BJA FY 18 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program | BJA 2018 13601

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2018 13601

The BJA FY 18 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program is a U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) funding opportunity designed to strengthen the criminal justice system's ability to respond to substance use disorders through adult drug courts. Its central goal is to provide both financial support and technical assistance so that jurisdictions can develop new adult drug courts or improve existing ones in ways that reflect proven, evidence-based practices. A major emphasis of the program is ensuring drug courts operate as true treatment-focused alternatives within a judicially supervised setting, pairing accountability with clinical services to reduce substance misuse, recidivism, and the broader harms tied to addiction, including challenges associated with the opioid epidemic.

Funding under this program supports drug court models that tightly integrate several core components: evidence-based substance use disorder treatment, mandatory and ongoing drug testing, a structured system of incentives and sanctions, and transitional services that help participants stabilize their lives. In practice, this means grant-funded programs are expected to blend court supervision with treatment and recovery supports in a coordinated way, rather than treating court oversight and health services as separate tracks. The inclusion of transitional services signals an interest in longer-term stability, such as support for reentry, employment readiness, housing connections, and other practical services that help participants sustain recovery and avoid returning to criminal justice involvement.

BJA is accepting applications for fiscal year 2018 funding for multiple types of efforts. Applicants may propose to establish a new adult drug court where one does not currently exist, enhance or expand an existing drug court program, or pursue statewide-level initiatives. The statewide options are intended to improve consistency and quality across multiple jurisdictions, often through training, technical assistance, common standards, data capacity, and coordination that lifts performance across a state rather than only within a single local court.

A notable feature of the opportunity is BJA's support for courts that incorporate the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) adult drug court standards into their operations. These standards are widely used as benchmarks for high-quality drug court practice and can cover areas such as participant eligibility and assessment, treatment planning, judicial interaction, supervision strategies, incentives and sanctions, and ongoing program monitoring. By encouraging alignment with NADCP standards, the program is signaling that funded projects should not only exist, but also function in a way that is consistent with recognized best practices and measurable performance expectations.

This is a discretionary grant program (Funding Opportunity Number BJA-2018-13601) under CFDA 16.585. Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. The overall funding mechanism is a grant, and the opportunity spans several public service and justice-related activity categories, including law, justice and legal services, health, education, employment and training, and related areas that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of drug court work.

The opportunity was posted on April 30, 2018, with an original application deadline of June 5, 2018. BJA anticipated making approximately 40 awards, with an award ceiling of up to $2,000,000 per grant. In general terms, this scale suggests BJA intended to fund a mix of projects, potentially ranging from single-jurisdiction implementation and enhancement efforts to larger, coordinated statewide approaches, while maintaining a strong focus on evidence-based treatment integration and accountable court supervision.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the education, employment, labor and training, health, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), law, justice and legal services, other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 18 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.585.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 30, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 05, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 40 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for BJA 2018 13601

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