Healing to Wellness Youth Court Demonstration Project

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) 2015 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 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) provides awards under CTAS Purpose Area 8--Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts. The overall goal of this program is to enhance the capacity of tribal courts to respond to the alcohol-related issues of youth under the age of 21. This can include the development of a new juvenile healing to wellness court or enhancements to an existing tribal healing to wellness court.

The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians will develop the capacity to launch and evaluate a healing to wellness court focused at substance abuse and high risk behaviors by Tribal youth. This project is designed to serve Tribal youth living within the five county primary service area of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. At the end of the three-year project period, the Tribe will conduct an evaluation to determine how the program may be refined in order to best meet the goals and priorities of the Tribe.

This project focuses on developing the organizational infrastructure that will allow the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians to evolve its peace giving process into a holistic and culturally-based healing to wellness court (year 1 and 2). Then demonstrating the impact of this newly created capacity by utilizing the newly gained knowledge to address one of the most pressing issues facing the Tribe – alcohol and drug use and abuse by Tribal youth. Specific activities and approaches designed to address the service gaps discussed above include 1) addressing coordination and collaboration within the Tribe, 2) expanding collaboration with non-Tribal courts, police, and social service agencies, and 3) launching, monitoring, and evaluating a demonstration of healing to wellness to determine if the process meets the Tribe’s long term goals. CA/NCF