Stories of Change Among Justice-Involved American Indian Youth: From the Cross-Site Evaluation of OJJDP's Tribal Green Reentry Program

• NCJ Number: 243611
• Author(s): Tasseli McKay; Christine Lindquist; Ada Pecos Melton; Rita Martinez
• Date Published: July 2013
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: RTI International
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Summary)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents information on American Indian youth who have participated in a reentry initiative funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Abstract

The Tribal Juvenile Detention and Reentry Green Demonstration program funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is a reentry initiative for justice-involved American Indian (AI) youth. This report presents information on AI youth who have participated in the program at three tribal sites: the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the Hualapai Indian Tribe, and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The reentry initiative incorporates several culture-based protective factors that can help youth successfully reenter the community. These protective factors are cultural identity, spirituality, and family and social connections. Using these protective factors, the Tribal Green Reentry programs help justice-involved AI youth reintegrate into their communities by combing conventional youth reentry activities with green activities such as gardening and skill development in green technologies. Evaluation of the three programs and their participants found that youth who successfully completed the program showed improvements in the following areas: character, emotional health and well-being, cultural knowledge and identity, school engagement, community engagement, and interpersonal relationships. These improvements included an improved sense of responsibility, a new sense of personal pride and self-worth, a new focus on long-term life goals, increased emotional openness and trust, were better at dealing with anger, a decrease in the rate of substance use, a better understanding of traditional teachings and practices and a stronger cultural identity, and demonstrated more frequent school attendance, less tardiness, and more progress toward a diploma or GED. A more in-depth assessment of the program will be conducted based on the findings from this report. References