The Bureau of Justice Assistance has updated its timetable for the release of its solicitation under the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA). BJA officials now project the solication will be made available to the field in early April. State and local governments can compete through this solicitation for grants to fund planning and implementation efforts.

The program, which received $5 million in startup funding for FY 2006, will offer 6 implementation grants and 12 planning grants; a number of planning grant recipients will also be eligible for implementation funding.

For more information on the grant solicitation process, please click here. (BJA currently refers to the program as the Criminal/Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.)

FY 2007 funding for the MIOTCRA program is currently being considered in Congress. Representatives Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Ted Strickland (D-OH) and Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) are leading the effort to support the program. For more information on the funding status of the program, please click here.

For more information on outreach efforts to Congress in support of the program, please contact Hope Glassberg.