Grantees - New Mexico (TYP)

The Mescalero Apache Tribe is a federally recognized tribe in Arizona with a population of 7,000. The Mescalero Apache Tribe will implement prevention services to impact risk factors for delinquency and provide an alcohol, tobacco and other drugs prevention program. The target population includes 120 youth between the ages of nine and fourteen years in grades three through eight attending the Mescalero Apache Schools and their families. The school and after school education prevention program will take place at the Mescalero Apache Schools located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Designed to be interactive and engage the students, the program will provide students with resiliency skills as insurance against the prevalent alcohol and drug risk factors in the community. Parents will acquire positive parenting skills, including communication, problem solving and anger management during weekly evening parenting programs.

2004 Tribal Youth Program Grantees

Pueblo of San Felipe

Project Title: Pueblo of San Felipe Tribal Youth Program

Category: III, IV

Utilizing existing San Felipe Pueblo programs and facilities that support student delinquency and drug and alcohol abuse and prevention efforts, this grant will provide augmented, but specifically targeted efforts to a unique target age group of youth. If an effort is going to be influential, it must begin as an educational and role modeling instructional process rather than a disciplinary, reactive and /or rehabilitation program. Our effort expects to solicit and identify a target group of 50 to 75 (11-16 years old) youth within the community who are identified as in the sphere of an at risk, either at home, within the pueblo or with other youth who are already engaged in delinquency and drug or alcohol abuse. By providing age appropriate behavior education and challenging their "choice" between fact based knowledge or the "here say" information of their influencers, we believe they can still make the "right" choice.

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Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation

Project Title: Zuni Tribal Youth Program

Category: III, IV

The Zuni Tribe's focus is on the improvement of the Tribal Juvenile Justice System and Prevention Program focusing on Alcohol and Drugs. The Zuni Tribe plans to continue the efforts of the Zuni TYP in collaboration with the Zuni School Resource Officers and the NM State Children, Youth and Families department to provide presentations on Underage Drinking, Media Advocacy using Zuni specific data on juvenile arrests and convictions related to alcohol and substance abuse. The Zuni TYP through active involvement in the planning and development of a Juvenile Healing to Wellness court will be partners in this court system to address juvenile justice. The Tribe through previous evaluation efforts from the C.I.R.C.L.E. project has begun to develop the specifics of the tribal strategy in addressing youth issues, tribal juvenile justice system support as well as the technical assistance necessary to accomplish Tribal Youth Program goals. The C.I.R.C.L.E. project also initiated an Under Age Drinking Prevention project to address the need for Juvenile Justice Policy and code revision and development, media advocacy and training to Tribal and Community Youth Programs, Law Enforcement and the Zuni Public School District . The overall goalls of this program are: To continue the development and implementation of institutional changes and improvements within the Tribal Justice system for juvenile delinquency, probation and service delivery; to continue the development of a coordinated and organizational approach to strengthen Juvenile Justice System and services to include: Zuni Youth Center, Zuni Tribal Programs, Zuni Public School District, and community based youth organizations; to continue development of comprehensive community-wide programs such as the School Resource Officer Program, Zuni Youth Center and the Zuni Police Athletic League to prevent crime, violence and drug use in schools, and provide community-based activities and outreach for youth; to continue the lead in the Zuni Underage Drinking Prevention Project; to continue Youth Leadership development training with Zuni 477 Program; and to continue to plan and develop appropriate, culturally based, life enhancing strategies and programs for juveniles using community and tribal programs.

2003 Tribal Youth Program Grantees

Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos, Inc. (FSIP)

Project: FSIP Partnerships To Enhance Pueblo Youth Services

Category: II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth; III. Improvement of Tribal Juvenile Justice Systems

The Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos, Inc., is a consortium of the pueblos located in Sandoval County: Jemez, Cochiti, Santa Ana, Zia, and Sandia. The FSIP Partnerships To Enhance Pueblo Youth Services proposes to collaborate with the 13th Judicial District and the state of New Mexico to create equal opportunities for secondary prevention and intervention for pueblo youth. This collaborative effort addresses the lack of consistency in handling juvenile cases and establishes and perpetuates a working relationship between the Pueblo and State Court judges, court administrators, and other court staffs and practitioners who work with Pueblo youth. In addition, the FSIP project promotes systems change by replicating the 13th Judicial District's Grade Court Program and Drug Court Program in each pueblo community. The Grade Court program focuses efforts on interventions to address truancy problems and works with the schools that Pueblo youth attend. The Drug Court Program focuses on interventions to address underage drinking and drug use by pueblo youth.

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Mescalero Apache Tribe

Project: Mescalero Prevention Program

Category: IV. Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Programs

The Mescalero Apache Tribe is located in southern New Mexico. The Mescalero Prevention Program provides alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs prevention activities for youth ages 9 to 17 and their families. The program increases resiliency factors and reduces risk factors for the targeted age group attending Mescalero Apache schools through administration of the national Boys & Girls Club SMART Moves and SMART Leaders curriculums implemented after school, weekends, and holidays. Youth participating in the SMART Moves and SMART Leaders programs also participate in community prevention activities. The Mescalero Prevention Program tries to increase parenting self-concepts and positive parenting behaviors through parental participation in the SMART Parents Program. Families are recruited through the youth participating in the SMART Moves and Smart Leaders program curriculum and participate in the 8-week SMART Parents program. The SMART programs are integrated youth- and parent-focused programs that help both groups achieve important communication and decisionmaking skills.

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Pueblo of Acoma

Project: Acoma Pueblo Boys & Girls Club

Category: I. Prevention Services To Impact Risk Factors for Delinquency; II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth; IV. Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Programs

The Pueblo of Acoma is located in western New Mexico; The Acoma Boys & Girls Club provides services to pueblo youth ages 7 to 18. Currently, there are 240 youth members in the Boys & Girls Club and works with existing community organizations and agencies to increase membership. The Boys & Girls Club provides an in-house suspension program to work with youth referred by the Acoma and state judicial systems and youth who have been suspended for substance abuse infractions. Three key aspects of the program are the tutoring program, the mentoring program, and the use of Acoma traditional arts and activities, including language, in program approaches. To reduce substance abuse among Acoma youth, the club plans and organizes prevention activities, which include training for staff and volunteers in substance abuse prevention. The club partners with the University of New Mexico to develop evaluation standards for prevention efforts. Part of the effort to reduce substance abuse involves development of a children's code, which supports long-term systems change.

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Pueblo of Laguna

Project: Pueblo of Laguna Youth Cultural Enrichment Program

Category: I. Prevention Services To Impact Risk Factors for Delinquency

The Pueblo of Laguna is located in western New Mexico. The Laguna Youth Cultured Enrichment Program is designed to serve youth ages 8 to 17 by developing a mentoring program and providing cultural enrichment activities in the six Laguna villages. The mentoring component of the project emphasizes teaching the Laguna culture and history to youth. The traditional mentors provide a caring approach to the youth by making them feel unique and good about themselves. Each of the six villages has space available for the Youth Cultural Enrichment Program. The sites in the villages have staff, volunteers, and community leaders who ensure the successful implementation of traditional arts and crafts and language programs. The Youth Cultural Enrichment Program is administered by the Laguna Recreation Department and coordinates with the tribal court, social services, Laguna Service Center, and the alcohol and substance prevention program, along with the Mayordomos Association, tribal council, and other traditional leaders.

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Pueblo of Santa Clara

Project: Juvenile Delinquency and Substance Abuse Program for Tribal Youth

Category: I. Prevention Services To Impact Risk Factors for Delinquency; II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth; IV. Alcohol and Drug Abuse grams

The Pueblo of Santa Clara is located in northern New Mexico. The Juvenile Delinquency and Substance Abuse Program for Tribal Youth serves Pueblo youth ages 11 to 18 by providing prevention activities directly to youth and to the pueblo at large along with intervention services for court-involved youth. There are three positions funded through the TYP: a project coordinator to coordinate planning and development of community activities, a youth probation/truant officer who ensures that court-involved youth are not truant, and a recreation assistant who works with the Recreation Department to develop activities for at-risk youth. The project is administered through the Tribal Administrator's Office and collaborates with the tribal court, education, recreation, library, and law enforcement, along with two nontribal entities, to meet program goals and objectives.

2002 Tribal Youth Program

Pueblo of Isleta

Project: Pueblo of Isleta Tribal Youth Project

Category: II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth; III. Improvement to Tribal Juvenile Justice Systems; IV. Prevention Programs Focusing on Alcohol and Drugs

The Pueblo of Isleta is revising its juvenile justice codes and reengineering the juvenile justice system to promote access to health, behavioral health, education, family preservation, and other services that redirect antisocial behavior and promote alternative sentencing and diversion programs for juvenile offenders. The program has two basic components: juvenile court infrastructure development, which includes evaluation and assessment of the current system, developing intake, referral and advocacy programs, accessing necessary technical assistance, and implementing revised codes and procedures; and increased access to culturally appropriate diversion for court-involved youth, which includes expansion and institutionalization of two diversion programs, Project Venture and the AgriVision Diversion Program. Project Venture is a holistic, experiential learning, drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. AgriVision is an agriculture-based community service program that reinforces the agricultural lifestyle of the Isleta community.

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San Juan Pueblo

Project: Ohkay Owingeh Boys and Girls Club

Category: I. Reduce, Control, and Prevent Indian Juvenile Crime; IV. Prevention Programs Focusing on Alcohol and Drugs

The Pueblo of San Juan sponsors the Ohkay Owingeh Boys & Girls Club, which provides a year-round series of recreational and cultural activities to pueblo youth. The Ohkay Owingeh Boys & Girls Club proposes to enhance the year-round program with alcohol and drug prevention activities that provide prevention education and foster tribal traditional culture. The program is housed in the San Juan Pueblo Youth Program, which operates the Boys and Girls Club. The program includes development of activities necessary for a safe, drug-free environment that reinforces tribal beliefs; collaboration with other tribal and nontribal agencies and organizations to procure resources to enhance the ability of the Ohkay Owingeh Boys & Girls Club to provide activities and incorporate tribal beliefs into club activities; and provide cultural and recreational activities for pueblo youth that include drug and alcohol prevention education and that reinforce tribal culture.

2000 Tribal Youth Program

Pueblo of Acoma

Project: Acoma Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program

Category: I. Reduce, Control, and Prevent Indian Juvenile Crime; II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth; IV. Prevention Programs Focusing on Alcohol and Drugs

The Pueblo of Acoma has identified six principal objectives of this project: develop and provide long-term, continuous, multifaceted prevention and referral services to reduce and prevent youth crime and delinquency by focusing on early intervention and rehabilitation; establish the Acoma juvenile justice system to direct, manage and organize all legal and justice-related programs within the tribe; involve adolescents in community activities; improve outreach programs by developing educational material and conducting meetings and small group sessions; create high-quality afterschool programs and activities to expand learning opportunities outside regular school hours in a safe environment; develop and focus substance abuse prevention messages and referral services for all students in grades 6 to 12; and target young people who show signs of being at-risk for intervention services.

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Pueblo of Jemez

Project: Jemez Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Intervention Services

Category: I. Reduce, Control, and Prevent Indian Juvenile Crime; II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth

The Pueblo of Jemez proposes to reduce juvenile crime and delinquency by strengthening families and developing community-based programs. The project is developing a comprehensive and coordinated service delivery system for all youth; planning and implementing prevention programs and strategies that target all youth ages 0 to 18 in the Pueblo; planning and implementing intervention programs that target youth and their families already in the Pueblo’s juvenile justice system, or who have been identified as at risk; and improving the Pueblo’s tribal juvenile justice system, including the provision of community alternatives to incarceration and the development of the tribal youth code.

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Pueblo of Taos

Project: Pueblo of Taos Tribal Youth Program

Category: I. Reduce, Control, and Prevent Indian Juvenile Crime; II. Intervention for Court-Involved Youth

The Pueblo of Taos is improving the tribal juvenile justice system by providing immediate interventions for adjudicated youth through innovative and culturally relevant options. These options encompass wraparound services for the nuclear and extended families while building on protective factors that strengthen existing family relationships and reinforce positive community involvement. This program enhances the already existing Taos Pueblo modern court system, service provider teams, and Eight Northern Tribal Judges Network by coordinating a comprehensive assessment and intervention model to effectively manage all court-involved youth. A small tribal-based model of the BRIDGES program, a teen court, and first offender classes provide intervention for court-involved youth; these components rely on mentors.

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Pueblo of Zuni

Project: Circle Project

Category: I. Reduce, Control, and Prevent Indian Juvenile Crime; III. Improvement to Tribal Juvenile Justice Systems; IV. Prevention Programs Focusing on Alcohol and Drugs

The Pueblo of Zuni hired a tribal youth coordinator and a youth delinquency worker to provide an assessment of youth needs and to develop a comprehensive communitywide approach to address and prevent youth crime and violence. To obtain accurate assessments of youth issues, a facilitated retreat for all ages of youth was held. It provided information on fears, causal issues contributing to youth crime and violence, ideas for programming in schools and the community, and what it will take to make Zuni Pueblo a safe place for children. Second-year activity will complete the youth center facility repairs and coordinate program activity with community providers for year-round programming. The project is facilitating meetings with tribal youth, parents, community leaders, and agency personnel to determine the scope of needs, obtain recommendations, and plan for year 2 program development; facilitating meetings with juvenile justice personnel to determine services and weaknesses, review juvenile codes for appropriateness and gaps, review practices, and design improvements to better meet the needs of court-involved youth; and facilitating meetings with service providers to determine strengths, areas for improvement, and inventory resources and for better coordination.