ONDCP Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance Initiative

available to every jurisdiction requesting it that has established or is planning to establish a drug court for the purpose of instituting system-wide evidence based substance abuse interventions to reduce the number of drug involved offenders cycling through the criminal justice system. The curriculum must meet the needs of judges, prosecutors, public defenders, defense counsel, probation officers, treatment providers, court coordinators, and law enforcement officers, and must include the applications of proven drug court elements across the criminal justice continuum as well as application of other appropriate evidenced-based interventions. • Develop and deliver on request and free of charge a train-the-trainer curriculum on the systemic implementation of alternatives to incarceration and the effective use of risk and needs assessments and evidence-based interventions.• Provide technical assistance, onsite training, and follow-up assistance when so requested by an existing or intended drug court jurisdiction established for the purpose of instituting system-wide evidence based substance abuse interventions to reduce the number of drug involved offenders cycling through the criminal justice system. The awardee may only request and recoup reasonable travel and per diem expenses from the respective jurisdiction. • The training events must be developed with and conducted by subject matter experts that have documented experience concerning the effective use of evidence-based interventions based on risk and needs assessments, as well as the appropriate use of incentives and sanctions based on offender characteristics and needs.  Behavioral Management/Science of Addiction• Develop and conduct free training events for jurisdictional teams including judges, judicial educators, court administrators, higher-level criminal justice authorities, and higher-level personnel from single state agencies administering the SAMSHA treatment block grant concerning the science of addiction and science-based principles of behavioral management. • Develop and conduct free training events for law enforcement officers concerning the science of addiction. ONDCP contemplates two modules, one module for law enforcement managers and the other for police officers and sheriff deputies. Suggested content includes addiction as a brain disease, appropriate interventions when dealing with substance abusing individuals, and substance abuse treatment modalities. Additional content as outlined below should be considered for the law enforcement managers’ module. • Provide free technical assistance to participants of the general behavioral management/science of addiction program and the law enforcement specific program. Technical assistance for the general behavioral management/science of addiction program and the law enforcement management module may include, but will not be limited to, the implementation of screening and brief risk reductions; risk needs assessments; organization and utilization of appropriate treatment resources; medication assisted treatment; case management to ensure appropriate treatment responses and management of the recovery process; general planning to increase interventions; and the effective, non-duplicative use of resources to manage the substance abusing offender population. The technical assistance for the police and sheriff deputies’ module should include addiction as a brain disease, appropriate interventions when dealing with substance abusing individuals, and substance abuse treatment modalities.• The training events must be developed with and delivered by subject matter experts that have documented experience in the development and delivery of courses on addiction as a brain disease and training programs for criminal justice professionals. Training should include, but not be limited to, the science of addiction; drugs of abuse and their effects, including prescription drug abuse; evidence-based treatment and other appropriate interventions for substance abusing offenders; medication assisted treatment; and evidence-based risk needs assessment tools and their application at appropriate points in the criminal justice system. Training should also include methods that encourage planning for the implementation of evidence-based substance abuse interventions throughout the criminal justice continuum.• State training should be organized around teams from local or state jurisdictions and must include criminal justice leadership, including, but not limited to, the chief or presiding judge of a jurisdiction with a drug court or planning the development of a drug court; the prosecutor; the public defender; and the probation office and law enforcement officers. Wherever possible, teams may include representatives from the substance abuse treatment provider system. Current and Emerging Issues Facing Drug Courts• Develop and deliver free of charge the trainings, technical assistance, publications, and/or informational materials concerning the following. Applicant may elect the mechanism for delivery (e.g. webinar, publication, fact sheet, etc.).• Prescription drug abuse, as well as legal use of prescription drugs within the drug court setting; • Synthetic drugs, including chemical composition, detection, testing, and treatment; • Appropriate integration of medication assisted treatment into treatment protocols for substance abusing offenders. Materials should include objective criteria for appropriate use; • Addressing drugged driving in operational DWI and drug courts;• Implications of the Affordable Care Act on treatment access for drug court participants;• Linkages of recovery systems of care and drug courts; and• Other emerging issues or new areas of interest in the drug court field.