Nez Perce Tribal Restorative Justice Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court 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.

This Purpose Area 8 project addresses the need for a Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court (JHTWC), an important and essential component of the Nez Perce Tribal Justice System. The JHTWC will provide professional, targeted and sustained support and encouragement for juvenile offenders with drug and alcohol-related problems. These tribal youth require, and deserve, the intensive monitoring, support, and services which the JHTWC and its partners can provide. At present, the Nez Perce Tribe operates a federally-funded adult Healing to Wellness Court (HTWC); it has achieved very positive results with adults charged with alcohol-and-drug related offenses. The adult HTWC currently has 15 participants in its program, two of whom have graduated and the rest are successfully moving through its phases to graduation. Solutions to problems already identified by the adult court team have been incorporated into the Tribe’s FY 2016 PA 8 proposal—for example, funding for a contract therapist is included in the PA 8 proposal. This will enhance therapeutic services provided by the Behavioral Health Unit of the NiMiiPuu Health Department to JHTWC participants. Currently, NPH’s policy is to require $75 up-front payment for drug and alcohol evaluations, a policy which has been identified as a barrier to success in the adult HTWC. The PA 8 proposal budget addresses this issue in its request for funding for therapy costs. Additionally, the JHTWC will offer young participants opportunities for involvement in cultural and traditional activities through a recently formed Peacemakers Circle as recommended by the Tribal Elders and Leaders Panel on the Court Team. A Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court, firmly established over the next four years, will provide a wide range of services to tribal youth with alcohol-related issues and the other problems associated with alcohol abuse.

CA/NCF