Nooksack Tribal Youth Program

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 Nooksack Tribal Youth Program (NTYP) will target youth with risk factors for delinquency and alcohol and drug abuse. Program goals are: 1) to reduce crime rates within the tribal youth population; and 2) to reduce alcohol and drug use within youth by at least 10% each year. The target population for these intervention and treatment services is tribal youth from 10 to 17 years of age in the Nooksack community, Deming, Washington. A high percentage (at least 60%) of these youth has been or is at high-risk for alcohol and/or drug addiction. Key objectives/elements of the NTYP include: the collection of tribal stories and adaptation of the Canoe Journey curriculum incorporating the Tribes historical practice of canoe racing and journey, storytelling, art, music and traditional foods; using the adapted Canoe Journey curriculum in conducting intervention and education activities to reduce crime and prevent alcohol and drug use; hire a Chemical Dependency prevention worker to reach out to at least 50 students to participate in the program, coordinate youth intervention activities and to work collaboratively with the Tribe's justice system, schools, tribal after-school and summer programs in preventing crime, alcohol and drug abuse by the youth; involve youth in traditional practice of carving out a carefully selected tree and shaping it into a canoe, then teaching paddling together as one, and how these skills transition into life. A number of measurement tools will be utilized throughout this program to evaluate and assess the project's impact on targeted youth.

CA/NCF