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Veterans Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program

Link

https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/o-bja-2023-171536

Additional Links

Notice of Funding Opportunity (Grants.gov)
Solicitation Overview

Deadline

Application Deadline: Apr 11, 2023

Sponsor

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

Purpose

Offers financial and technical assistance to states, state courts, local courts, local governments, and federally recognized Indian tribes to plan, implement, and enhance the operations 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 with substance use disorders in the criminal justice system, 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:

Ensure treatment court participants have access to all types of FDA-approved medications to treatment substance use disorders and include training on overdose prevention
Ensure practitioners have the tools to provide judicial and community supervision, mandatory and random drug testing, substance use, and mental health disorder treatment, and appropriate incentives and sanctions
Utilize evidence-based practices and principles that incorporate the Justice for Vets and other relevant research
Ensure early and accurate identification of potential veterans for referral to VTCs, including use of Veterans Re-Entry Search Service (VRSS) tool
Ensure that all eligible individuals have equal access to the program as measured by the collection and examination of program data
Build and maximize capacity to ensure all potential participants are identified early and assessed for risk and needs using a validated risk and clinical assessment tool to determine eligibility
Enhance the provision of recovery support services, including transitional recovery housing assistance and peer and family support, to support ongoing recovery
Enhance collaboration between states and local and/or tribal jurisdictions to support the operations and enhancements of VTC activities

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.

Eligible VTC types include:

Adult drug courts
Driving while intoxicated (DWI)/driving under the influence (DUI) courts
Co-occurring courts in which participants are diagnosed with both substance use and mental illness
Tribal Healing to Wellness courts (THWCs)

Amount of Funding

Award ceilings:

Category 1: $900,000
Category 2: $950,000
Category 3: $2,500,000

Estimated number of awards:

Category 1: 4 awards
Category 2: 14 awards
Category 3: 4 awards

Project period: 48 months
Estimated total program funding: $25,100,000

Who Can Apply

Eligible Category 1 and Category 2 applicants include:

States and territories
City, township, county, or special district governments
Federally recognized Indian tribal governments
Public housing authorities and Indian 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 illness services, or related services to veterans in the criminal justice system

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, and adversely affected by inequality.
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 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

In fiscal year 2023, all state, local, and university and college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process in order to be eligible for grant funding.

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 two-step process:

Step 1: Applicants will submit an SF-424 and an SF-LLL in grants.gov by the April 11, 2023 deadline.
Step 2: Applicants will submit the full application, including attachments, in the JustGrants grants management system by the April 18, 2023 deadline.

Applicant webinar recording

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