FY2023 BJA Grant: Accountability Court Language Access and Screening Tool

The Council of Accountability Court Judges in partnership with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is pleased to announce a new grant opportunity, the FY2023 BJA Grant: Accountability Court Language Access and Screening Tool. 

The grant has two categories, and applicants may apply for funds in one or both categories. The grant is designed to assist courts in eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in their programs by enhancing access to accountability court programs for eligible Georgians. 

The grant is open to all state-certified accountability court programs that serve adults. Accountability court programs must apply as a circuit. All programs in the circuit do not need to participate in the grant for others in the circuit to apply, but the program that opts out of the circuit-wide application cannot submit a separate application. 

The language access category of the grant provides funds to enable courts to accept participants with limited English proficiency (LEP) or who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). Funds can be used to pay for interpretation services such as LanguageLine and in-person court interpreters, for treatment services that are conducted in a language other than English, for program materials to be translated into another language, and for program materials to be purchased in another language (such as purchasing participant workbooks in Spanish). 

The screening tool category of the grant will provide funds for courts to administer a universal screening tool to screen all inmates in the jail, and some out-of-custody litigants as well, for accountability court eligibility. The tool will not replace existing screening protocols like the LSCMI, but instead it will supplement courts’ current screening processes as a method to ensure all potential participants are screened for accountability court eligibility. The grant will fund personnel services to administer the tool. The tool is designed to be administered by someone without clinical training, such as a case manager or deputy sheriff at the jail. 

The grant application period will open on January 13th and the application is due Thursday, February 27, 2025. 

CACJ will review the new application solicitation in a short webinar planned for Thursday, January 16, 2025, at Noon. Please register for the webinar, using the icon below. 

Questions about the FY2023 BJA Grant Accountability Court Language Access and Screening Tool can be directed to the contact listed below: