CCJ-COSCA voices concern regarding cuts to mental health, substance abuse programs
April 29, 2025 -- The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) today issued a letter to Congressional leadership , expressing deep concern about the termination of numerous Department of Justice grants that support adult and juvenile drug courts, support law enforcement, and provide crisis services for individuals with mental illnesses.
In their letter, CCJ and COSCA note that such cuts will have a direct impact on life saving and financially responsible initiatives, including treatment courts, the Byrne JAG program, Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP), and the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP). Terminating these programs will not end the problems they were designed to address. Mental health and substance abuse know no borders.
These terminations will merely turn back the clock to a time when local law enforcement, courts, jails and prisons were our nation’s de facto mental health and substance abuse treatment systems without the resources to meet the needs of people and the communities we all serve. State courts are overwhelmingly the primary place that refers people into treatment.
But there is more. The impact of these program terminations in drug court funding and assistance goes beyond state courts. In several states, federal and state courts have partnered with the latter taking on the lion’s share of supervisory and treatment responsibility for federal offenders.
These programs – a stellar example of cooperative federalism that should be promoted – are designed to enable federal courts to take advantage of the state courts’ 40 plus years of experience, effectively assisting the federal government in reducing its criminal defendant supervision, treatment, and incarceration needs.