Omaha Tribe - Juvenile Probation Department

Under the authority bestowed by 42 U.S.C. Section 3796ee-1, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) made under its Tribal Juvenile Accountability Discretionary Grants (Tribal JADG) Program to federally recognized tribal communities to develop and implement programs that hold AI/AN youth accountable for delinquent behavior and strengthen tribal juvenile justice systems. For the purposes of this program, 'juvenile' refers to youth ages 17 and younger. Federally recognized tribes may use program funds to address 1 or more of the 17 Tribal JADG Program's purpose areas.

The Omaha Tribe is a federally recognized tribe located in rural Northeastern Nebraska, with 3,585 on-reservation tribal members. The Omaha Tribe currently faces chronic under-funding for their juvenile justice system producing insufficient law enforcement coverage, inadequate systems to maintain records and data, access to training for law enforcement and justice personnel, and a shortage of comprehensive programs that focus on diversion and imposing appropriate sanctions. The program seeks to serve 150 juveniles, ages 7-14, over the course of the grant period through a juvenile court system.

The project will involve community prevention and court intervention activities that seek to address the following purpose areas. Purpose area 1 (developing, implementing, and administering graduated sanctions for juvenile offenders), 5 (providing funding and resources to enable prosecutors to effectively and efficiently address drug, gang, and youth violence problems), 10 (establishing and maintaining interagency information sharing programs that enable more informed decisions regarding the early identification, control, supervision, and treatment of juveniles who repeatedly commit serious delinquent or criminal acts), 11 (establishing and maintaining accountability-based programs designed to reduce recidivism among juveniles who are referred by law enforcement personnel or agencies) 12, (establishing and maintaining programs to conduct risk and needs assessments that facilitate effective early intervention and the provision of comprehensive services), and 15 (establishing and maintaining programs to enable juvenile courts and juvenile probation officers to be more effective and efficient in holding juvenile offenders accountable and reducing recidivism).

The project goals and objectives are as follows: (1) to increase community organization to develop a comprehensive strategic plan and design process that will yield a realistic and coordinated juvenile justice service system model that enhances and adds to existing services. The tribe seeks to establish a TAB to oversee the plan, revise Tribal Codes that will assist identifying and working with tribal youth offenders, and provide prevention, support services, and community activities to reduce delinquency, provide integration of treatment for youth offenders and families, and (2) to refine and provide a culturally appropriate, family-based prevention and intervention system focused upon youth delinquency on the Omaha Reservation. The program seeks to implement prevention services that are culturally appropriate and focus on risk factors of gang membership, truancy, and violence, increase the number of youths directly served by prevention programs, implement collaborative intervention alternatives.
CA/NCF