Tacoma municipal court is pleased to apply for the FY2024 byrne discretional community project grant to support the courts newly developed therapeutic court program

The City of Tacoma, Washington, was awarded a $500,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Congressionally Recommended Awards program (CFDA 16.753) to support the city's newly developed Therapeutic Court Program. The grant will fund three key activities: 1) Research support to partner with the University of Washington Tacoma to evaluate the court's data collection practices and validate a risk and needs assessment tool, 2) Team training to ensure staff are informed on best practice standards, and 3) Expansion of case management services by hiring an additional community justice counselor. The University of Washington Tacoma will serve as a sub-grantee, leading the impartial process evaluation and validation study of the risk and needs assessment tool. The expected outcomes of this 4-year grant, which began on July 1, 2024, are a more accurate risk-needs-responsivity model, a comprehensive data collection strategy, and a well-informed therapeutic court team to provide effective supervision and support to justice-involved individuals in the City of Tacoma.

In 2023, tacoma municipal court launched two therapeutic courts to serve individuals charged with misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors within the city limits of tacoma, washington. Mental health court is designed to serve individuals with serious and persistent mental health diagnoses. Community court is designed to serve a broader group of individuals facing life challenges such as housing needs, substance use disorders, minor mental health conditions, unemployment, and more. Both programs are uniquely constructed to connect justice-involved individuals with important treatment services and other community resources while also ensuring public safety. The purpose of our request is to utilize BJA funding to support the therapeutic court program in three key areas: research support, team training, and expansion of case management services. Project activities include: 1) research support: the court plans to partner with a local university to solicit external guidance on efficient data collection practices and to evaluate and validate a risk and needs assessment tool. 2) team training: interdisciplinary team members will participate in annual training to ensure that staff are informed on best practice standards. 3) case management services: as the program grows, the court plans to hire an additional community justice counselor who will offer supportive case management services to therapeutic court participants. Court staff and therapeutic court participants are the intended beneficiaries of the project. The university of washington tacoma branch will be a subrecipient partner and will lead an impartial process evaluation and validation study of the risk and needs assessment tool. The expected outcomes of these investments will be a more accurate risk-needs-responsivity model, a comprehensive data collection strategy, and a well-informed therapeutic court team. This funding will equip our program with the tools to offer effective supervision and support to justice-involved individuals in the city of tacoma.