Other Tribal Youth Initiatives

The five program areas described thus far in this Bulletin (TYP, the TYP Mental Health Project, the CIRCLE Project, training and technical assistance, and research and evaluation) focus specifically on tribal youth and communities. Tribal communities are active participants in a number of other OJJDP programs and initiatives as well. Tribal communities, for example, were among the grant recipients in several major OJJDP initiatives, including the Juvenile Mentoring Program, the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, the Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Program, and CASA (the Court Appointed Special Advocate Initiative). OJJDP is also developing training support for tribal law enforcement officers. In 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 had not previously been included in NYGC’s annual National Youth Gang Survey of law enforcement agencies.

In December 2000, OJJDP published a special issue of its journal Juvenile Justice (Volume VII, Number 2) that focuses on the subject of preventing and combating delinquency among tribal youth. This issue includes an interview with Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, an overview of OJJDP’s Tribal Youth Program, and a discussion of the importance of cultural practices in delinquency prevention programs.

OJJDP's Tribal Youth Initiatives	OJJDP Bulletin • May 2003