Tulsa County Problem Solving Court Recovery Project

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, the Community Service Council (CSC) of Greater Tulsa will use their Recovery Act grant funds to increase local employment and job retention to support the enhanced performance and productivity of the Tulsa Problem Solving Court (PSC) system. CSC will: increase the effectiveness of the PSC system by expanding the personnel of the PSC staff, the district attorney's office, and college internship programs; increase the effectiveness of PSC substance abuse (SA) and mental health (MH) treatment programs through the targeted training of 75 community-based SA and MH treatment staff; and increase the long-term employment prospects for SA offenders who successfully complete the best-practice PSC therapeutic and rehabilitative SA/MH treatment programs. The CSC of Greater Tulsa project activities will also include: adding five new staff persons; contracting to add an assistant district attorney; contracting to engage a training consultant; creating PSC training materials; providing an ongoing community partner training process to improve the competence in working with PSC participants; providing an improved understanding and accommodation among court and legal officials so that they can respond constructively to the subtleties of the behavior change process (e.g., effectively dealing with slips, and lapses); and providing enhanced veterans' mentoring as well as college internships.

CA/NCF