Yurok Wellness Diversion Program

Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation is a federally recognized tribe located in Del Norte County, California. With this funding, Yurok Tribe will improve the supervision and compliance of Yurok Wellness Court participants by hiring a full-time Probation Officer to perform drug and alcohol testing, conduct home and employment visits, enforce Wellness participant curfews and travel restrictions, and deliver cognitive-behavioral interventions designed to improve participants’ problem-solving skills and alter dysfunctional criminal-thinking patterns such as Motivational Interviewing. The Tribe will implement the Yurok Wellness Diversion Program by hire a full-time Diversion Case Worker to work with identified eligible Yurok offenders diverted from the Humboldt County criminal justice system under the recently developed MOU.  The Case Worker will oversee the screening and assessment of all eligible individuals to identify the level of risk and need for services to develop an appropriate case plan.  Case planning will include educational and vocational development, employment concerns, housing, family support, transportation needs, probation/parole compliance issues, drug testing, and monitoring, referrals to behavioral health treatment, and any alcohol/substance abuse treatment needed. The proposed Project will also offer inpatient treatment services for those Wellness participants that are assessed as having a high level of need for substance abuse treatment services. Inpatient services typically last for 3 months but can be extended depending on the need of the Wellness participant. The Project will purchase additional drug testing supplies for the Probation Officer to do both random and scheduled drug testing based on the participant’s phase in the program and their case plan. The Project will also utilize the evidence-based Noble Software Static Risk and Needs Assessment for Wellness participant assessment and case planning. The Software includes a Static Risk Assessment that is based on the participant's demographics and criminal history while the Needs Assessment allows for the Case Worker to gather greater information to be used in the identification of top criminogenic needs for case planning purposes. The Project will also offer sober living options for participants after leaving an inpatient treatment facility and assist them in transition into a healthy and supportive outpatient program.