TYP Mental Health Project

The TYP Mental Health Project was established in 2000 to promote mental health and substance abuse (alcohol and drug abuse) services for AI/AN youth and support juvenile delinquency prevention and intervention efforts that help tribes develop and implement culturally sensitive mental health programs. The project helps tribes provide a range of youth support services and programs that address the mental health and related needs of AI/AN youth and their families in various community settings (e.g., in schools, at violence prevention and healthcare treatment programs, in the juvenile justice system). The TYP 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 the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, the Interior, and Justice. Since FY 2000, this initiative has provided tribes easy-to-access help in developing innovative strategies to meet the mental health, behavior, substance abuse, and community safety needs of AI/AN youth and their families through a coordinated federal process.

The overall goal of the TYP Mental Health Project is to provide mental health diagnostic and treatment services to AI/AN youth who are involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, tribal and/or state juvenile justice systems. The project’s objectives are to:

• Provide mental health services for AI/AN youth at risk of delinquency.
  
  
• Provide interventions for court-involved tribal youth.
  
  
• Improve tribal juvenile justice systems.
  
  
• Provide alcohol and drug abuse counseling services.

In FY 2000, OJJDP awarded TYP Mental Health Project grants to six tribal communities to provide mental health treatment and services to AI/AN youth. The grants totaled nearly $1 million and ranged from $75,000 to $300,000, depending on the size of the AI/AN service population living on or near a particular reservation.

In FY 2001, OJJDP awarded TYP Mental Health Project grants totaling almost $950,000 to five tribal communities. 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. OJJDP also awarded five TYP Mental Health Project grants in FY 2002. (See TYP Mental Health Project: Activities of FY 2002 Grantees for a summary of FY 2002 grantees’ activities.)

OJJDP's Tribal Youth Initiatives	OJJDP Bulletin • May 2003