With this funding, the chitimacha human services department will hire a preventionist and engage in a dedicated planning process to build a tribal youth program that includes prevention and…

With this funding, the chitimacha human services department will hire a preventionist and engage in a dedicated planning process to build a tribal youth program that includes prevention and intervention programming. Existing programming for tribal youth is delivered via various departments and is rather disjointed. For example, young people participating in the summer youth program work closely with the culture and public works departments, but they may not interact with human services. The rate of incidents involving youth and the number of juvenile cases filed in chitimacha tribal courts are both on the rise. The tribe believes a dedicated planning period is necessary to identify and engage stakeholders, identify and engage potential non-tribal partners, identify evidence-based strategies to prevent and reduce delinquency, design youth programming that builds upon and enhances previous and existing efforts by various tribal departments, and ensure coordination and data-sharing among departments. There are numerous efforts underway by various departments that can be pulled under the prevention/intervention services umbrella to improve communication among departments.