To support the Colombian government’s efforts to reduce drug consumption, the U. S. Department of State has allocated $1,000,000 USD in funding for designing the expansion of the program, training and mentoring Colombian staff in each target city, and evaluating its impact.

Under the proposed

expansion, the Colombian government has identified the key judicial and administrative staff in each target city who will launch and run the new drug treatment courts.

The Colombian Ministry of Justice is funding the initial training for new drug treatment court staff and policy makers.

The purpose of this project is to reduce criminal recruitment and recidivism by utilizing the juvenile justice system as an opportunity to divert Colombian youth from drug use.

It will also improve judicial efficiency by reducing the number of adolescent offenders in the criminal justice system.

This will be accomplished by expanding the successful juvenile drug treatment court pilot from Medellin to seven new regions.

Please refer to Section I: Program Description in the NOFO PDF document for additional information.