Togiak Tribal Court

This award is made under the FY 2007 Tribal Courts Assistance Program and it supports the development, implementation, enhancement, and continuing operation of tribal justice systems. Allowable elements under the program may include, but are not limited to: establishing a core structure for a tribal court, improving case management, training court personnel, acquiring additional equipment and/or software, enhancing prosecution and indigent defense, supporting probation diversion and alternative sentencing programs, accessing services, focusing on juvenile services and multi disciplinary protocols for child physical and sexual abuse, and structuring intertribal or tribal appellate systems.

The Togiak Tribal Youth Court will use a restorative justice model in a traditional Yup'ik context. The Yup'ik way of addressing negative behavior in children is to eliminate the behavior through talking and explaining the negative effects of the behavior, emphasizing the positive, and firmly rejecting the negative behavior as not the Yup'ik way. The child is included and welcomed back into the social structure of the tribe. This model of correction has worked for thousands of years in Yup'ik communities. Elders, who serve as judges, incorporate these methods into the adjudication process. The Court has a panel of five Elder Judges, a Court Clerk, and under this program an Advisory Team of service providers and community stakeholders providing a comprehensive range of collaborative services. An offender receives case management in the Yup'ik tradition, from social services, behavioral and mental health, and corrections service providers. The program improves the coordination of services through the Advisory Team which provides a forum for service providers to coordinate available services for each offender.

CA/NCF