The Seminole Tribal Excellence Program (STEP)

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. Under Purpose Area 9, Tribal Youth Program, OJJDP seeks to 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 funding in this purpose area is made available to enable tribes to create, expand, or strengthen approaches along the juvenile justice continuum that can range from prevention to intervention and treatment. Under Category 1, funding supports tribes that propose to develop a new tribal youth program.

Seminole’s education department will create a case-managed dropout prevention program to increase graduation rates, reduce truancy, and reduce negative behaviors. The program, Seminole Tribal Excellence Program School Dropout Prevention, will initiate a comprehensive safety net program to engage Seminole students and parents from kindergarten to 12th grade by proactively working with at-risk students and linking them to tribal resources. CA/NCF