Mentoring and Digital Storytelling Workshops to Prevent Delinquency

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) 2012 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 vision of Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria's (FIGR) Tribal Youth Program is to support and enhance Tribal efforts to prevent and control juvenile delinquency. FIGR will reach this goal through implementation of 2 structured programs: 1) the Tribal Youth Mentoring Program; and 2) Tribal Youth Digital Storytelling Workshops. Under the Tribal Youth Mentoring Program, FIGR will target approximately 35 youth who are at the highest risk for justice involvement, that is, youth with current or past justice system involvement, truant youth, and youth who are deemed at high risk for substance abuse. FIGR will contract with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of the North Bay to support the Tribe's implementation of the BBBS evidence-based mentoring approach. BBBS of the North Bay staff will recruit, thoroughly screen, train and match volunteer mentors, prioritizing eligible tribal elders, who will spend time at least once weekly with their mentees for at least one year. These professionally supported matches will spend time with each other out in the community, engaging in various events and activities. Through this program, tribal youth will reduce juvenile delinquency and arrests, increase school attendance and grades, decrease violence, gang involvement, and alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, and increase communication skills and relationships with family, adults, and peers by having a caring, adult mentor in their life. Evaluations of progress towards these goals and objectives will be measured and tracked through standardized assessment systems.

CA/NCF