The kit first provides background information and a profile of drug courts. Common characteristics of drug court are the use of judicial authority and the leverage of the court's disposition power to directly supervise and support the offender's performance in drug treatment and rehabilitation programs, as well as the coordination of service delivery experts who can support offender rehabilitation and promote achievement of the drug court program goals. The drug court focuses on treatment and rehabilitation that provides nonviolent drug-dependent defendants who successfully complete a treatment and rehabilitation program with dismissal of their current charges or some other mitigation of their sanction exposure or sentence. The grant program described in this application kit provides opportunities that build on the foundation put in place with the fiscal year 1995 Drug Court Program. In fiscal year 1995 the Drug Court Program Office provided grants to support drug court planning efforts in 52 jurisdictions. Five other jurisdictions received substantial support to implement new drug courts. Seven other sites were able to enhance their ongoing drug court efforts. The 1996 Drug Court Program is built on the same features as the 1995 program: support for planning, funding to begin implementation, and support to enhance ongoing drug court operations. The provision of technical assistance and training will continue to be important as well. A national evaluation of drug court effectiveness will be launched through another solicitation. The program described in the application kit is competitive, and three types of grants will be awarded: planning grants, implementation grants, and improvement and enhancement grants. This kit discusses eligible applicants, evaluation, grant types, the technical assistance program, and administrative requirements. Appended supplementary information and an application checklist