Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Adult Treatment Drug Courts and Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts (Short Title: SAMHSA Treatment Drug Courts) | TI 17 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for TI 17 001

The SAMHSA Treatment Drug Courts grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number TI 17 001) is a discretionary federal grant program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), specifically its Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). It was released for FY 2017 to strengthen substance use disorder treatment capacity inside existing adult problem-solving courts that operate using the treatment drug court model, including both Adult Treatment Drug Courts and Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts. The overall idea is to help these court programs improve the treatment side of their work so they can more effectively reduce substance use, reduce criminal justice involvement, and interrupt the repeated cycle of relapse, reoffending, and incarceration.

The core purpose of the funding is to expand and/or enhance substance use disorder treatment services for defendants and offenders who are participating in eligible court programs. SAMHSA describes a broad set of allowable treatment-related activities and services that can be supported, including screening and clinical assessment, case management, recovery support services, and program coordination. In practice, this means the grant is meant to help courts and their treatment partners build a stronger, more complete treatment system around participants, rather than relying on limited or fragmented services that may exist locally.

A key expectation of the program is that grantees use a coordinated, multi-system approach. Treatment drug courts generally depend on structured collaboration among the court, treatment providers, supervision agencies, and other partners. This announcement emphasizes combining the court’s authority to apply incentives and sanctions with evidence-informed substance use disorder treatment and support services. The intended outcome is not simply compliance with court requirements, but sustained behavior change that lowers substance use and criminal behavior and reduces future incarceration or similar penalties.

SAMHSA also signals how applicants should prioritize the use of funds. The highest priority is addressing gaps in the continuum of care for people in these courts, especially for individuals who have substance use disorders and may also have co-occurring substance use and mental disorder needs (often referred to as co-occurring disorders, or COD). In other words, the grant is aimed at shoring up weak points in the local treatment pathway, such as inadequate access to appropriate levels of care, missing recovery supports, insufficient assessment capacity, limited coordination among systems, or a lack of services tailored to participants with both substance use and mental health needs.

The population to be served is clearly defined: grant funds must be used to serve people diagnosed with a substance use disorder as their primary condition. This requirement matters because it sets the clinical focus of the award and helps ensure the money is directed to treatment capacity related to substance use disorders rather than being diluted across unrelated justice or social service needs.

In terms of funding details, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $325,000 and an expected total of 56 awards. SAMHSA notes it will use discretion in allocating funds across the two model types (Adult Treatment Drug Courts versus Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts). That means final award distribution may depend on factors like the number and quality of applications received for each model and SAMHSA’s assessment of need and fit, rather than being evenly split by default.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on October 7, 2016, with an original application closing date of December 12, 2016. The funding activity category is Health, and the CFDA number associated with the program is 93.243. Eligibility is listed broadly as “Others,” with specifics referenced in the full announcement’s additional eligibility language, which typically clarifies what kinds of organizations or entities connected to courts and treatment systems may apply.

Overall, this grant opportunity is designed for jurisdictions and tribal communities that already have an adult treatment drug court or an adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Court in place and want to build out the treatment, recovery support, and coordination functions that make those courts effective. The program’s central emphasis is on increasing real treatment capacity and continuity of care for participants with substance use disorders, using an integrated court-and-treatment strategy to reduce both addiction-related harm and justice system cycling.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Adult Treatment Drug Courts and Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts (Short Title: SAMHSA Treatment Drug Courts)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.243.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 07, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 12, 2016. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $325,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 56 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for TI 17 001

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