Bad River Juvenile Wellness Court

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 Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians plans to implement a Juvenile Wellness Court program for its youth. Over the past several years there has been a disproportionate increase in the number of Native American juvenile arrests for both civil and criminal complaints in Ashland County and according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), Native American youth are more likely than their caucasian counterparts to use mind-altering substances with significant disparities in marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription pain pill use. As noted in the solicitation, the key components of Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts which will be implemented within the Bad River Juvenile Wellness Court include using a team approach, consisting of community resources to achieve physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. This holistic, structured program incorporates culture and tradition, educates through experience, employs intensive supervision, and provides progressive consequences and incentives. The Bad River Tribe recognizes that the development of ongoing communication, coordination, and cooperation among team members, the community and relevant organizations are critical for program success. For this reason, the tribe will use grant funding to hire a strategic planner to develop a comprehensive plan in order to ensure that all necessary facets of the program are addressed. This staff member will continue on as the implementer of the plan, supervised closely by the Bad River Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse department, and will also be responsible for the regular evaluation of the program. We anticipate the Juvenile Wellness Court to be an organic and growing entity that will need to grow and change with the culture, needs, and abilities of the juveniles and community it serves.

CA/NCF