and Training • Housing and Homelessness • Justice System • Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) • Opioids • Overdose Prevention • Recovery • Social Services • Substance Use Disorder • Treatment • Veterans • Violence, Trauma, and Abuse