White Earth Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court Continuation 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) 2016 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 White Earth Reservation Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court (JHTWC) aims to improve outcomes for youth with alcohol and drug offenses and who are involved in Tribal or County Justice systems. The JHTWC serves youth under age 21 through a comprehensive, coordinated cultural-based approach in the framework of the key components of Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts. JHTWC program will serve youth through a four-phase, six month program with post participation follow-up. The program will incorporate an Advisory Board who hold expertise in working with court-involved youth across services in order to provide a more responsive, efficient, wrap-around intensive services. These services are needed for youth who are at risk with unprecedented and documented prevalence of alcohol and drugs in American Indian communities. The program is aimed at intervening in alcohol and drug involvement and criminal behavior through intense supervision of youth along with participation in cultural and recovery services. Youth will receive intensive case management and supervision, including alcohol and drug testing. The youth will be directed to services for behavioral health and substance abuse, treatment, and education. Weekly culture and tradition activities will be provided for the youth to strengthen identity and protective factors. CA/NCF