Recognizing the strong linkage between substance abuse and criminal activity, OJP supports a number of initiatives aimed at breaking the cycle of drug use and crime. In addition to supporting research on the link between drug use and crime, such as NIJ's Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, OJP funds both court- and prison-based intervention programs. States may also elect to use part of their funding through OJP's major formula grant programs to support drug abuse prevention and intervention programs at the state and local level.

Funding Opportunities

• OJP's Drug Courts Program Office funds efforts by state and local courts to plan, implement, or improve drug courts. Drug courts offer eligible non-violent, drug-abusing offenders an opportunity to break free of the cycle of drugs and crime through a program of treatment, drug testing, and graduated sanctions. Clients work closely with the drug court judge, who supervises treatment progress and holds offenders personally and publicly accountable. The judge works closely with treatment providers, criminal justice agencies, and community organizations to provide comprehensive rehabilitative services to offenders and monitor their progress through regular drug testing. For information on the Drug Court grant program, contact the DOJ Response Center at 1-800/421-6770.
• The Corrections Program Office administers the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners formula grant program, which assists states and units of local government in developing and implementing residential substance abuse treatment programs in correctional facilities in which prisoners are incarcerated for a period of time sufficient to permit substance abuse treatment. For information about obtaining RSAT subgrants in your state, contact the RSAT program administrator in your state, listed in the Online Resource Guide.
• States may elect to use part of their Byrne and OJJDP formula grant awards to support state and local drug abuse prevention and intervention programs. (For information on subgrants, contact the administrator of these programs in your state, listed in the Online Resource Guide.)
• OJJDP works with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to administer the Drug-Free Communities Support Program. Drug-Free Communities Grants fund coalitions of young people, parents, media, law enforcement, school officials, religious organizations, and other community representatives that target young people's use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. The coalitions also encourage citizen participation in substance abuse reduction efforts and disseminate information about effective programs. More information about the Drug-Free Communities initiative is available on the Internet at ONDCP's Website at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov or on OJJDP's Website at ojjdp.ncjrs.org. Information is also available through either office's clearinghouse. The ONDCP Clearinghouse can be reached by telephone at 1-800/666-3332 and the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse can be reached at 1-800/638-8736.
• Under the Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Program, OJJDP provides funds to each state and the District of Columbia to implement programs to reduce teenage alcohol consumption. These funds may be used to develop comprehensive and coordinated initiatives to enforce state laws prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors and to prevent the consumption of alcohol by minors. In addition, OJJDP provides discretionary grants to help communities develop comprehensive approaches to the problem of underage drinking, with an emphasis on increasing law enforcement activity.
• Funding for innovative projects addressing substance abuse issues may be available through various discretionary grant programs of OJP's bureaus and offices, including BJA's Open Solicitation and NIJ's discretionary grant program. More specific information about funding programs is available in the OJP Program Plan, which is published annually. To request a copy of the Program Plan, call the DOJ Response Center at 1-800/421-6770.

Training and Technical Assistance Opportunities

• To enhance the effectiveness of its grant program, the Drug Court Program Office (DCPO) offers extensive training and technical assistance opportunities to its grantees. DCPO funds the Drug Court Clearinghouse at American University, which provides grantees with technical assistance and other information on drug courts. In addition, through the mentor drug court program, jurisdictions establishing new courts have the opportunity to observe and learn from established drug courts, thereby avoiding potential problems. DCPO also sponsors regional training conferences for drug court grantees. The Drug Court Clearinghouse can be reached at 202/885-2875.
• OJJDP supports the Life Skills Training Drug Prevention Program by providing training and technical assistance to schools and/or local education agencies that implement the program. The broad goal of the program is to reduce youth drug use by encouraging the promotion of multiple approaches to educating and motivating younger adolescents to make healthy lifestyle decisions. For more information, call the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 1-800/638-8736.
• OJP's bureaus and offices sponsor a number of training and technical assistance programs that deal with drug abuse issues. Among these are technical assistance programs to help law enforcement agencies address gang-organized crime and narcotics trafficking and training for narcotics task forces. Information about specific training and technical assistance programs is published each year in the OJP Program Plan, which is available from the DOJ Response Center at 1-800/421-6770.

Other Resources

Several federal agencies sponsor research on drug abuse, track drug abuse statistics, and administer a wide array of programs to address substance abuse issues. Some of those agencies are listed below.

• The Office of National Drug Control Policy in the White House coordinates the nation's drug control program. ONDCP is charged with producing the National Drug Control Strategy, which directs the nation's anti-drug efforts and establishes a program, budget, and guidelines for cooperation among federal, state, and local entities. For more information on ONDCP, call 202/395-6618 or visit ONDCP's Website at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.
• BJS maintains a special collection of data on drugs and crime on the BJS Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs. The site includes data on drug law violations, enforcement, pretrial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional populations and facilities, drug treatment under correctional supervision, the drug control budget, drug use (by youth and the general population), and public opinion about drugs.
• The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health conducts research and administers several grant programs relating to the study of drug abuse. NIDA also produces support materials to teach children about the effects of drugs on the body. For information on NIDA and its research programs, visit NIDA's Website at www.nida.nih.gov, or call 301/443-6036.
• The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health supports and conducts biomedical and behavioral research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. NIAAA also provides leadership in the national effort to reduce the severe and often fatal consequences of these problems. For information on NIAAA, call the Office of Communications at 301/443-3860 or visit NIAAA's Website at www.niaaa.nih.gov.
• The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) provides national leadership in the federal effort to prevent alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug problems, which are linked to other serious national problems. CSAP connects people and resources to innovative ideas and strategies and encourages efforts to reduce and eliminate alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug problems in the United States and abroad. For more information on CSAP, call 301/443-0365 or visit CSAP's Website at www.samhsa.gov/csap/
• The Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program of the U.S. Department of Education is the federal government's primary vehicle for reducing drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and violence, through education and prevention activities in our nation's schools. To learn more about the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, call 202/260-3954 or visit the program's Website at www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/.

For More Information

The National Criminal Justice Reference Service serves as a clearinghouse for information from OJP's bureaus, as well as the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Through NCJRS, you can obtain copies of numerous publications, including studies of drug courts, drug testing methods, and information on the ADAM Program. For more information, call NCJRS at 1-800/851-3420, or visit NCJRS' homepage at www.ncjrs.org.

For more information, call OJP's Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703 or the Department of Justice Response Center at 1-800/421-6770.

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