Every month, we’re bringing you the top news in addiction treatment and justice services from publications around the country.
Addiction treatment | Justice services
Addiction treatment
Headline
$28 Million in funding opportunities for grants expanding treatment services for substance use disorder
What
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is allocating $28 million through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to fund two grant programs addressing substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services. The grant programs aim to support both pregnant and postpartum women as well as adult and family treatment drug courts. Funding opportunities support a continuum of care including prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services, and align with the Biden-Harris Administration's strategy to combat the overdose epidemic and address the mental health crisis.
More details
The SAMHSA Treatment Drug Courts program offers $24.4 million in awards to expand SUD treatment in existing drug courts, emphasizing treatment over incarceration. The State Pilot Grant Program for Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women, $3.6 million, enhances flexibility in fund use to support family-based services and address the continuum of SUD care, particularly for opioid use disorders.
Read more | Download our Grant Toolkit
Headline
NAATP announces 2024 National Conference program
What
The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP)’s 45th Annual Addiction Treatment Leadership Conference is coming up in Denver, Colorado, May 19-21.
What to expect
This year's conference focuses on Innovative Leadership and offers sessions covering:
- workforce development
- clinical advancements
- reimbursement strategies
- brain science
- census development
- insights from the NAATP Foundation for Recovery Science and Education.
Read more and register
Headline
Prevention: The missing link in our efforts to support families impacted by the opioid epidemic
What
This article emphasizes the urgent need for effective prevention strategies in addressing the opioid epidemic's impact on families. It highlights the staggering statistics of children affected by parental opioid use disorder (OUD) and stresses the importance of family-friendly treatment programs. The authors call for a broader definition of harm reduction across generations, access to family-friendly treatment programs, increased federal and opioid settlement funding for prevention, improved finance and billing structures and a shift in language to reduce stigma.
Read more | Explore our Interactive Journaling® Family Program
Justice services
Headline
Federal, state and local leaders gather for first-ever National Reentry Housing Symposium
What
The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, in collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), organized the first national reentry housing symposium. Focused on achieving "zero returns to homelessness," the event addressed barriers to stable housing for those reentering the community from incarceration. BJA and the CSG Justice Center also announced their Zero Returns to Homelessness community of practice that has since begun working with state corrections departments, offering participating corrections officials individualized technical assistance to increase reentry housing access in their states.
Key themes
Topics of discussion included:
- importance of collaboration across justice, housing, health, and behavioral health systems
- necessity of including individuals with lived experience in policy changes and plans
- federal agencies' commitment to supporting housing opportunities
Headline
Justice Department releases update to Equity Action Plan
What
The Justice Department unveiled its Equity Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2024, following President Biden's Executive Order on Racial Equity. The plan introduces five equity strategies, underscoring the prior iteration of plan's priorities to uphold the rule of law, enhance public safety and protect civil rights.
Five equity strategies for 2024, summarized:
1. Removing barriers to access to grant funding and resources for historically marginalized and underserved communities.
2. Supporting corrections and reentry programs that seek to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for justice-involved individuals.
3. Promoting an inclusive, diverse, and expert law enforcement workforce to strengthen public trust and improve public safety outcomes.
4. Improving the response of law enforcement and criminal justice personnel to crimes that disproportionately affect women, girls, transgender individuals, and gender non-conforming people.
5. Ensuring that underserved communities are aware of and able to access legal services to address environmental crime, pollution, climate change, and other environmental hazards.
Headline
Bureau of Justice Statistics hosts listening sessions on tribal justice data with tribal communities
What
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is seeking input from tribal leaders, law enforcement and court administrators for the 2024 Census of Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies (CTLEA) and Census of Tribal Court Systems (CTCS). Participants will address emerging community issues, crime prevention, changes in tribal justice systems and law enforcement challenges.
The impact
BJS has organized a webinar scheduled for March 2024 to share key insights gleaned from the listening sessions. This platform will provide federal partners with the opportunity to engage directly with federal agencies, discussing how the surveys can be optimized to better assist those working with tribal justice systems.