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OJJDP recently conducted a tribal youth focus group, "Building Brighter Futures in Indian Country," to encourage an open dialog among tribal youth about their communities, families, and life experiences. The focus group was a precursor to the third One OJP [Office of Justice Programs] Tribal Training and Technical Assistance (TT&TA) session, held June 4–6, 2007, in Shelton, WA. The focus group participants—boys and girls ages 10–17 from 20 tribes that are OJJDP Tribal Youth Program grantees—were invited to the TT&TA session to observe the tribal consultation segment in which tribal leaders from across the country highlighted their community needs.

OJP's TT&TA sessions, which began in December 2006, bring together elected tribal leaders and key policy decisionmakers, tribal administrators, executive directors, finance and grants administration officers, tribal planners, grant writers, justice and law enforcement personnel, and tribal program project coordinators and grantee officers. The three TT&TA sessions held thus far have focused on priorities related to public safety for tribal families and communities. Many of the training programs at June's Pacific Northwest session focused specifically on the needs of tribal youth. Topics included Strength-Based Youth Delinquency Prevention Programming; Assessing Youth Risk and Protective Factors; and Youth Courts, Juvenile Code, and Working With Court-Involved Youth.

In addition, each TT&TA session addresses issues such as drugs, tribal court systems, multijurisdictional coordination and communication, sex offender registry, and other law enforcement areas. OJP also hosts sessions to invite tribal communities to evaluate and give feedback on the fiscal year 2007 grant application solicitation process in order to assist OJP to plan and improve the process in 2008.

To make the TT&TA sessions as useful as possible, OJP has invited other Federal agencies to attend. At the three sessions held to date, representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have discussed tribal concerns such as methamphetamine use and suicide prevention, and representatives from the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs have addressed issues such as law enforcement, social services, and self-governance.

The next TT&TA session is scheduled for the week of July 30, 2007, in Phoenix, AZ.