Tribal Youth Resource Center Unveils Updated Website

OJJDP's Tribal Youth Resource Center has redesigned its website, incorporating new branding and improving functionality. The site is a tool for Native communities, with resources to support the planning, development, and implementation of programs for Tribal youth.

The enhanced site makes it easier for visitors to access the center's digital outreach channels, including their blogs, podcasts, YouTube channel, and events calendar. An improved interface facilitates Tribes' requests for training and technical assistance, and updates to the resource library have improved navigation and strengthened search capability. The library houses numerous Tribal-specific publications, facts sheets, and archived learning events.

OJJDP’s Juvenile Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts Program a Success, Data Show

Performance measurement data from OJJDP's Juvenile Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts program show the program achieved its main objectives between January and June 2020. According to Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts, during that time, 28 of the 36 awards funded by the program were operational, and 77 percent complied with reporting requirements. Grantees served 330 youth and 212 family members, the publication states.

Reporting requirements include grantees' short-term data on youth who commit offenses or reoffend, a measure of a grantee’s success at reducing delinquent behavior and improving youth outcomes. The report notes a 13-percent decrease in offenses by youth between January and June 2020—during the COVID-19 pandemic—when compared to the same period in 2019; of the youth tracked by grantees, 16 percent (20 of 124) committed offenses in the short term and 45 percent (15 of 33) reoffended in the short term. Overall, 89 percent of tracked youth exhibited a desired change in targeted behavior during the short term, according to the performance report.

Developing a Survey Instrument To Study Exposure to Violence Among Native Youth

Results from the Tribal Youth Victimization Study have contributed to the development of a research strategy and survey tool for collecting information about the exposure of American Indian and Alaska Native youth to violence and victimization. Intended for use in a national study, the survey instrument is a valid, reliable tool for collecting data within and across Tribes and in other settings, researchers concluded. Its use should contribute to an understanding of factors that increase risk and of protective factors that influence the violence and victimization youth experience.

The study—funded by the National Institute of Justice and publicly available through the Office of Justice Programs’ National Criminal Justice Reference Service—focused on three distinct phases. Phase 1 emphasized survey development and methods of administration. Phase 2 focused on recruitment methods and cognitive testing of the draft survey instrument. Phase 3 focused on pilot test site recruitment, pilot testing a revised version of the instrument, testing modes of administration, and incentives.