OJJDP FY 19 Family Drug Court Program | OJJDP 2019 15026

Opportunity Information: Apply for OJJDP 2019 15026

The OJJDP FY 19 Family Drug Court (FDC) Program is a discretionary federal grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), designed to strengthen and expand family drug court efforts that address parental substance use in child welfare cases. The central aim is to improve child safety and family stability by connecting parents to treatment and recovery supports while courts, child welfare agencies, and community partners coordinate closely to reduce unnecessary family separation and move families to safe, timely permanency.

This opportunity is organized into three funding categories that reflect different local needs and stages of development. Category 1, Enhancing Family Drug Courts, supports jurisdictions with existing family drug courts that want to improve how the court model helps keep children safely at home or reduces removals and separations when possible. A major emphasis in this category is aligning court practice with the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, which prioritizes evidence-based prevention services and aims to prevent children from entering foster care when safe alternatives exist. In practical terms, this category is geared toward improving existing operations, strengthening prevention-oriented responses, and ensuring the family drug court is a central mechanism for coordinating services and oversight.

Category 2, Serving Veterans Through Family Drug Courts, is tailored to communities seeking to better serve substance-involved veteran parents involved in child welfare proceedings. Funding under this category supports family drug courts in building capacity to provide veteran-specific supports, treatment connections, and access to services that address both substance use disorders and the unique challenges veterans may face. The program focus is on protecting children, supporting reunification when it is safe to do so, and expediting permanency outcomes, recognizing that specialized coordination (including linkages to veteran-oriented providers and benefits) can improve engagement and long-term family stability.

Category 3, Establishing New Family Drug Courts, supports jurisdictions that are prepared to implement a family drug court for the first time. This category is intended for areas that have the foundational readiness to launch a coordinated court-based model and want assistance to stand up the structure, partnerships, and processes needed to operate an FDC. While the specific design can vary by jurisdiction, the underlying expectation is that the new court will bring together key stakeholders (courts, child welfare, treatment providers, and other local partners) to deliver consistent judicial oversight, treatment access, and supportive services aimed at improving outcomes for children and families impacted by substance use.

Key administrative details include that the funding instrument is a grant, the opportunity is categorized under Law, Justice and Legal Services, and it is listed under CFDA 16.585. The funding opportunity number is OJJDP 2019 15026, and it was posted on March 27, 2019, with an original closing date of May 29, 2019. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $750,000, and OJJDP anticipated making about 16 awards. Eligibility is described broadly as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the opportunity materials, indicating that applicants needed to consult the full eligibility language in the solicitation to confirm whether their organization or jurisdiction type qualified.

Overall, this grant opportunity reflects OJJDP's intent to use family drug courts as a structured, collaborative intervention point where judicial leadership and cross-system coordination can improve treatment engagement, reduce unnecessary removals, support safe reunification, and move families toward lasting permanency, with targeted pathways for enhancing existing courts, serving veteran families, and launching new court programs.

• The Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY 19 Family Drug Court Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.585.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 27, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 29, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 16 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for OJJDP 2019 15026

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: