Navajo 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 Navajo Nation proposes to address substance use, abuse, and its related issues with the planning, development, and implementation of a juvenile healing to wellness court for the Chinle district in a coordinated effort to keep the community safe and promote personal accountability and positive outcomes. One of the goals of the project is the development of a culturally appropriate juvenile healing to wellness court that will address rampant substance use/abuse by utilizing an evidence-based treatment approach to ensure the healing and wellness of juveniles and their families in the Chinle agency. Planned objectives include the hiring of a resource coordinator to work in conjunction with the advisory committee and treatment teams that will be comprised of the district court judge, probation officer, traditional program specialist, public defender, prosecutors, law enforcement, a social services representative, youth development personnel and school district personnel to plan and develop a juvenile healing to wellness court for eligible participants. Eligibility criteria will be developed but will include youth 14-20 who have a substance use disorder and are moderate to high risk of reoffending. Training will be provided for the tribal advisory committee, staff, and treatment team members in the 10 Key Components of the Healing to Wellness Court, the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Guidelines and trauma-informed practice. Mentoring for youth will be provided by the Peacemaking Program utilizing the Twin Warriors and Nayee - Our Guide to Prevention manual. The second goal is to increase public safety by decreasing the use and abuse of alcohol by youth under age 21 by 5% using in-school primary prevention methods by year 3. The target population will be youth at risk of offending or becoming involved with substance use and abuse.

CA/NCF