SAMHSA’s GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation, operated by Policy Research, is continuing to provide direct training and technical assistance to jurisdictions across the nation to better support people with behavioral health needs who are involved in the criminal justice system. The GAINS Center is seeking applications from jurisdictions interested in collaborating with subject-matter experts on Integrating Trauma-Informed Principles and Practices in Treatment Courts through a Criminal Justice Learning Collaborative (LC).

The primary goal of the Integrating Trauma-Informed Principles and Practices in Treatment Courts LC is for court-based teams to develop strategic plans to advance policies and practices in trauma-informed adult treatment court programs. This LC will bring together teams from various local jurisdictions and states to create coordinated strategic plans. These plans will address implementation strategies for integrating the principles of trauma-informed systems and associated practices into the everyday processes of their treatment court(s). The teams selected for this LC will work intensively to determine optimal ways to implement best practices and define success indicators, working with subject-matter experts during the implementation process and to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing.

Selected teams will work together to learn and complete their implementation work, while at the same time, sharing with other jurisdictions and receiving an array of technical assistance from subject-matter experts across the country. Through this LC, participating treatment court teams will work locally and collaboratively to examine their court-specific policies and practices and identify those that need to be revised to be trauma-informed. Additionally, teams will be encouraged to include a local evaluator on their team who can suggest metrics and processes to collect, maintain, analyze, and report data of interest to the team and the larger community.

Selected treatment court teams will be expected to work with both existing and new partners across the Sequential Intercept Model, such as other criminal justice system professionals, behavioral health providers, and peer/recovery support providers. Throughout these components, subject-matter experts in treatment courts and trauma-informed practices will be available for consultation and technical assistance. This LC aims to foster a more effective, trauma-informed approach within treatment courts to improve participant and program outcomes. Teams will refer to the recently developed publication, Recommendations for the Implementation of Trauma-Informed Approaches in Treatment Court Settings, which will be released shortly.

Application and Selection Process for the Integrating Trauma-Informed Principles and Practices in Treatment Courts LC

  • Applications for the Integrating Trauma-Informed Principles and Practices in Treatment Courts LC are due by December 6, 2024
  • The application process consists of two requirements:
    • Complete the Microsoft Forms application
    • List key partners who will participate in the team

All applicants will receive notification via email regarding the status of their application by January 12, 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

To learn more about this opportunity and to gain insight into preparing a strong LC application, please download the Frequently Asked Questions document.

For updates on future opportunities, join the GAINS Center mailing list.