The state of georgias criminal justice coordinating council (cjcc) is requesting $2,500,000 over 48 months to improve, enhance, and expand adult drug courts by: (1) developing and deploying a…

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) of Georgia received a $2,500,000 Project Grant award from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program (CFDA 16.585). This 48-month grant will enable CJCC to improve, enhance, and expand adult drug courts across the state. Key activities include:

1. Developing and deploying a participant screening tool for all arrestees within local jails.
2. Establishing a statewide language access protocol to ensure equitable access to services and materials for non-English and limited-English speaking participants.
3. Providing access to emergency and transitional housing for participants in need to address environmental and other risk factors limiting program participation.
4. Enhancing data collection efforts statewide and providing racial and ethnic diversity training for participating courts.

The project aims to strategically enhance treatment options and address potential causes of ethnic/racial disparities within the adult drug court system in Georgia. It will serve urban, rural, and suburban localities statewide.

The state of georgias criminal justice coordinating council (cjcc) is requesting $2,500,000 over 48 months to improve, enhance, and expand adult drug courts by: (1) developing and deploying a participant screening tool for all arrestees within local jails, (2) establishing a statewide language access protocol to ensure equitable access to service and materials for non-english and limited-english speaking participants, (3) providing access to emergency and transitional housing for participants in need to address environmental and other risk factors limiting program participation, and (4) enhancing data collection efforts statewide and providing racial and ethnic diversity training for participating courts. As described by the solicitation, the adult drug courts to be served by this funding will include driving while intoxicated (DWI)/driving under the influence (DUI) courts, adult felony drug courts, cooccurring courts where participants possess both a substance abuse and mental illness diagnosis, and veteran treatment courts. Cjcc proposes to strategically enhance the treatment options for participants though the implementation of mechanisms that may be responsible for a lack of ethnic and racial diversity within the accountability court system, as well as expansion of training opportunities for court staff to address those limitations caused by unknown implicit bias. This project will customize options for court staff to enhance current offerings to better serve the needs of all participants who suffer from a substance use disorder, while also ensuring standardized processes that are in line with both state and federal standards to all the adult drug courts who receive state funding. Due to this initiative being a statewide expansion and implementation, the targeted population is spread across georgias various urbanicities and includes urban, rural, and suburban localities. This project will respond to nadcp standards 1, 2, 46, 8, and 10 and key components 24 and 810.