Although rates of juvenile violent crime have been declining throughout the Nation for several years and the juvenile arrest rate for violent crime in 2000 reached its lowest level in 14 years, juvenile crime continues to rise in Indian Country. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2001 Special Report Violent Victimization and Race, 1993–98 (NCJ 176354), American Indians experience violent crime at a rate twice that of the general population. The number of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN)⁴ youth in Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody has increased 50 percent since 1994, and more than 70 percent of the approximately 270 youth in BOP custody on any given day are tribal youth. Of particular concern to AI/AN tribes and OJJDP is the increasing number of violent crimes committed by juveniles in many tribal communities.

OJJDP in FY 2001 remained actively involved in efforts to help prevent and reduce juvenile crime in AI/AN communities through its continued support of five broad program areas designed to help tribes address juvenile crime:

• The Tribal Youth Program (TYP) was established by Congress in 1999 and is administered by OJJDP. TYP provides funds directly to tribal communities to develop juvenile delinquency prevention and control programs, reduce violent crime by and against tribal youth, and improve juvenile justice systems. TYP is part of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Improvement Initiative, a joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and the Interior (DOI) designed to enhance Indian Country law enforcement standards and improve the quality of life in Indian Country.

• OJJDP supports the TYP Mental Health Project, which helps tribal communities provide diagnostic and treatment services to tribal youth involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, tribal or State juvenile justice systems.

• The Federal Comprehensive Indian Resources for Community and Law Enforcement (CIRCLE) Project helps tribal communities address local crime, violence, and substance abuse problems by developing comprehensive community programs.

• OJJDP provides training and technical assistance to TYP grantees and other tribal communities to help them better respond to juvenile crime, violence, and victimization.

• Research and evaluation activities enable practitioners and policymakers to better understand the unique context of juvenile justice problems in tribal communities.

In addition, tribal communities were active participants in several other OJJDP programs in FY 2001. OJJDP is also developing training support for tribal law enforcement officers (see discussion of Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Program). In FY 2001, the National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) implemented a new survey of youth gangs in AI/AN communities that measures the prevalence, composition, and activities of gangs in federally recognized tribes that have not been included in NYGC’s annual National Youth Gang Survey of law enforcement agencies. (See additional information.)

This chapter highlights OJJDP’s activities in the five program areas specifically designed to address the needs of AI/AN communities. Through these activities and others that are under way, OJJDP continues to help AI/AN communities prevent and control juvenile delinquency and address other problems facing tribal youth.

Tribal Youth Program

To address the rising rate of juvenile crime in tribal communities, Congress established TYP in 1999, appropriating $10 million for the program in FY 1999 and $12.5 million in FY 2000 and FY 2001. TYP was created through the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107–77) and is part of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Improvement Initiative, a 4-year Federal initiative established by DOJ and DOI in 1999 to address the need for improved law enforcement and administration of criminal and juvenile justice in Indian Country. OJJDP had assisted AI/AN tribes before 1999 (through the passthrough of Formula Grants program funds by the States, discretionary grant funds, and training and technical assistance), but it did not have a program solely dedicated to the prevention and control of juvenile crime and improvement of the juvenile justice system in tribal communities.

OJJDP received 62 applications in response to its FY 2001 TYP solicitation (applications were due in July 2001) seeking AI/AN communities to develop programs to prevent and control juvenile delinquency. Awards ranged from $150,000 to $500,000 (for a 3-year grant period), depending on the size of the total AI/AN service population living on or near a particular reservation. In terms of population size and geographic location, applications were received from a broad spectrum of tribal communities.

Applications were invited from federally recognized tribes and those corporations representing Alaska Native villages. Grant recipients are required to use TYP funding for one or more of the following objectives: (1) to reduce, control, and prevent crime and delinquency, both by and against tribal youth; (2) to provide interventions for court-involved youth; (3) to improve tribal juvenile justice systems; and (4) to provide prevention programs that focus on alcohol and other drugs.

Grantees selected for FY 2001 funding are developing a variety of programs to accomplish these objectives.

TYP Mental Health Project

TYP’s Mental Health Project is part of the Mental Health and Community Safety Initiative for American Indian/Alaska Native Children, Youth, and Families, a Federal initiative announced in 1999 and developed by DOJ, DOI, and the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. The overall goal of the TYP Mental Health Project is to provide mental health diagnosis and treatment services for AI/AN youth involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, tribal and/or State juvenile justice systems. The project’s objectives are to reduce, control, and prevent crime and delinquency committed by and against AI/AN youth; provide interventions for court-involved tribal youth; improve tribal juvenile justice systems; and provide prevention programs that focus on alcohol and other drugs.

Under OJJDP’s FY 2001 Program Announcement for the TYP Mental Health Project, the agency offered $1 million in funding to provide substance abuse and mental health prevention/intervention services for AI/AN youth involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, the tribal and/or State juvenile justice systems. Applications were due in July 2001, and OJJDP received 21 applications from 13 States. OJJDP awarded TYP Mental Health Project grants totaling almost $950,000 to five AI/AN communities to provide mental health treatment and services to AI/AN youth (see sidebar for a list of grantees). Awards ranged from $125,000 to $300,000 (for a 3-year grant period), depending on the size of the total AI/AN service population living on or near a particular reservation.

Comprehensive Indian Resources for Community and Law Enforcement Project

The CIRCLE Project is designed to help tribal communities (with the assistance of Federal, State, and private partners) develop comprehensive planning and funding infrastructures so they can more effectively fight crime, violence, and substance abuse and address local problems comprehensively through effective planning and appropriate funding. The CIRCLE Project is based on two key principles. First, because the Federal Government cannot impose solutions from the top down that effectively and completely address the problems of tribal communities, those communities should take the lead, with assistance from the Federal Government, in developing and implementing efforts to control crime, violence, and drug abuse. Second, problems addressed by the CIRCLE Project require a comprehensive approach—that is, one that incorporates coordinated, multidisciplinary efforts. DOJ invited three tribes to participate in the CIRCLE Project. These tribes were selected based on population size (greater than 5,000 but less than 40,000), the presence of a serious violent crime problem, and sufficient existing tribal infrastructure to implement the project. OJJDP awarded three Tribal Youth Program grants totaling $1,530,000 to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Lame Deer, MT; the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, SD; and the Pueblo of Zuni, Zuni, NM.

Through the CIRCLE Project, participating tribes receive special consideration for technical assistance and training related to strategy development and implementation. They are also eligible to apply for funding for law enforcement, tribal courts, detention facilities, and youth programs. Several DOJ agencies work together to make technical assistance and funding available for this comprehensive program. Partner agencies include the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of Tribal Justice, the Office of Justice Programs, and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The U.S. Attorney plays a role in the CIRCLE Project, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DOI’s Bureau of Indian Affairs also contribute through the Indian Country Law Enforcement Improvement Initiative.

DOJ’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is overseeing an evaluation of the CIRCLE Project. In FY 2000, NIJ (using funds transferred from OJJDP) awarded a grant to the Harvard Project on American Indian Development at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, MA, to evaluate the CIRCLE Project. A draft report for Phase I of the evaluation, which covers the first 18 months of the project, is expected in 2002. Phase II of the evaluation will address the subsequent 30 months.

Training and Technical Assistance

OJJDP provides a training and technical assistance program to help TYP grantees implement their programs and to help other AI/AN communities develop or enhance their juvenile justice systems. The training and technical assistance are provided by American Indian Development Associates (AIDA) of Albuquerque, NM.

AIDA provides assistance at the request of TYP grantees or program managers. Once technical assistance requests are categorized, reviewed, and approved, AIDA develops a comprehensive training and technical assistance delivery plan. A primary goal of all training and technical assistance is to aid communities in developing culturally appropriate and effective ways of dealing with problems faced by Indian youth and their families. Technical assistance is delivered through onsite visits, telephone consultations, and regional training seminars.

AIDA helps tribal communities that are not TYP grantees to improve their juvenile justice systems and address issues of youth and wellness, community development, and planning and development. Between 1997 and 2001, AIDA received 179 requests for training and technical assistance. In 2001, AIDA conducted 31 training and technical assistance projects for TYP grantees.

Research and Evaluation

OJJDP supports two research projects designed to address youth gang activities on AI/AN lands. The Navajo Nation Judicial Branch in Window Rock, AZ, is conducting a comprehensive assessment of gang activity, the first such assessment to be undertaken by a tribal government. Building on the Navajo Nation’s youth gang study, researchers at California State University in Sacramento, CA, are using ethnographic observation and interviews with community members and gang members to document and profile the youth gang experience in up to six rural and urban tribal sites across the country. (See chapter 6 for additional information.)