Lower Sioux Mentoring 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) 2018 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 a series of meetings with tribal leaders in 2009, including the Justice Department's Tribal Nations Listening Session, 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 reduce juvenile delinquency and strengthen a fair and beneficial juvenile justice system response for American Indian and Alaska Native youth.

The Lower Sioux Indian Community will launch a research-informed mentoring program rooted in Dakota kinship and lifeways, for tribal youth ages 10-13 to target the high rates of victimization, substance abuse, and mental health issues among youth. The goal of the program is to prevent juvenile delinquency and justice system involvement through research-informed, culturally-based mentoring that promotes belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. Objectives will include expanding youth worker capacity to respond to and prevent youth substance abuse, suicide, and delinquency and to leverage kinship ties and strengthen feelings of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity by re-introducing the Coming-of-Age Ceremony. CA/NCF