The new york state unified court system (UCS) seeks $830,396 from the bureau of justice assistance adult treatment court site-based FY23 competitive grant solicitation (o-BJA-2023-171509) under…

The Unified Court System of New York State was awarded a $1,111,995 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program (CFDA 16.585) to support the NYS UCS Treatment Court Engagement and Retention Initiative.

The 4-year project aims to increase participation in adult drug courts and reduce disparities by training 100 judges and 120 community-based peers in the evidence-based practice of Motivational Interviewing (MI). This training is intended to improve treatment engagement and ensure access to medication-assisted treatment and recovery support services. The project will also enhance fidelity to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards by training 96 adult drug court teams across New York State. Additionally, a sub-award to Great Lakes Training, Inc. will support the development and delivery of web-based MI training courses and in-person skills-building sessions for judges, peers, and recovery coaches.

The new york state unified court system (UCS) seeks $830,396 from the bureau of justice assistance adult treatment court site-based FY23 competitive grant solicitation (o-BJA-2023-171509) under category 3: statewide. The purpose of the NYS UCS treatment court engagement and retention initiative project is to increase participation in adult drug courts and to reduce disparities by training judges and peer recovery professionals in the evidence-based practice motivational interviewing (MI) to improve treatment engagement and to ensure access to medication assisted treatment and recovery support services. Primary activities will include motivational interviewing training for 100 judges statewide and 120 community-based peers to facilitate access to low-barrier treatment and culturally relevant recovery services. An additional goal of the project is to enhance fidelity to nadcp best practice standards by training experienced practitioners to serve as fidelity coaches for drug court teams. This training, in partnership with nadcp, is designed to ensure compliance with the nadcp adult drug court best practice standards for 96 adult drug courts in NYS. This project applies standard II, equity and inclusion (PG.6), standard III roles and responsibilities of the judge (PG. 5), and standard v: substance use treatment (PG. 4). New york treatment courts have on average 11,500 participants per year, and the average length of program participation is 12 to 18 months. Approximately 600 drug court practitioners will receive nadcp best practice standards training during the 48-month grant period. BI-monthly emerging issue webinars will reach an average of 200 practitioners per year. Project effectiveness data will be collected for each of the four goals outlined in the proposal. Collection instruments include, registration data, course evaluations and follow up satisfaction surveys, staff and fidelity coaches trained in best practices and conference attendance.