Alaska Native Youth Success Training and Technical Assistance Project

OJJDP's Juvenile Justice System Improvement Grants program was established to provide grants and cooperative agreements to organizations that provide programs and services critical to the mission of OJJDP, and organizations that OJJDP has selected for funds in prior years. This program will be authorized by an Act appropriating funds for the Department of Justice.

The Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP) seeks to reduce Alaska Native youth delinquency rates by serving tribal communities and youth-serving organizations and increasing their capacities to better meet Alaska Native youth's cultural needs and support successful functioning at the home, school, and community levels. This will be accomplished through the continued development, implementation, growth, expansion, diversification, and refinement of a virtual-based training and technical assistance (TTA) Resource Center targeting youth-serving organizations and tribal communities, originally incepted during Years 1-2 of OJJDP Alaska Native Youth at Risk Training and Technical Assistance Project grant funding. This application represents Years 3-4 of the project--Alaska Native Youth Success(ANYS. Project activities include continued establishment of a strong statewide network of service providers and key stakeholders in youth-related fields that guide, build, and improve the TTA Resource Center, while promoting data-driven strategies, multi-disciplinary partnerships, and culturally-appropriate tools and content. This Resource Center, dubbed "The Resource Basket" at www.alaskanativeyouth.org, will mobilize and connect subject matter experts in providing TTA to tribal communities and associated service providers through rural village/community-based training events, webinars, workshop presentations, teleconferences, informational and instructional videos, newsletters, email blasts, and phone/email support. Project staff will promote the Resource Center and its services statewide, increasing both the dissemination of comprehensive youth wellness resources and the relationships and collaborations across the state that will ensure Alaska Native youth issues are effectively and holistically addressed. A pre-established Advisory Group, comprised of leaders in services related to this project, Alaska Native Elders, and other professionals, will provide additional oversight and mentorship to project staff, partners, and participants, as well as review and screening of TTA requests. CA/NCF

This program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants and cooperative agreements for training and technical assistance to organizations that OJJDP designates.

The Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP) seeks to reduce Alaska Native youth delinquency rates by serving Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Tribal Youth Program grantees and enhancing their capacities to better meet Alaska Native youth’s cultural needs and support successful functioning at the home, school, and community levels. This will be accomplished through providing culturally-responsive, results-oriented, cost efficient training and technical assistance (TTA) that contributes to the development and implementation of comprehensive, Alaska Native-driven approaches to reducing juvenile delinquency. This 12 month project proposal expands upon RurAL CAP’s experience implementing an existing four year program funded by OJJDP, the Alaska Native Youth Success (ANYS) program.

Project activities will ensure Alaska Native youth issues are effectively and holistically addressed, and include establishing an effective and efficient system and infrastructure to provide Alaska-specific TTA to OJJDP Tribal Youth Program grantees by developing databases, protocols, and systems to support appropriate TTA to grantees and ensuring TTA approaches are Alaska-specific and meet the unique needs of the tribal communities; providing TTA to grantees based on needs assessments and best practices in support of grantees developing and implementing their Tribal Youth Program plans by coordinating and leading opportunities for consultation, engagement, and group sharing such as teleconferences and one-on-one meetings; and offering training opportunities that reflect common and specific grantee needs at community, regional, and statewide levels. A pre-established Advisory Group, comprised of leaders in services related to this project, Alaska Native Elders, and other professionals may be expanded to best meet the needs of Tribal Youth Program grantee TTA needs, and provide oversight and mentorship to project staff, partners, and participants.

The project’s success will be measured through OJJDP-provided performance measures: number of organizations receiving TTA; number of planning/training events conducted; number of participants completing trainings; number of organizations reporting improvements in operations based on TTA; percentage of individuals reporting increased knowledge in the project area; and number of program materials developed.

NCA/NCF