The Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak 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) 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 9--Tribal Youth Program (TYP) to federally recognized tribes to develop and implement programs that support and enhance Tribal efforts to prevent and control juvenile delinquency and strengthen juvenile justice system for American Indian/Alaska Native youth.

The Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak (STK) is addressing American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)juvenile delinquency by identifying and providing services to at-risk youth with the goal to avert delinquent behaviors, prevent juvenile criminal offenses, and increase the AI/AN high school graduation rates. In partnership with the Kodiak Island Borough School District and the STK Tribal Court, the Tribe will create and administer a comprehensive plan connecting and strengthening the networks between Tribal youth and their community as well as augmenting the existing public programs that serve AI/AN youth. Uniquely, this program meets the individual needs of the at-risk youth participating in the program, fosters their personal talents and interests, builds mentoring relationships between the youth and their Elders, and enhances after-school socio-cultural experiences through activities that connect Tribal youth with their traditional Alutiiq culture. This project primarily serves 20-40 at-risk AI/AN youth between the ages of 14 and 17; and on a day-to-day basis, engages approximately 300 other AI/AN Tribal youth of the same age range. The anticipated results of this project are upturns in AI/AN school attendance records, improvements in AI/AN in-school academic progress, increases in AI/AN high school graduation rates, and deeper connections to community and self.
CA/NCF