HHS Announces $80.8 Million in Grants for Adult and Family Treatment Drug Courts, and Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts

This week, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announces funding of up to $80.8 million over a period of three to five years for treatment drug court programs for people who are involved in the criminal justice system with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental and substance use disorders.

Treatment drug courts combine the sanctioning power of courts with effective treatment services to reduce further criminal justice involvement and promote recovery for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental and substance use disorders.  By reducing the health and social costs of substance use disorders for individuals, treatment drug courts improve public safety in communities.

“One of the five key strategies the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has identified for fighting America’s opioid epidemic is expanding access to treatment and recovery services, including the full range of medication-assisted treatments. Drug courts can play an important role in connecting Americans to treatment when they need it,” said HHS Secretary Tom Price, M.D. “As HHS has carried out a national listening tour on the opioid epidemic—one of our top three clinical priorities—we have heard from many Americans finding recovery through drug courts, and we are pleased to support such work.”

“Providing needed treatment services for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental and substance use disorders who are involved with the criminal justice system benefits everyone,” said Dr. Kim Johnson, director for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.  “Treatment drug courts improve health and recovery outcomes, reduce the burden on the criminal justice system, and help people recover in their communities.”

The grant programs included in this SAMHSA effort are:

Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Adult Treatment Drug Court and Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts

The purpose of this program is to expand and/or enhance substance use disorder treatment services in existing adult problem solving courts, and adult Tribal Healing to Wellness courts, which use the treatment drug court model in order to provide alcohol and drug treatment (including recovery support services, screening, assessment, case management, and program coordination) to defendants/offenders.

Forty-four recipients will receive up to $17.8 million per year for up to three years.

List of grantees

Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Family Treatment Drug Courts

The purpose of this program is to expand and/or enhance substance use disorder treatment services in existing family treatment drug courts, which use the family treatment drug court model in order to provide alcohol and drug treatment (including recovery support services, screening, assessment, case management, and program coordination) to parents with a substance use disorder and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders who have had a dependency petition filed against them or are at risk of such filing.

Twenty recipients will receive up to $8.2 million per year for up to five years.

List of grantees

The actual award amounts may vary, depending on the availability of funds.

Information on SAMHSA grants in available at:  http://www.samhsa.gov/grants.

For general information about SAMHSA please visit: http://www.samhsa.gov