Description
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2012 Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment in Adult and Family Drug Courts. The purpose of this program is to expand and/or enhance substance abuse treatment services in existing adult and family problem solving courts which use the treatment drug court model in order to provide alcohol and drug treatment (including recovery support services supporting substance abuse treatment, screening, assessment, case management, and program coordination) to defendants/offenders. 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. Priority for the use of the funding should be given to addressing gaps in the continuum of treatment for those individuals in these courts who have substance abuse and/or co-occurring disorders treatment needs. Grant funds must be used to serve people diagnosed with a substance use disorder as their primary condition.The term "drug court" means a specially designed court calendar or docket, the purposes of which are to achieve a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among substance-abusing offenders and to increase the likelihood of successful habilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment, mandatory periodic drug testing, and use of appropriate sanctions and other habilitation services. They are being created at a high rate with over 2,400 in existence in 2011, 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 various existing Treatment Drug Courts that serve substance-abusing adults in the respective problem-solving court models as long as the court meets all the elements required for drug courts. The intent is to meet the clinical needs of clients and ensure 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 individuals needing treatment drug court services in the following four drug court categories in FY 2012:Category 1- Adult Drug Courts;Category 2- Adult Municipal/Misdemeanor Drug Courts;Category 3- Veterans Treatment Courts; andCategory 4- Family Drug Courts.For definitions of these drug court categories, see Section I-2, Expectations of this RFA. Applicants should indicate on the front page of their application form (SF-424) the category for which they are applying (See Section IV-3, Application Submission Requirements for more information).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 with a "drug court" docket of cases and seeing defendants in "drug court" on a regular and recurring basis for at least one year prior to the submission of the grant application. By signing the cover page (SF-424) of the application, the authorized representative of the applicant organization is certifying that the Adult Treatment Drug Court applying for funds is operational, as defined above, for at least one year at the time of application.In alignment with the goals of SAMHSA's Strategic Initiative: "Trauma and Justice", this program will help "reduce the pervasive, harmful, and costly health impact of violence and trauma by integrating trauma-informed approaches throughout health, behavioral health, and related systems and addressing the behavioral health needs of people involved in or at risk of involvement in the criminal and juvenile justice systems". By providing needed treatment and recovery 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. See Appendix J - Background Information for more on drug courts and SAMHSA's role in providing funding for substance abuse treatment services in drug courts."Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Adult and Family Drug Courts (hereafter referred to as SAMHSA Treatment Drug Courts)" is one of SAMHSA's services grant programs. 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.SAMHSA Treatment Drug Court grants are authorized under Section 509 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2020 Substance Abuse Topic Area HP 2020-SA.ADDITIONAL NOTE: See http://www.samhsa.gov/grants/2012/ti_12_005.aspx for more information.