The chickasaw nation (CN) department of family services (DFS) is a federally recognized tribe located in southcentral oklahoma encompassing 13 counties

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded $899,991 to the Chickasaw Nation on October 1, 2025, under the Tribal Justice Assistance program (CFDA 16.596) to expand forensic competency services across the tribe's justice system through September 30, 2028.

The award funds Phase Two of a forensic services expansion project building on successful implementation of forensic competency services since 2022. The Chickasaw Nation Department of Family Services will add a forensic manager position to increase engagement and collaboration across multiple governmental branches and external professional networks responsible for managing defendants and delivering forensic evaluations and competency restoration services. Funding provides inpatient treatment for defendants with acute psychiatric needs and covers rental, utility, clothing, and hygiene supplies supporting defendants' treatment and psychosocial support during restoration.

The project pursues four goals: building the Chickasaw Nation's internal capacity to deliver safe and effective restoration services; expanding the Chickasaw Code and contracting network to broaden forensic competency services scope; strengthening the tribe's financial ability to connect incompetent defendants to needed treatment and supports; and sustaining the internal project evaluation component through continuous quality improvement strategies. Work is performed in Ada, Oklahoma, encompassing the tribe's 13-county territory in south-central Oklahoma. The tribe previously received coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation funding under Purpose Area 3 beginning in 2023 to establish this forensic competency services network.

With the requested $899,991 the forensic services expansion (phase two) project will build upon successful implementation of forensic competency services (FCS) first identified in 2022. FCS has successfully engaged all three branches of the CN government and a network of external professionals to coordinate and deliver forensic evaluations and competency restoration for criminal defendants. This work, which has received federal funding support from a coordinated tribal assistance solicitation grant under purpose area 3 since 2023, has yielded positive results. The proposed phase two project has identified four new goals to further build upon successful implementation of FCS, overcome current barriers and strengthen the overall sustainability of FCS through the year 2030. The four goals include: 1) build the CNS internal capacity to continue providing safe and effective restoration services, 2) expand the chickasaw code and the CNS ability to deliver a broader scope of FCS utilizing a network of contracted individuals with the required background, training and expertise, 3) strengthen the CNS financial ability to connect incompetent defendants to needed treatment and psychosocial supports vital to their safety and ability to achieve restoration and 4) sustain the CNS internal FCS project evaluation component through identification and management of continuous quality improvement strategies to ensure ongoing successful operations. Funding will be used to add a forensic manager position to increase engagement and collaboration amongst multiple groups responsible for managing the welfare of defendants and delivering FCS across a wide spectrum of defendants needs. Funding will also provide inpatient treatment for defendants presenting with acute psychiatric needs and to provide rental, utility, clothing and hygiene supplies to reduce incarceration length and improve the psychosocial wellness of defendants. A cadre of forensic experts will be contracted to build the CNS capacity to update areas of the chickasaw code to address sanity, juvenile competency and involuntary medication administration and to provide secondary evaluations ordered by the CN district court for complex cases. FCS in the phase two project will be internally evaluated by project staff and DFS subject matter experts using resources and tools developed to track an abundance of program and participant data. By the end of the phase two project an employee manual will be developed to provide guidance to current and future employees and relative parties to sustain FCS.