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October 24, 2008

SAMHSA Awards $11.8 Million in Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment in Adult Criminal Justice Populations

The program is designed to address gaps in substance abuse treatment services for adults involved with the criminal justice system. Grant recipients will use the funds to expand and or/enhance the community's ability to provide a comprehensive, integrated, and community-based response to a substance abuse treatment capacity problem. The program will also help to improve the quality and intensity of substance abuse treatment services for adults who are in some form of judicial or community justice/corrections program, such as probation, parole, or community corrections.

(Media-Newswire.com) - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has awarded 10 Adult Criminal Justice Treatment grants totaling $11.8 million over three years.

The program is designed to address gaps in substance abuse treatment services for adults involved with the criminal justice system.  Grant recipients will use the funds to expand and or/enhance the community’s ability to provide a comprehensive, integrated, and community-based response to a substance abuse treatment capacity problem.  The program will also help to improve the quality and intensity of substance abuse treatment services for adults who are in some form of judicial or community justice/corrections program, such as probation, parole, or community corrections. 

“For many people, contact with the criminal justice system is often their portal of entry into substance abuse treatment,” said Acting SAMHSA Administrator Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H.  “In addition to providing comprehensive substance abuse treatment, these grants will help individuals learn valuable skills that will help them get a job, take care of their families, and become productive members of the community.” 

The programs selected for these grants can receive up to $400,000 each year over the course of three years.  Continuation award amounts may vary, depending on the availability of funds and performance of the grantee.  The program will be administered by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. 

The grantees are:

California

North County Serenity House, Inc., Escondido, $400,000 for first year:  This grantee’s project, Serenity Treatment and Recovery ( STAR ), will provide comprehensive, integrated community-based residential substance abuse treatment for women who are under judicial or community justice/corrections supervision and also have a substance use or co-occurring disorder.  In addition to using motivational approaches to treatment, the program will teach women how to cope with trauma, provide sex education and information to help them address female reproductive issues and offer referral and resources to help them obtain employment and housing.

Volunteers of America of Los Angeles, $400, 000 for first year:  This grantee plans to provide a culturally competent, evidence-based program that will help L.A. County decrease its substance abuse rates and reduce rates of recidivism by addressing the gaps in substance abuse treatment.  The project will target adult men and women who are under some form of judicial or community justice supervision and who are involved with substances and/or have been diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder or co-occurring substance use and mental health disorder. 

Florida

Pinellas County Sherriff’s Office, $388,738 for first year:  Project Recovery Enhancement Program will expand and enhance outpatient treatment and recovery support services to 240 women on probation in Pinellas County over a three-year period.  The program will increase capacity, improve the quality and intensity of services for adult women in the community who are involved in the criminal justice system and provide treatment and support services that help prevent relapse and promote sustained recovery from alcohol and drug use disorders.

Specialized Treatment, Education, and Prevention Services, Inc. Orlando, $348,963 for first year:  This grantee’s Expansion of Treatment and Recovery Services Program ( ETRSP ) will help male and female adult offenders access a continuum of intensive outpatient and recovery support services in the Orange County community.  Working with the Orange County Corrections Department, ETRSP will gain access to almost 4,000 active offenders under probation supervision and approximately 150 eligible inmates at the Work Release Center. 

Georgia

STAND, Inc., Decatur, $400,000 for the first year:  Project Self Empowerment will target individuals who are under some form of judicial or community justice supervision and who have been involved with substance abuse.  The program will target males, ages 18 to 45, residing in DeKalb County.  Each candidate must have had no more than two treatment experiences to be eligible to participate in the project. 

Massachusetts

SPAN, Inc., Boston, $400,000 for the first year:  This grantee will serve a target population of parolees who will be referred to the program by two Boston area parole offices.  The substance abuse coordinator located at each office will make referrals to SPAN’s program seamless.  Priority will be given to returning veterans and those who are chronically inebriated.  Treatment services will be offered to men and women who are reintegrating into society after being in prison.  The program will reduce waiting periods to substance abuse treatment, increase treatment participation and reduce substance abuse-related violations among adult parolees.

Michigan

Oakland Family Services, Pontiac, $399,925 for the first year:  The Detroit area is experiencing difficult economic times with high unemployment.  The grantee’s FOCUS program will enhance existing treatment services in an adult substance abuse treatment program by adding comprehensive case management and continuing care services following the Assertive Community Treatment ( ACT ) model, providing recovery support services, including transportation to and from services, parenting and child development education, and skills acquisition training in order to improve treatment retention and completion and sustained recovery. 

New York

EAC, Inc., Hempstead, $400,000 for the first year:  This grantee will expand and enhance evidence-based services for 190 men and women with co-occurring disorders who have been referred by the comprehensive case management team during the three years of the project.  Recovery-oriented services will include wellness, self-management, trauma treatment, motivational interviewing, family reunification, and a cognitive behavioral approach to community reintegration. 

Center for Community Alternatives, Inc., $400,000 for the first year:  This grantee’s Center for Community Alternatives will expand the Crossroads substance abuse treatment program to serve women and men who are involved in the criminal justice system, including people sentenced to alternative-to-incarceration programs or probation, and people released from jail or prison, including parolees.  The majority of participants will be people of color, most of whom will come through outreach in parole offices, or referral from other criminal justice stakeholders.  Service enhancements will include targeted outreach, pre-treatment and enhanced HIV health services, and trauma-focused counseling.

Tennessee

Centerstone Community Mental Health Center, Nashville, $400,000 for the first year:  In several rural counties throughout Tennessee, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana production, trafficking and abuse, along with alcohol and prescription drug misuse are straining the local criminal justice system, creating environmental hazards and endangering lives.  Project for Recovery, Encouragement and Empowerment ( FREE ) will provide screening/assessment, treatment planning, outpatient and intensive outpatient treatment, case management, family/individual substance abuse education, relapse prevention, drug testing/monitoring and other recovery support services, as well as linkages with primary and mental health care.

For more information, visit http://www.samhsa.gov/Grants/2008/ti_08_012.aspx or www.samhsa.gov.