This funding record is inactive. Please see the program website or contact the program sponsor to determine if this program is currently accepting applications or will open again in the future.
National Community Courts Initiative
Link
https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/o-bja-2024-172116
Additional Links
Notice of Funding Opportunity (Grants.gov)
Solicitation Overview
Deadline
Application Deadline: Jun 24, 2024
Sponsor
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
Purpose
Provides funding to state, local, and tribal governments to establish and enhance community courts in their jurisdictions. Aims to build trust with law enforcement and enhance public safety by promoting the community court model. Community courts are neighborhood-focused court programs that combine the resources of the community and the justice system to address underlying issues that lead to criminal behavior, including substance use and mental health conditions. Works to connect people committing less serious crimes to judicially supervised substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, alternative sanctions, and community-based support services.
This program has 2 funding categories:
Category 1: Planning and Implementation - grants for jurisdictions that are planning and/or ready to establish a community court to address individuals experiencing substance use and/or co-occurring disorders and other issues using evidence-based principles and practices
Category 2: Enhancement - grants for jurisdictions with an existing community court that has been fully operational for at least 1 year as of March 2, 2023. Funds may be used to to scale up the court program's capacity; enhance court operations to serve a specific population such as the homeless population; expand or enhance court services; improve the quality and/or intensity of services based on needs assessments; or complete a program evaluation
Program objectives include:
- Establish or enhance court-based intervention programs that prioritize and expedite the provision of treatment and recovery services to individuals who are frequent users of justice, health, and other services and who commit misdemeanor offenses
- Increase and enhance alternatives to incarceration by tailoring sentences to each defendant to improve community safety, enhance confidence in justice, and reduce recidivism
- Build and maximize the capacity of jurisdictions to ensure all participants are identified, assessed, and referred to services
- Enhance the use of community services by participants in the community court docket, including case management, housing assistance, and service coordination
- Develop and maintain partnerships with service providers to enhance the provision of treatment and recovery support services
- Support the development, enhancement, and translation of research and knowledge of researcher-practitioner partnerships
- Collect lessons learned and other useful examples from grantees and disseminate the information via publications, media platforms, and conference presentations
Amount of Funding
Estimated number of awards:
- 5 awards in Category 1
- 5 awards in Category 2
Award ceiling: $900,000 per year
Project period: 48 months
Estimated total program funding:
$9,000,000
Who Can Apply
Eligible 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 Native American tribal governments
- Public housing authorities and Native American housing authorities
- Public or private entities acting on behalf of a single treatment court through an agreement with a state, city, township, county, or tribal government
Priority consideration is given to applicants that meet the following criteria:
- 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
- Expand access to services to rural and or tribal communities
- Partner with research experts to facilitate evaluation and assessment activities, including but not limited to needs evaluation, identifying the target population, ensuring equity and inclusion in programming, tracking program implementation, and mapping critical resources in the community
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 24, 2024 deadline.
- Step 2: Applicants will submit the full application, including attachments, in the JustGrants grants management system by the July 1, 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 fiscal year 2024 can be found on the program website.
Rural communities who have received funding include:
- Van Buren County Offices in Paw Paw, Michigan to plan and implement the Van Buren County Community Court to enhance public safety and build trust between the criminal justice system and communities in Van Buren County.
- Coastlands Ministries in Moravian Falls, North Carolina to plan and implement the Wilkes County, North Carolina Community Treatment Court.
Topics This Program Addresses
Community Planning and Coalition Building • Community Supervision • Crime Reduction • Justice System • Mental Health • Social Services • Substance Use Disorder • Treatment