Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Support Service Renovations Project

The Department of Justice developed a comprehensive and coordinated approach for tribal governments to apply for funding to reduce and prevent crime and victimization. Through this process, the Department's existing tribal government-specific programs are included in, and available through a single Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS). Through this solicitation, only one application was accepted from each federally recognized tribe to encourage comprehensive assessments of need and planning. Each tribe could apply for funding under ten purpose areas, which included funding from the Office of Community Oriented Policing, Office of Justice Programs (including the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office for Victims of Crime, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention), and Office on Violence Against Women. The tribe had the flexibility to select the purpose areas whose funding addressed the needs of the tribe as outlined in its tribal and community profile. There were ten purpose areas in total, and purpose area 4 was dedicated to the Tribal Justice Systems Infrastructure Program (TJSIP).

Funding through the Tribal Justice System Infrastructure Program will support efforts to renovate or expand buildings to enhance conditions or to change the use of a building to any of the following purposes: single jurisdiction or regional tribal correctional facilities, correctional alternative facilities, multipurpose justice centers (including police departments, courts, and corrections), and transitional living facilities (halfway houses) to address justice-involved populations within tribal jurisdictions. Funding will also support the building of prefabricated or permanent modular facilities where there are no existing permanent structures available or sufficient to address the tribe’s justice system infrastructure needs.

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (MLBO) will use the grant funds to renovate four facilities for use in the tribe's chemical dependency treatment continuum. The first facility is already in use and houses MLBO’s men’s halfway house. Some structural and contracted repairs as well as supplies will be required to bring this facility into optimal working order. The second facility, which is also already in use, houses MLBO’s outpatient treatment services. Some structural repairs and supplies will also be required to bring this facility into optimal working order. Although each of these facilities is currently in use, they will require repairs and supplies to remain so indefinitely. The third facility will be renovated for use as a women’s halfway house. This facility is not anticipated to require repair work, although it will require supplies sufficient to maintain programming. The fourth facility will be used as a child advocacy center for use by and with the tribe's Family Services Department, which requires a designated facility for child visits for those children involved in child in need of protective services cases.

CA/NCF