Statewide Drug Court Program and Best Practice Standards

The purpose of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) FY19 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program (34 U.S.C. §§ 10611, et seq.) is to provide financial and technical assistance to states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to implement and enhance drug courts and veterans treatment courts that effectively integrate evidence-based substance abuse treatment, mandatory drug testing, sanctions and incentives, and transitional services in a judicially supervised court setting with jurisdiction over substance-abusing offenders. BJA allows award recipients to implement or enhance the most appropriate drug court model in order to accommodate the needs and available resources of their jurisdictions, so long as the model conforms to the 10 key components and the evidence-based program principles in the nationally-recognized drug court standards. To the extent that substance abuse treatment and related services are funded by an award, the drug court project must include treatment and services to address opioid abuse reduction.

The grant recipient will use the grant funds to improve, enhance, or expand drug court services statewide by encouraging adherence to evidence-based program principles. Funds may also be used to develop or expand a state-based training and technical assistance (TTA) program that supports the needs of drug courts statewide, which may include scaling up the state’s capacity to support the personnel required to coordinate a state-based TTA program. CA/NCF