Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Behavioral Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Court authorizes SAMHSA grant application for pre-adjudication recovery court; approves small H-E-B donation and sober-living MOU
Summary
The court approved submission of a competitive SAMHSA grant to create a pre-adjudication recovery court targeting individuals with serious substance problems who lack a criminal history. The court also ratified a $2,500 H-E-B donation for Veterans Treatment Court and approved an MOU for transitional sober living for specialty-court participants.
The McLennan County Commissioners on July 7 authorized staff to apply for a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) competitive grant to create a pre-adjudication recovery court aimed at people with significant substance-use issues who do not meet the criminal-history threshold for the county's post-adjudication recovery court.
Judge Swanton told the court the grant opportunity could fund up to roughly $2 million over five years for a limited number of sites nationwide and would support personnel (another probation officer and a caseworker or licensed drug counselor), testing, transportation and intensive treatment supports. The judge noted the program would fill a service gap between the county's PTIP pretrial intervention and the post-adjudication recovery court, and that the application deadline is mid-July.
Commissioners moved and passed a motion to allow the county to apply for SAMHSA funds. The judge said the grant is a long-shot because SAMHSA plans to award a limited number of sites, but staff (including Amy and grant coordinators) have developed the application packet.
Separately, the court ratified a small $2,500 H-E-B "My Community" donation to supply gift cards for Veterans Treatment Court participants, and approved a memorandum of understanding with TNT Capital (Bridge the Gap) to provide transitional sober-living housing for specialty-court participants. The MOU will be county-paid and reimbursed through grant funds from the Texas Bar Foundation.
What happens next: county staff will file the SAMHSA application per the July timeline, notify the court of progress, and proceed with the H-E-B ratification and TNT Capital MOU implementation. Any awarded SAMHSA funds would require future appropriation and staffing decisions by the court.
