PA 9: 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) 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 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 Spirit Lake Tribe is requesting funding to reactivate and enhance its Spirit Lake Sunka Wakan Ah-Ku (Bringing Back the Horses) Program, which started as a court diversionary program for first time juvenile offenders. The Tribe is proposing to enhance its program by becoming a wrap-around service provider in serving all juvenile offenders in order to keep them out of detention centers off the reservation and implement and develop a treatment plan using Equine Therapy and Spirit Lake Recovery and Wellness collaboration. The program will provide Intervention programs for court involved youth which are culturally relevant and will work with the Spirit Lake Recovery and Wellness program to develop treatment services that offer tribal best practices and traditional horse healing methods for court involved youth. The Tribe believes the best way to prevent delinquent behaviors and restore families are to promote youth's positive behaviors through culturally appropriate avenues. The Sunka Wakan Ah-Ku program restores confidence through equine therapy, builds life skills and restores Dakota Identity of which the Horse culture is a strong part of. Horsemanship requires the development of skills such as leadership, responsibility, anger management, and assertive communication; the very skills which can lead to behavioral improvements among youth who struggle with delinquency and related difficulties. The program is designed to enhance the quality of life of adolescents, families, and adults through unique equine-assisted experiences. Equine Assisted Learning enhances the life skills of youth, adults and families through therapeutic interaction with horses. Success will be measured by a decrease in recidivism rates within the Spirit Lake Tribal Court and Sunka Wakan Ah-ku's tracked participants, a decrease in the number of juveniles sentenced to detention centers, and a decrease in the number of juveniles that reoffend while in the program. CA/NCF