Cass County Michigan Family Dependency Treatment Court

The Recovery Act Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant Program (Byrne Competitive Program) will help communities improve the capacity of state and local justice systems and provide for national support efforts including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address local needs. This competitive grant announcement focuses on initiatives in eight areas: 1) preventing and reducing violent crime through community-based data-driven approaches; 2) providing funding for neighborhood-based probation and parole officers; 3) reducing mortgage fraud and crime related to vacant properties; 4) hiring of civilian support personnel in law enforcement (training staff, analysts, dispatchers, etc.); 5) enhancing forensic and crime scene investigations; 6) improving resources and services for victims of crime; 7) supporting problem-solving courts; and 8) national training and technical assistance partnerships.

Under category 7, Cass County will use the grant funds to sustain essential services for program participants and take problem-solving justice principles to scale (e.g., by expanding programming in criminal courts and in the county jail, applying principles to all family court cases, and to the state level by networking and providing mentoring to other jurisdictions for program startup). The overarching goal of CCFTC is to provide homes that are stable, permanent, safe, and healthy for children who have been victims of abuse and neglect because of parental substance abuse. Major deliverables for this project are a cost benefit analysis, a detailed report of activities that support collaborative partnerships to take problem-solving courts to scale, quarterly and annual reports for accountability and transparency, and annual program evaluations with recommendations for continuous program improvement.

CA/NCF