UPDATE – 12/7/2007

INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT 
BETWEEN THE 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
AND THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS
OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION

I.	PURPOSE

This interagency agreement governs the provision of funds from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (Coordinating Council) to the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to enhance the coordination of federal resources for disadvantaged youth. SAMHSA will use these funds specifically to support joint development by federal, state and local authorities of guidelines for working with youth offenders in the areas of screening, assessment, referral and treatment.  The goal is to coordinate investment of Federal, state and local efforts to build resiliency and facilitate recovery among youth at risk or suffering from substance abuse or mental health disorders. 

II.	BACKGROUND

SAMHSA’s work on the prevention and treatment of substance abuse and mental health disorders is guided by the principle that people of all ages, with or at risk for mental or substance use disorders, should have the opportunity for a fulfilling life that includes an education, a job, a home, and meaningful relationships with family and friends.  This work is carried out through twelve priority program areas, one of which is Criminal and Juvenile Justice. 

III.	ACTIVITIES  

1.	OJJDP-SAMHSA Partnership Meetings.  A series of meetings among the Administrator, senior management and program staff of Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Administrator, Center directors and key program staff of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  Some of these may also involve members of the Assistant Attorney General’s Office, Office of Justice Programs. The purpose of these meetings is to develop agreement in support of the “public safety is public health/public health is public safety” paradigm and communication of this paradigm to those officials and staff in these agencies who will be planning and implementing the policy and program development, grant making activities, technical assistance and oversight for organizations providing treatment services to youth involved in the juvenile justice system.  

UPDATE:  Federal Partner meetings began between OJJDP and SAMHSA (CSAT and CMHS) with the addition of the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Administrators and the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors on November 5, 2007.  One follow up call has been made and planning for the next meeting with the inclusion of NIDA and NIAAA is underway.  This is intended to lead to ongoing partner meetings with inclusion of other relevant federal partners as identified in these meetings.

2.	“State of the State” Summits.  OJJDP and SAMHSA will work collaboratively to hold a series of one day “state of the state” meetings to bring together the expert practitioners in the juvenile justice and prevention and treatment of substance abuse and mental health disorders arenas with: (a) Federal staff who manage programs that deal with juveniles who have mental health and/or substance abuse disorders; (b) selected national associations and consumer groups as well as selected individual consumers; and (c) researchers and evaluators in the juvenile justice and substance abuse/mental health fields.  The outcome of these meetings will be: (1) development of consensus by the agencies and organizations of the current state-of-the-art for providing treatment services for youth in the juvenile justice system; (2) cross-fertilization of knowledge between those researchers and practitioners who have been focused on either treatment within the justice setting or in community settings outside of the justice system; and (3) sharing of instrumentation and strategies across the two disciplines (treatment within the justice setting, and treatment in community based settings) to enhance the services delivered and research practice for both.  

	UPDATE:   The first meeting was held in Rockville, MD on December 7, 2006.  OJJDP was represented at the meeting and it included a broad representation from community, juvenile justice, and reintegration providers and researchers.  .  Proceedings of the meeting are at the Council’s website.  As action steps an MOU was developed between OJJDP, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and SAMHSA/CSAT to fund a new model of juvenile drug courts.  New grants were subsequently funded by OJJDP and site visits to the new grantees is underway with all agencies participating in the MOU and representation from NIJ around the feasibility of evaluation of the effort.  This will be a four year program to use the RWJF developed Reclaiming Futures model in the context of juvenile drug courts.      

3.	Tribal Planning Forum on Juvenile Justice and Substance Abuse/Mental Health Issues.  SAMHSA intends to hold a policy academy on tribal public health issues as a means of improving policy coordination in that arena.  That academy would concern developing culturally-appropriate strategies to address the mental health and substance abuse needs of justice-involved youth.  These funds support a planning meeting that will produce the set of guidelines and points of consideration to inform the tribal policy academy.  The planning meeting will involve representatives from OJJDP’s Tribal Youth Program, representatives from SAMHSA’s American Indian/Alaska Native and Adolescents/Juveniles programs, other federal agencies, tribal nation representatives and experts in public health and juvenile justice.
UPDATE:  The planning meeting was held and coincided with the 2006 National Training Conference for Criminal Justice and Community Leaders, November 1-3, 2006.  The conference was sponsored by Wisconsin’s Multi-Jurisdictional Law Enforcement Committee, Fox Valley Technical College, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.  There were approximately 25 attendees representing 10 tribes or tribal organization; eight parents whose children were involved in juvenile justice system.  Proceedings of the meeting are at the Council’s website.  The document has been shared with SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services for their use in planning a Tribal Policy Academy for Juvenile Justice.