Drugs & Substance Use

Explore OJP's funding opportunities to support law enforcement, court professionals, correctional facilities, behavioral health providers, community-based organizations, and other service providers in addressing the needs of individuals with mental health and co-occurring substance use disorder needs.

Following are some of the OJP programs that support drug and substance use services:

• Protecting Futures: Building Capacity to Serve Children and Youth Impacted by America’s Drug Crisis
  This grant initiative facilitated the establishment, expansion, or improvement of evidence-based programs addressing substance use treatment and recovery support needs for individuals during incarceration and reentry. By reducing recidivism, expanding treatment access, and promoting long-term recovery, it enhanced both public safety and health.
   
• Supporting Children, Youth, and Families Affected by the Drug Crisis: Recruiting and Developing Peer Recovery Coaches
  Funding support for the recruitment, training, and deployment of paid peer recovery coaches. These coaches, with lived experience in recovery and relevant systems, assisted family members and caregivers in their recovery journey from substance misuse, aiming to support the well-being of youth affected by drug-related victimization. Additionally, technical assistance was provided to subawardees, while a peer recovery coach paraprofessional program was developed. This initiative aimed to break the cycles of abuse, neglect, and addiction within families, fostering positive outcomes for children, youth, and the entire family unit.
   
• Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP)
  COSSUP provides grant funding and training, and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop, implement, or expand comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by opioids, stimulants and other drugs. COSSUP supports a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, prevention, harm reduction, deflection and diversion, treatment, and recovery supports, including peer support services in the community and across the justice system.
   
• Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners (RSAT) Program 
  RSAT is a formula grant and training and technical assistance program that enhances the capabilities of state, local, and tribal governments to provide residential substance use disorder treatment to adults and youth during detention or incarceration, initiate or continue evidence-based substance use treatment in jails, prepare individuals for reentry, and assist them and their communities throughout the reentry process by delivering community-based treatment and other recovery aftercare services.
   
• Improving Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Outcomes for Adults in Reentry
  This grant program supports states, units of local government, tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations to establish, expand, or improve evidence-based, culturally relevant programs to address the substance use treatment and recovery support needs of people, including parents of minor children and pregnant/postpartum women, during incarceration and reentry in an effort to reduce recidivism, expand access to evidence-based treatment, promote long-term recovery, and, in the process, improve public safety and public health.
   
• Adult Treatment Court Program
  The Adult Treatment Court Program supports state, local, and tribal efforts to plan, implement, and enhance the operations of adult treatment courts, including tribal healing to wellness courts. Adult treatment court programs are a tool for criminal court partners and the judiciary to facilitate coordinated approaches that address the needs of nonviolent individuals involved in the justice system who have substance use disorders and/or co-occurring mental health needs.
   
• Veteran Treatment Court Program
  The Veterans Treatment Court Program supports state, local, and tribal efforts to plan and implement or enhance the operations of veterans treatment courts. VTCs effectively integrate evidence-based substance use disorder treatment, mandatory drug testing, incentives and sanctions, and recovery support services in judicially supervised court settings that have jurisdiction over veterans involved in the justice system who have substance use disorders, including a history of violence and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their military service.
   
• Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts
  Juvenile Drug Treatments Courts (JDTCs) are specialized courts for youth with substance use or co-occurring disorders who come into contact with the juvenile justice systems.
   
• Family Treatment Court Program
  Family Treatment Courts (FTC) serve children, parents and families involved in the child welfare system due to parental substance use as a contributing factor to child abuse or neglect. The purpose of a family treatment court is to protect child safety, ensure a permanent care-giving environment and promote children's well-being through family recovery.
   
• Opioid Affected Youth Initiative
  This grant program supports efforts of states, communities, jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and institutions of higher education to implement programs and strategies that identify, respond to, treat, and support children, youth, and families impacted by the opioids, and other substances.
   
• Mentoring for Youth Affected by Opioid and Other Substance Misuse
  This grant program supports the enhancement and expansion of  mentoring services for children and youth impacted by opioids and other substance misuse. The program's goal is to improve outcomes (such as improved academic performance and reduced school dropout rates) for youth impacted by opioids and other substance misuse through mentoring.
   
• Drug Data Research Center to Combat the Overdose Crisis
  This program provides funding to support institutions of higher learning to expand statewide drug data repositories into regional drug data research centers  that promote the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information to help inform and address responses to the overdose crisis and impacts of opioids, stimulants, and other substances.

• National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Drugs and Crime Portfolio
• BJS Bulletin, Opioid Use Disorder Screening and Treatment in Local Jails, 2019
• BJS, Drug and Alcohol Use Reported by Youth in Juvenile Facilities, 2008-2018 – Statistical Tables
• Sentencing Decisions for Persons in Federal Prison for Drug Offenses, 2013–2018

• Behavioral Health Resources for Criminal and Juvenile Justice
• Interdicting Restructuring Networks with Applications in Illicit Trafficking
• Guidelines for Managing Substance Withdrawal in Jails

Visit the following sites to learn about training and technical assistance services from and supported by OJP program offices:

• COSSAP Peer to Peer Learning Opportunities
• Bureau of Justice Assistance: National Training and Technical Assistance Center
• National Treatment Court Resource Center
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training & Technical Assistance
• OJJDP’s National Mentoring Resource Center
• Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Training and Technical Assistance