White Earth Juvenile Cross Over Court Project

The Justice Department's grant-making components have created a streamlined approach for federally recognized Tribes, Tribal consortia, Alaska Native villages and corporations, as well as authorized tribal designees to apply for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 funding opportunities. The Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) serves as a single solicitation for existing tribal government-specific grant programs administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The CTAS solicitation is designed to assist tribes with addressing crime and public safety issues in a comprehensive manner. The CTAS grant-application process was inspired by and developed after consultation with tribal leaders, including sessions at the Justice Department's Tribal Nations Listening Session in 2009, and has been updated based on continued tribal consultations and listening sessions.

The primary implementing agency for the White Earth TJADG will be the White Earth Tribal Court. The Crossover Youth Practice Model goals are to reduce the number of youth entering the child welfare system through juvenile justice placements, reduce the amount youth in foster care in the justice system, reduce the use of out of home placements, reduce the rate of recidivism, increase of interagency information sharing, and increase the voice of families and youth involved in these systems. Research has documented that children who have been abused or neglected will likely engage in delinquent behavior. Studies have found that being abused as a child increased the likelihood of being arrested by 59%. By addressing the issues related with childhood abuse, the tribal courts goal is preventative; to reduce future acts of violence and illegal behavior. The Crossover Youth Practice Model objectives include early identification and referrals; engaging youth and families with services earlier; diverting youth from adjudication and court when feasible; and promoting culturally valid interventions. The target population for the crossover model are youth who have a current and simultaneous involvement in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in the following ways: 1) youth initially involved in child protection who later become involved in the juvenile justice system, 2) youths who are initially involved in the juvenile justice system and later become involved in the child welfare system due to abuse or neglect in the home, or 3) prior child protection involvement and later enters the juvenile justice system.

Evaluation data will be gathered by the Case Manager from team members during weekly meetings and from project partners each month and presented in report format to the project evaluator. A comprehensive annual evaluation will also be performed. Evaluation will be a critical component of 1) effective management to meet the project's goals and objectives, 2) to recognize the court's strengths and weaknesses and 3) ensure that each families needs are being met. CA/NCF