The absentee shawnee tribe (AST) of oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe located in shawnee, oklahoma

The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma was awarded a $900,000 Project Grant by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Tribal Justice Assistance Program (CFDA 16.596). The grant aims to strengthen the tribe's justice system capacity by implementing an enhanced Wellbriety program as an alternative to incarceration. The program will provide legal and clinical screening, referral to assessment and treatment, intensive case management, tribal community supervision, and increased judicial interaction. It will also incorporate the tribe's traditional teachings and healing protocols. The grant will fund a dedicated probation officer to coordinate the Wellbriety program, develop policies and procedures, and monitor participant sobriety and compliance. This project seeks to decrease incarceration costs, enhance community supervision, and expand sentencing options for court-involved tribal members struggling with substance abuse issues.

The program seeks to implement the developed wellbriety program as an alternative to incarceration strategy that considers a tribal wellness court framework and includes legal and clinical screening; referral to appropriate assessment and treatment; intensive case management; tribal community supervision; compliance mechanisms; judicial interaction and court involvement. Through this funding the tribe will implement increased and/or enhanced alternative sentencing, healing, and restorative diversion approaches that will increase the available options and resources for court-involved individuals who engage in problematic behavior that is associated with the use of illicit substances. While there is an existing wellbriety program, the services are extremely limited and court staff are not currently trained to provide in-depth treatment and intervention services. Additionally, they are unable to provide the needed community supervision to support increased safety and monitoring of individuals who are on intensive probation status. This funding will enhance current programming by seeking alternative measures for tribal members suffering from addiction. The funding will revamp the existing wellbriety program and have trained court staff to provide in-depth treatment and intervention services. IT will hire a dedicated probation officer (PO) as the primary coordinator of the AST wellbriety program. The PO will work with the AST court, judiciary, and program partners to develop tribal codes, policies, and procedures, and determine program eligibility requirements. The PO will provide services that monitor participants sobriety and ensure terms of probation and court requirements are followed. The program will also consider the teachings of the medicine wheel as part of the existing wellbriety approach in conjunction with traditional AST cultural and healing protocols for tribal members who agree to enter into the wellbriety program. The AST court will benefit from a decrease in costs for incarceration; partnership and support from the existing AST law enforcement; trained staff to support community supervision, and the availability of enhanced sentence options for court-involved community members.