"Tribal Youth Leadership Development Initiative"

The goal of this initiative is to directly engage Native American youth and youth-serving programs in efforts to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors related to juvenile delinquency prevention. The program will successfully coordinate and implement a Tribal Youth Leadership Development Initiative with OJJDP oversight and involvement. The program offers an opportunity for trusted adults to work closely with youth exposed to multiple risk factors. This interaction and experience will be infused with lessons pertaining to personal accountability, skill development and action related to juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and public safety issues in Indian country. To accomplish this goal, the initiative will work with tribal communities to identify and engage youth with multiple risk factors to participate in learning events that will build youth leadership skills and provide opportunities to create a sustainable community project focused on reducing risk factors for juvenile crime and enhancing protective factors for youth accountability.

Unity will directly engage Native American youth and youth-serving programs to accomplish the goal of reducing risk factors and enhancing protective factors related to juvenile delinquency prevention. The proposed project has 3 objectives that are designed to further this goal. They are: (1) to create a cohort of at least twelve youth leaders to serve as peer trainers, mentors, subject matter experts, and project advisors; (2) to conduct six regional gatherings to train 480 Native American and Alaska Native youth and advisors to design, plan, and implement community improvement projects; and (3) to have four youth councils apply the ten-step project planning training in their own communities. Unity will train at least 12 young native leaders as guides, who will be available to assist and train their peers in the ten-step process and provide assistance to youth councils that undertake the planning and implementation of a service project. This program will result in the training of 480 Native American youth who will gain the leadership skills necessary to organize and carry out a community service project.
CA/NCF