Staff report

More than $163 million in Department of Justice grant funding is available to help communities address drug addiction.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman of the Northern District of Ohio, in a news release from the Cleveland office, said the funding is to benefit groups and organizations on the frontlines of the drug war.

“We must continue to keep up the fight against substance abuse and addiction in our community,” Herdman said.

The funding is available through the Office of Justice Programs, the federal government’s leading source of public safety funding and crime victim assistance in state, local and tribal jurisdictions. OJP’s programs support an array of activities and services, including programs designed to prevent overdose deaths and break the cycle of addiction and crime. The Justice Department is asking qualified groups to apply for the following funding:

• Adult Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program, $1.75 million available. This program provides financial and technical assistance to states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments to enhance the operations of drug courts or to implement new veterans treatment courts.

• Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Abuse Site-based Program, $27 million available. The program is to provide financial and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments for treatment and support of those abusing drugs.

• Enhancing Community Responses to America’s Addiction Crisis: Serving Our Youngest Crime Victims, $19 million available. Applications are being sought to support direct services for children and youth who are crime victims as a result of the current addiction crisis;

•l Family Drug Court Program, $18.2 million available. Money would either enhance existing programs or expand the program into new communities.

• Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, $28.1 million available. A centralized database is set up to monitor and analyze prescription drug information.

• Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program, $7.2 million available. Money would either enhance existing juvenile drug courts or help set up a juvenile drug court in communities where one does not exist.

• Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, $48 million available. This program would provide mentors for those are at risk for juvenile delinquency, victimization, and juvenile justice system involvement.

• Opioid Affected Youth Initiative, $9 million available. This program will support the efforts of states, communities, tribal jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations and institutions of higher education to implement programs and strategies that identify, respond to, treat, and support children, youth, and families impacted by the opioid epidemic.

• Research and Evaluation on Drugs and Crime, $1 million available.

• Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners, $4.5 million available. This program assists states with developing and implementing residential substance abuse treatment programs within state and local correctional and detention facilities.