Grantees - Colorado (TYP)

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe anticipates funding a partnership of the Southern Ute Social Services Division, Southern Ute Tribal Court, and the Youth Services Division of Southern Ute Community Action Programs, Inc. (SUCAP) involving efforts to reduce delinquency and substance abuse among court-involved Native American youth, or those at risk of becoming involved. The program components will serve 85 juveniles per year between the ages of 8 and 17. Services to be funded under this application address several factors contributing to delinquency and do so in several settings: 1) An evidence-based parenting program, Strengthening Families, will be presented in three cycles per year to 30 families per year. This 14-session program builds communication, problem solving, and life skills for at-risk youth and their parents; 2) Southern Ute Wellness Court case coordination. Wellness Court on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation has operated for two years without any dedicated staff. While the outcomes have been positive with many formerly intractable cases. The effort requires case coordination not available with current resources; and 3) Teen court, a now well established process whereby youth carry out the sentencing portion misdemeanor and some felony cases. Teen Court has demonstrated an ability to reduce further involvement in the juvenile justice system. Ignacio Teen Court , is further developing its sentencing procedures to use sentencing circles, a process that involves and guides youth into more meaningful interactions with defendants designed to increase their connection to the community.

2001 Tribal Youth Program Grantee

Southern Ute Indian Tribe

Project: Southern Ute Tribal Youth Program

Category: II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth

The Southern Ute Tribe is bringing three agencies together to collaborate on an integrated system of care for Southern Ute families. The Southern Ute design team is meeting regularly for this purpose. The teen court takes referrals from municipal, tribal, and county courts. It is a voluntary, peer-run adjudication alternative for nonserious offenders. The program intent is to challenge social norms that condone underage substance use. The existing family preservation program is being expanded under this program to serve eight additional families. Intensive behavior coaching is available to youth during the program year. This entails the youth being shadowed by a paraprofessional at school, home, and other places. A family preservation worker is being hired to provide therapeutic services in crisis intervention settings and in family therapy sessions. Behavioral coaching is used as a way of intervening and preventing out-of-home placements of neglected or dependent youth who have severe behavioral problems.