Expand Capacity and Build Sustainability of Tribal Circle

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 Kenaitze Indian Tribe seeks to effectively address and reduce juvenile delinquency among Alaska Native/American Indian youth in the Central Kenai Peninsula through reliance on indigenous principles and culturally relevant practices. This grant will be used to expand capacity and build sustainability to tribe's current Tribal Circle Project. More specifically, to build program capacity to serve unmet community needs, the tribe will recruit and hire a Tribal Circle co-coordinator. A Circle space will be designed and furnished to provide a dedicated environment that is culturally appropriate for this purpose. The co-coordinators will conduct intake interviews and risk assessments on 36 youth per year, gradually building the current program to that level during the initial planning year. The co-coordinators will educate 150 youth and adults per year on the principles and practices of the traditional Talking Circle approach to addressing difficulties and discussing important matters, gradually building the current program to that level during the initial planning year. The tribe's target population consists of Alaska Native/American Indian youth in the central region of the Kenai Peninsula under the age of 18. Because the purpose of the Tribal Circle is the revitalization of traditional community based consultation and decision-making when faced with difficult or conflicted circumstances, the issues to be addressed may include anything that troubles the target youth. In terms of delinquency, the Circle is both preventative (addressing "at-risk" situations, such as difficulties in school, homelessness, custody concerns, or working towards family reunification) and reactive (i.e. as a diversion for offenses that might otherwise be addressed in district court, through juvenile probation, or through school district suspension. ). A number of measurement tools will be utilized throughout this program to evaluate and assess the project's impact on targeted youth.

CA/NCF