Tribal Criminal Assistance Program

The Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) and the National Association of Indian Legal Services (NAILS) programs propose to enhance tribal civil justice systems and improve meaningful access to justice within the service areas of 20 participating NAILS member programs under the Tribal Civil Legal Assistance Grant. To meet this goal, MLSA and the NAILS member programs will take a four-fold approach: 1) providing direct civil legal assistance to tribal member clients; 2) engaging with Tribes to provide capacity-building services such as assisting with the development of tribal codes and tribal court procedures; 3) provide institutional-building projects to tribes informed by the needs of Tribes and as presented by Tribes; and 4) training lay advocates on issues representing American Indians in tribal court, such as training Guardians ad litem, lay advocates, and mediators/peacemakers.

Primary activities and objectives include making subawards to 20 NAILS member programs, who will provide direct civil legal assistance to at least 800 tribal member clients, engage with four Tribes with capacity-building services, provide four institutional-building projects, and train lay advocates on representing American Indians in tribal court. MLSA will administer and coordinate the grant, including monitoring grant compliance amongst the subgrantees, organizing and coordinating an annual convening, and implementing an internal program evaluation. Project deliverables include signed MOUs from subgrantees and program descriptions from each subgrantee. MLSA and the NAILS member programs will submit data and reports to BJA on a regular basis.

Those who will benefit from the project include the 20 NAILS member programs and the more than 482 Tribes and Indian communities they serve across 20 states, including Alaska and California. Individuals to be served are predominantly low income (i.e. living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level) and living on tribal land, where poverty rates are often high and there is limited access to private attorneys. Each program determines for itself which Tribes receive services; for most NAILS programs, this determination is based on which Tribes reside in their service area.

MLSA and NAILS expect the proposed services and projects will result in increased access to civil legal assistance for individuals facing a wide range of civil legal problems, as well as an overall strengthening of individual tribal justice systems through capacity building projects. Ultimately, the proposed project will help preserve Native American families; protect Native land rights; and allow tribes to develop tribal codes and ordinances which promote tribal sovereignty.