MIT Juvenile Healing to 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) 2017 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 purpose of this grant program is to support tribes seeking to develop a new Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court to respond to the alcohol and substance use issues of juveniles and young adults under the age of 21.

The proposed project from the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe will connect at-risk tribal youth to services aimed at reducing juvenile drug use and criminal activity; enact culturally informed services reducing recidivism and effectiveness; gather data to comprehensively identify community usage, gaps, and barriers; enact individualized and strength-based services ensuring youth get relevant support and services to reconcile for criminal action and empower, strengthen, and point youth towards a more productive path; increase collaboration among providers to maximize services and outcomes; and increase family support. The project will accomplish these goals by: establishing a steering community/care team obtaining support from stakeholders; hiring project staff; conducting a needs assessment; developing and completing a policies and procedures manual; developing and completing a bench book as well as screening and assessment tools, contracts, handbooks and other resources; participating in training and technical assistance; reviewing and revising the current juvenile code; developing and implementing a data collection system; collecting and continuing to collect data; implementing and reviewing a strategic plan; developing a sustainability plan; and screening, referring, accepting and continuing to accept juveniles. CA/NCF