Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2007, $250,000)
The FY 2007 Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program allows American Indian and Alaska Native communities to plan and implement activities that will reduce and control crime associated with the distribution and use of alcohol and controlled substances in tribal communities. Through this program, the recipient will develop new or enhance existing strategies that prevent, interdict, and treat alcohol and drug use by tribal members. Awards will used to develop a project activity team; identify, apprehend, and prosecute those who illegally transport, distribute, and use alcohol and controlled substances; prevent and reduce the number of alcohol and substance-abuse-related crimes (with a priority on methamphetamine), traffic fatalities, and injuries; develop and enhance collaborations with federal, state, tribal, and local criminal justice agencies; integrate tribal and non-tribal services for offenders and their families; and make available culturally appropriate treatment and other services.
The Southern Ute Tribal Court will use these grant funds to extend the Wellness Court model to the resident Native adult population, a major expansion expected to serve up to 30 adult clients during the two-year grant period. The Tribal Court Wellness model uses a system-wide approach, including prevention, identification, investigation, apprehension, prosecution, probation, monitoring, treatment, and re-entry activities.
The BJA grant funds will support specific activities, including investigator and officer training, community methamphetamine education, drug and alcohol testing, and cultural treatment options. The goals of the Wellness Court are to curb the expansion of meth operations and penetration of the drug in the resident Native population through improved police and investigator training; reduce the Reservation's alcohol and drug crime re-offense rate; improve treatment outcomes for substance-involved Native clients by implementing treatment modifications recommended by an expert health service consulting firm; and increase drug refusal skills of young people, public awareness of drug and alcohol activities, and opportunities for the public to identify drug dealers. The project will be coordinated by the Tribal Court, Southern Ute Police Department, and Southern Ute Community Action Program - an independent nonprofit parent organization of Peaceful Spirit, the residential substance abuse treatment facility located on the Tribal campus. The Court will develop a database and new evaluation tools to track client choices, histories, and healing outcomes. The Court's program manager will work with Peaceful staff and the Tribe's attorney to draft a Memorandum of Agreement detailing how project activities will be evaluated, and will supervise an evaluation contractor hired to improve data management and evaluation systems. The Court's plan to sustain the program is diversified, comprising of Federal, state, and Tribal funds.
CA/CF