The dallas county criminal justice department is seeking $1,432,499.00 over 3 years to support and expand its pretrial diversion assessment program (ptdap)

The Dallas County Criminal Justice Department was awarded a $1,432,499.00 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and other Substances Use Program (CFDA 16.838). The 3-year grant will fund 3 full-time clinicians to conduct evidence-based risk and needs assessments for pretrial defendants, 1 full-time program coordinator, and program evaluation. The goal is to expand the county's Pretrial Diversion Assessment Program to serve approximately 600 eligible first-time, non-violent felony offenders per year, providing them with individualized treatment and recovery support services. This will facilitate dismissal and expungement of cases for successful participants, reducing incarceration rates. The grant seeks to advance racial equity by increasing referrals and assessments for racial minority groups and underserved communities.

The funding request is to hire 3 full-time program clinicians to complete pretrial diversion evidenced based assessments, 1 full-time program coordinator to support the program, and funding for program evaluation and research. Dallas county is applying for category 1A: urban areas, of the BJA cossup grant (o-BJA-2023-171527). The grant will expand access to treatment and recovery support services for individuals with substance use disorders in the criminal justice system, specifically first-time felony offenders charged with a low-level, non-violent offense. Dallas countys ptdap started in july 2021 and needs continued and expanded funding to support the growing program and to continue operation. The project will complete evidencebased risk-need-responsivity assessments on pretrial defendants by a program clinician. This will provide individualized recommendations for the appropriate pretrial diversion program, treatment, and recovery support services. When the defendant successfully completes his/her pretrial diversion program, his/her case is dismissed and expunged, preventing a felony conviction. The ptdap will serve any eligible defendant within dallas county, an urban county with a population of approximately 2.6 million. IT is estimated that around 600 defendants a year in dallas county would qualify for the ptdap. The primary activities of the ptdap are to provide a post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration program, pretrial diversion program; to enable court programming to prioritize and expedite treatment and recovery services for individuals at high-risk of overdose and substance use disorder; and to increase access to evidenced-based treatment. The project goal is to expand and expedite pretrial diversion for firsttime felony offenders with eligible offenses, by leveraging a streamlined process and evidence based assessments to determine the individuals needs for treatment, recovery support, resources, and appropriate diversion programs, reducing the number of defendants sent to prison, state jail, or released on probation and resulting in a conviction. The projects objectives will include increasing referrals and assessments to racial minority groups and underserved communities to advance racial equity, reduce time to expedite the pretrial diversion process, and expand access to needed evidence-based substance use treatment and recovery support. This includes utilizing the assessments to screen defendants for needed for cognitive-behavioral treatment, mediation assisted treatment (mat), and other treatment and support to address those who have significant substance use history and are at higher risk of overdose.