The National Institute of Corrections and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, collaborated to develop the first set of specialized screening, assessment, and case planning tools for veterans treatment courts. Phase I of this project occurred September 2014 through September 2017. With the help of a multidisciplinary committee of experts, these tools were created to assist in the safe and effective supervision of justice-involved veterans. In addition, the tools incorporate the latest research on trauma, substance use disorders, and other issues affecting veterans. This solicitation will cover NIC and BJA’s continued collaboration. Phase II of the project which is aimed to test these tools in pilot courts and work toward validating the risk assessment instrument through rigorous research. The intent is to provide veterans treatment courts staff resources they need to increase public safety through the effective implementation and use of these research based tools.
Veterans treatment courts respond to the unique circumstances of veterans entering the justice system. The first veterans treatment court was established in 2008. As of this writing, there are more than 350 in the country, with scores more being planned. The rapid proliferation of veterans treatment courts has created a heightened need for evidence-based tools to identify the criminogenic risks and clinical needs of court-involved veterans and to promote best practices such as multidisciplinary case planning and client monitoring. Research has consistently shown that clinical interventions are most effective when they are based on risk-need-responsivity principles, which hold that the type and intensity of treatment and supervision services should be proportional to an offender's risk of re-offending and should target their specific criminogenic needs. This project will add more pilot sites and create the first specialized risk-need assessment and case planning tools for veterans treatment courts.
NIC invites applications from nonprofit organizations (including faith-based, community, and tribal organizations), for-profit organizations (including tribal for-profit organizations), and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education). Recipients, including for-profit organizations, must agree to waive any profit or fee for services.NIC welcomes applications that involve two or more entities; however, one eligible entity must be the applicant and the others must be proposed as sub-recipients. The applicant must be the entity with primary responsibility for administering the funding and managing the entire program