Discuss, consider, and take appropriate action on request to authorize the County Judge to sign initial submission documents related to a grant application through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in support of the Family Recovery Court Program.

The Commissioners Court has approved a grant application through the Office of the Governor to fund the Family Recovery Court program (FRC).  We have not yet been notified of the success of that pending application.  

Out of an abundance of caution, and considering the importance of the Family Recovery Court program to the welfare of the children of Williamson County, the Judges hearing Child Welfare Cases have decided to submit a second grant application, so that, in the event that we are not successful in our state grant application, we have another potential avenue to fund the program.  If approved, this grant will fund the FRC program for 3 years. 

Williamson County's Family Recovery Court is an alternative to the traditional processing of CPS cases involving moderate to severe substance abuse. The FRC centers on a collaborative court model that facilitates work between the court system and community partners in cases where substance abuse has led to the removal of a child from their home.  Parents, who are ready to embrace meaningful life change, the court system, and community partners work in concert toward the common goal of a healthy and permanent reunification of the family.

The documents attached for approval (SF 424 and SF LLL) do not bind the county to the application and, indeed, if we are successful for the state application, we will abandon this grant request.  These are the preliminary documents that must be submitted in order to access the actual grant application materials so that we can prepare the grant application.  The documents have been provided to Legal Counsel and the Auditors Office for their review.  Once the final application is completed, we will return to the Court for approval to submit.

The OJJDP Grant for Establishing New Family Drug Courts does require a 25% match.  We are working with our FRC partners to identify those costs which come through in-kind services that we will utilize to constitute the match so that there is no actual impact on the County's budget in authorizing this grant.