Preventing Delinquency in American Indian/Alaska Native Youth

The Tribal Youth Field Initiated Research and Evaluation Program was established to support field initiated studies to further understanding of the experiences, strengths, and needs of tribal youth, their families, and communities, and what works to reduce their risks for delinquency and victimization. This program is authorized by the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, Pub. L. 112-110.

This project's goal is to use a culturally based research methodology and program model to generate evidence that when American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth achieve culturally based, community-defined outcomes, delinquency is reduced. Objectives include providing new knowledge regarding: factors contributing to success, how these are fostered in AI/AN youth, and how to measure them as indicators of effectiveness. The research questions include: 1) the relationship between mitigating factors, including positive cultural identity and delinquency; 2) program elements that contribute to these mitigating factors; 3) the impact of using research-based assessment and case management with at-risk AI/AN youth; and 4) requirements for adaptation of this culturally based model in two additional AI/AN sites. The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), and Portland State University (PSU) created the primary research tools, including an instrument and a research-grounded case management protocol. The NAYA Assessment Tool (NAT) and the NAYA Outcomes-based Planning Protocol (NOPP) are based on five years of community-based participatory research focusing on the question: What does success look like for Native youth? NAT and NOPP data will be compared to AI/AN data from the Youth Behavior and Risk Surveillance Survey. CA/NCF