RCA Foundation Wins $75,000 Grant to Expand Drug Court Treatment in Autauga County

Gov. Kay Ivey awarded a $75,000 grant to the RCA Foundation, a Montgomery-based nonprofit, to expand substance abuse treatment for residents of Autauga County who are participating in drug court or court-referred programs, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs announced March 30.

The award is part of a three-grant package totaling $194,941 that Ivey directed toward crime prevention and recidivism reduction across the state. The RCA Foundation's grant covers a six-county service area: Autauga, Butler, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Elmore and Lowndes. The funding is administered by ADECA using money made available through the U.S. Department of Justice.

"ADECA joins Gov. Ivey in support of these programs that share the goal of making communities safer," ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said.

The RCA Foundation is not new to this type of state funding. ADECA awarded the organization $149,778 in early 2024 and $149,777 in January 2025, both for the same south-central Alabama treatment model targeting people who have pleaded guilty in drug courts or are being monitored through court referral programs. The March 2026 award, while smaller, continues that relationship and extends the foundation's capacity to serve Autauga-area clients at a moment when the county's criminal justice system is navigating jail capacity pressures following the Autauga Metro Jail's reopening.

The two other grants in the package went to Extended Family, which received $75,000 to serve children whose loved ones are incarcerated, offering instruction in job readiness, health and communication; and to Tuscaloosa's One Place, which received the remaining $44,941 to operate the Empowering Youth for Success 2nd Chance program aimed at reducing juvenile recidivism.

For Autauga County's drug court, the RCA Foundation's expanded capacity has direct operational consequences. Court-referred clients who might otherwise wait weeks for a treatment slot could be enrolled more quickly once grant dollars are contracted and referral pathways are established, reducing the likelihood that treatment delays push low-level offenders back into the jail system. Local courts, treatment coordinators and defense counsel should expect administrative work in the coming weeks as provider contracts and case management systems are aligned to the new funding.