Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2021, $1,650,000)
The New York State (NYS) Unified Court System (UCS) is working with the Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) to expand access and reduce disparities in Adult Drug Courts (ADCs). UCS is seeking a Category 4 statewide award in the amount of $1,500,00. The NYS Equal Justice in Treatment Courts Initiative will partner with Policy Research Associates (PRA), American University (AU), and NPC Research (NPC) to enhance ADC program capacity and to ensure equal access to approximately 7,407 participants served annually ADCs. NY post-adjudication ADCs have program periods of minimum one year, no maximum, and an average of 18 months in duration. This initiative seeks to apply the NADCP Best Practice Standard I Target Population (pg. 5) and Standard II Equity and Inclusion (pg.11). Fentanyl use and COVID have heightened health disparities for communities of color. Recent bail reforms have impacted the ability of ADCS to quickly engage individuals in MAT, treatment and recovery supportive services. This proposal will target offenders with a substance abuse disorder that may not access drug courts due to multiple barriers to entry. NY data reveals stark disproportionalities in the referral and entry process for persons of color in ADCs. This project will serve to expand access to ADCs by providing statewide program analysis and training support to identify and reduce disparities. NPC will conduct a process evaluation in all 96 ADCs to review access barriers, clarify eligible target populations, and conduct an outcome evaluation to determine if access disparities are reduced during the project period. NPC will identify six pilot jurisdictions that will be guided by PRA to utilize the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) mapping process to resolve barriers to entry and to generate recommendations for state policy changes in eligibility and access criteria for ADC populations. The American University Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) tool will be completed in all 96 drug courts and serve as a central feature of policy reviews to generate statewide recommendations to improve equitable justice in NY ADCs. PRA will create and support a learning community among treatment courts to ensure that all potential participants are identified and assessed for risk and need in compliance with the NADCP Best Practice Standards. The NYS UCS is not leveraging any other federal funding sources to support this application. The NYS UCS has received BJA awards including #2007-DC-BX0001, 2009-DC-BX-0018, 2010-DC-BX-0121, 2011-DC-BX-0140 and 2011-DC-BX-0138, 2012-DC-BX-0012, 2013-DC-BX-0070, 2018-DC-BX-0137, 2018-DC-BX0141, and 2020-MU-BX-130.