MBCI Court Services Healing to Wellness

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) is a federally recognized tribe located in east-central Mississippi. With this funding the tribe will restart and expand MBCI’s Healing to Wellness Court Program. The purpose is to develop and support an evidence-based or evidence-informed treatment program that will provide services for court-involved youth ages 13 to 17 and adult offenders. This comprehensive approach to treatment will expand the availability of treatment for the Courts in Community-based Rehabilitative Programs which are spread across the eight Tribal communities, located within nine Mississippi counties. For the five-year term of the grant, Tribal Court seeks to serve 20 participants a year, for a total of 100 participants. The program will be designed for participation ranging 16 weeks up to 12 months, as it continuously supports treatment and aftercare services. Youth and adults will not share activities.
In partnership with Choctaw behavioral health, Choctaw law enforcement and established community-based rehabilitative programs such as Celebrate Recovery, the Healing to Wellness Court Program plans to incorporate Individual Counseling and Therapy, Alcoholics Anonymous (12-Step) meetings, and the Matrix Model as an evidence-based, Intensive Outpatient Program for alcohol and drug treatment participants. MBCI plans to establish the Healing to Wellness Court Program according to the national guidelines adapted to a tribal community. The project’s major outcomes are to: support interventions, treatment, and rehabilitative recovery services, offered by qualified professionals and service providers; replace alcohol and other drug use with specific health and wellness activities; reduce overall recidivism by 10% within the first year, and with a yearly 5% decrease in recidivism by the end of the grant period, and; maintain a 50% or more completion rate for participants within the Healing to Wellness Court Program.