Yurok tribe of the yurok reservation is a federally recognized tribe located in DEL norte county, california

The Yurok Tribe will receive $900,000 from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Tribal Justice Systems Formula Grant program (CFDA 16.608) from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2026. Funding will support the implementation and operation of the Yurok Wellness Diversion Program and Yurok Wellness Court. Key services include hiring a full-time probation officer and diversion case worker to oversee participants, conduct drug testing and home visits, develop case plans, and refer individuals to behavioral health treatment and substance abuse programs. Inpatient substance abuse treatment will also be offered for participants with high needs. Funding will purchase additional drug testing supplies and cover use of a risk/needs assessment software tool. Sober living options and transition to outpatient support will also be provided to participants completing inpatient treatment.

With this funding, yurok tribe will improve the supervision and compliance of yurok wellness court participants by hiring a full-time probation officer to perform drug and alcohol testing, conduct home and employment visits, enforce wellness participant curfews and travel restrictions, and deliver cognitive-behavioral interventions designed to improve participants' problem-solving skills and alter dysfunctional criminal-thinking patterns such as motivational interviewing. The tribe will implement the yurok wellness diversion program by hire a full-time diversion case worker to work with identified eligible yurok offenders diverted from the humboldt county criminal justice system under the recently developed MOU. The case worker will oversee the screening and assessment of all eligible individuals to identify the level of risk and need for services to develop an appropriate case plan. Case planning will include educational and vocational development, employment concerns, housing, family support, transportation needs, probation/parole compliance issues, drug testing, and monitoring, referrals to behavioral health treatment, and any alcohol/substance abuse treatment needed. The proposed project will also offer inpatient treatment services for those wellness participants that are assessed as having a high level of need for substance abuse treatment services. Inpatient services typically last for 3 months but can be extended depending on the need of the wellness participant. The project will purchase additional drug testing supplies for the probation officer to do both random and scheduled drug testing based on the participant's phase in the program and their case plan. The project will also utilize the evidence-based noble software static risk and needs assessment for wellness participant assessment and case planning. The software includes a static risk assessment that is based on the participant's demographics and criminal history while the needs assessment allows for the case worker to gather greater information to be used in the identification of top criminogenic needs for case planning purposes. The project will also offer sober living options for participants after leaving an inpatient treatment facility and assist them in transition into a healthy and supportive outpatient program.