From Lauren at tlpi.org Wed Nov 1 10:15:36 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2017 15:15:36 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] Streaming and Screening Film: "Tribal Justice" Message-ID: <77b56dac261848a48ae0cfe03a5c8c59@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> View this in your web browser [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/36f4ba5c-a803-4f60-a17a-1700456a5d4f.png] [Makepeace Productions] Dear Friends, In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we are launching Tribal Justice streaming today, making the film available for personal home use for the first time since the POV broadcast. Click here or on the image below to stream the film. DVDs are also available for personal, educational, or activist use here. [dvd] ________________________________ Giving Thanks And what a great year it has been, beginning with the huge relief of actually finishing Tribal Justice in January, then the Santa Barbara premiere followed by a cornucopia of screenings across the country, and the national PBS broadcast on POV lighting up screens in every state. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/647bd698-cbf1-49f7-86e3-be129171e34d.jpg] Andrew Morrison, MFA student, at the October talk and screening at UCSB I was also thrilled to receive three awards: Best Documentary at the Charlotte Film Festival, the Documentary Directing Award at the Cinetopia Film Festival, and the Grand Prix Rigoberta Mench? at the Montreal First People?s Festival. What an honor to be in the same breath as Rigoberta Mench?, the Nobel Prize winning Guatemalan activist who is a model for us all! [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/8f5b9920-d18e-4eb6-86ce-1d20ea368edb.jpg] This just in! Tribal Justice has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. Hooray! [AIFF] Tribal Justice will screen at the American Indian Film Festival on November 5th, followed by Mankiller, Valerie Red Horse Mohl?s new film about the great Wilma Mankiller, with awards announced on November 11th. For festival information, please visit our Screenings Page. ________________________________ A Harvest of Fall Screenings Fall has been a banner season for Tribal Justice, with screenings at community events, conferences, universities, and law schools, often followed by panels with judges and/or other experts. Below are some highlights; a full list of past and upcoming events is on our Screenings Page. To request a screening for your organization, click on the icon below. [http://makepeaceproductions.com/tribaljustice/outreach/request-form.html] Yale Law School It was wonderful to be with Judges Abby Abinanti and Claudette White at Yale Law School last week for our screening of Tribal Justice. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/13fc4ee9-e42d-4423-93f1-3ae2a563759f.jpg] With the judges and law student Taylor Jones, who organized the event Abby and Claudette held the students enthralled at our lunch event entitled "Restorative Justice in Tribal Courts." [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/467ccbb3-d5de-4295-9978-d2b68edd6c31.jpg] [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/32cdc1a2-c21f-44ec-ac83-e38f9f027401.jpg] Afterwards, they chatted with the students, who were very engaged. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/64ce1f77-8f79-48cf-be5b-034e3b892699.jpg] [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/fd3c8e02-2934-49eb-b266-2ae86d0acfad.jpg] [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/ea886b36-2c7d-407b-b309-efd075da421a.jpg] New Orleans with the Safety and Justice Challenge Network A few weeks earlier, Claudette and I were in New Orleans for a meeting of the Safety and Justice Challenge, funded by the MacArthur Foundation. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/8a975152-24a4-4b74-ba54-ba7af182ac8b.jpg] This was a terrific opportunity to show the film for an audience of sheriffs, prosecutors, attorneys and others who work in pretrial issues and who can make such a difference in the lives of accused offenders. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/c21faf36-8b41-464d-9363-bee8e521dde5.jpg] Patrick Griffin, Senior Program Officer for Criminal Justice at the MacArthur Foundation, moderated the panel, which also included Kathy Little Leaf (Peigan), an addiction counselor and researcher in Missoula, Montana; and Erik Bringswhite (Lakota) who works with at-risk youth in Pine Ridge. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/007e927e-7b30-42c8-b610-adff00c8d946.jpg] Making Art in a Time of Rage A Colloquium at UC Santa Barbara From New Orleans, I flew to Santa Barbara to speak at a colloquium on the theme of activist art. What a great audience it was! The undergraduates, MFA students, and community members who came to my talk after watching Tribal Justice were so diverse, enthusiastic, and engaged that their passion for justice energized me and inspired me with hope. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/feecf739-acd1-4629-8e97-0ea5773beb71.jpg] MFA student and gifted artist Toni Scott and others at the colloquium [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/8179bd28-8a6d-4f12-abbf-46caea526263.jpg] Tribal Justice Screening in Blackfoot Country In September, I screened Tribal Justice at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, attended by many First Nations people as well law enforcement officers (Mounties!) and others working in the Alberta justice system. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/4f5b4268-cd68-4f76-9937-6305318cca95.png]Leonard Bastien, former Chief of the Blackfeet Nation who works for tribal justice, began the evening with a beautiful prayer in Blackfoot. When the film ended, he was quiet for a while and then he said, ?This film planted a seed. We don?t have tribal courts here in Blackfoot country, but this film planted a seed.? More Fall Screenings And these were just the events I was able to attend! In September, Tribal Justice screened at the NatiVisions Film Festival and at ASU Law School with alumna Judge Claudette White, and at the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training in Albuquerque. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/45b53678-4539-4714-a410-f47e83248bc2.jpg] In October, Tribal Justice was featured at the National Congress of American Indians' conference in Milwaukee, at the annual meeting of the National Association of Indian Court Judges in Arizona, and in many festivals from the Adirondacks to Port Townsend, Washington. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/65631b53-5905-41cf-b79c-5026320a4045.jpg] In early November, I will be showing Tribal Justice in Philadelphia at the Scribe Video Center and in a class at Temple University. Meanwhile, Lewis and Clark Law School will be hosting an exciting screening and a panel moderated by Oregon Supreme Court Justice Martha Walters and featuring Yurok Judge Abby Abinanti, Warm Springs Confederated Tribal Judge Lisa Lomas, and our awesome production consultant Jenny Walters. A few days after Thanksgiving, Claudette and I will meet again for a Forum on Tribal Justice at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/1f32e63b-87fe-41fb-9c86-40a3205e1ee5.jpg] More to come! To host a screening at your organization click here. Upcoming Festival Screenings [AIFI] AMERICAN INDIAN FILM INSTITUTE San Francisco, CA November 5, 3:30pm Brava Theatre Center Q&A with Judge Abby Abinanti Festival Website [RMWFI] ROCKY MOUNTAIN WOMEN'S FILM INSTITUTE Colorado Springs, CO November 12, 9am Q&A with Michael Johnson of the Native American Rights Fund, Member, Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Nation Festival Website [Olympia] OLYMPIA FILM SOCIETY Olympia, WA November 14, 4pm Capitol Theater Festival Website [anchorage] ANCHORAGE FILM FESTIVAL Anchorage, AK December 1-10 (Date and Time to be announced) Festival Website ________________________________ Coming Full Circle with We Still Live Here, Coming to Light, and Tribal Justice In August, I screened We Still Live Here at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in conjunction with "Off the Rails,? a great play by Randy Reinholtz. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/779bc7dc-427d-44f2-9a32-f7dfe54ad12e.png] The acting was superb, especially Madame Overdone (pictured center stage above). When I read the program, I discovered that she was played by the great Sheila Tousey (Menominee/Stockbridge Munsee), who narrated Coming to Light many years ago. It was lovely to see her again, and to be back at this wonderful festival. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/3176f2c2-e17f-46ec-b111-c6dd59f653da.jpg] Ten days later, I was off to Michigan to screen Coming to Light at the Muskegon Museum of Art in conjunction with a gorgeous Curtis exhibit. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/cfcac6f1-e891-44dd-be29-18f64c242434.jpg] I was amazed at the crowd that poured into the auditorium until they were standing ten deep outside the door. And they stayed there through the whole ninety minute film! What more could a filmmaker ask? [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/fbf746d7-e97c-4685-82e2-79dc2e24b6c6.jpg] Judge Timothy Connors and his wife Margaret came to the screening, and invited me to a Peacemaking training near their cabin in Manistee. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/3fb6902f-d6d3-479b-8982-e85274011ecb.jpg] [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/b4080948-b48c-4524-a111-5da2c2eecf2f.jpg] And who should be there at the training but Mashpee Wampanoag Peacemakers from Massachusetts, including Roxanne Brown, Vivian Bussiere, and Judge Jeffrey Madison? [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/4b30f090-22c9-424f-a1a9-67be98a85a6e.jpg] Judge Madison and his daughter Nonie are in We Still Live Here, and he had joined me on Cape Cod just a few weeks earlier for the screening of Tribal Justice at the Woods Hole Film Festival, pictured below. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/c0ad1ff4-7ae6-452a-a3f4-0814ac4ecd3f.jpg] I learned so much at the training about how Peacemaking works to resolve conflicts, to heal and restore all parties rather than punish and incarcerate. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/68e61a49-2857-4291-bb3f-6d81cfd6f254.jpg] Peacemaking trainers Pat Wilson and Martha Howell, LRBOI So it all came full circle! We Still Live Here brought me to Oregon where I found Sheila Tousey, narrator of Coming to Light; and Coming to Light brought me to Michigan where I attended a Peacemaking training and found Judge Madison who is working for justice for the Massachusetts tribe featured in We Still Live Here. It was a wonderfully serendipitous chain of events that connected these films and their stories to Tribal Justice, and highlighted their impact on the larger world. ________________________________ With Gratitude To Our Funders [Tribal Justice Funders] ________________________________ Tribal Justice Reviews and Testimonials A beautifully shot and incredibly moving portrayal of the strengths and challenges of tribal communities today. I learned a lot from it, even though I have lived and worked on reservations, and written about tribes and Indian law throughout my career...High school, college, and graduate level classes on many subjects--indigenous peoples, criminal justice, family law, women's leadership, and substance abuse, just to name a few--would be enriched by showing this film. ?Bethany Berger, Professor of Law, University of Connecticut I love the film. It's what I like most about art ? when it is devastating, and beautiful. ?Anna Deavere Smith, Playwright, Actor, and Professor at NYU A lovely, bittersweet film about an intensely delicate subject?Veteran documentarian Anne Makepeace gets wonderful access to her principal subjects as well as those she uses as case studies: a young boy with neurological problems who has spent time in state care; Taos Proctor, a hardworking father who?s had skirmishes with methamphetamine, and 17-year-old Isaac Palone, whose legal problems are traced to his time in state custody and group homes. The issues raised, like meth use and the removal of children from their parents, are sensitive for the people we meet in Tribal Justice and for all American Indian people, but Ms. Makepeace manages to get them addressed openly and honestly. ?John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal This film is a wonderful way to educate people about tribal sovereignty and the ways we use it to resolve disputes in our tribal communities. ?John Echohawk, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund ________________________________ Streaming Now Beginning today, you can stream seven of my films, including Tribal Justice, Coming to Light, We Still Live Here, Rain in a Dry Land, Baby It?s You, Moonchild, and Whistle in the Wind. All except Whistle in the Wind are also available on DVD here. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/1423652c-68cd-4234-8c0e-74225aa4ba4c.jpg] Watch and enjoy! ________________________________ Explore Our Language Website! OurMotherTongues.org is a companion website for We Still Live Here that shows the breadth and diversity of language revitalization programs. There are hundreds more in tribal communities all across all America. [Our Mother Tongues] Can you guess which icon below goes with which tribe on the Our Mother Tongues website? Click to find out! [Our Mother Tongues] Check out great photos, watch Videos and learn about many Native American languages from Alaska to North Carolina, Oklahoma to New York, Montana to Massachusetts. There is even an Interactive Map, a Voices page where you can listen to thirteen different Native tongues, a Blog, and a fun feature called ePostcards offering an entertaining way to connect with friends and family by sending audio greetings in a Native American language. Please visit OurMotherTongues.org [Our Funders] ________________________________ A Reward for Reading This Far Thank you for reading this newsletter all the way to the end! To show our appreciation, we are providing you with a coupon code so you can stream Tribal Justice for free through November. Just click on the image below to go our streaming page. Once there, click on RENT and select USE COUPON. Enter code TJFREE to watch the film for free. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/c7f7dbe0446dfa03fc09deb78/images/53104f9c-50e0-4426-9e3c-ea3cfc454331.jpg] ________________________________ Thank you for reading our newsletter; we appreciate it! We love hearing from you, so please post any comments you may have on our Tribal Justice Facebook page. Plus?always lots of great photos on Instagram! [facebook][Instagram] Forward to a Friend! Copyright ? 2017 Makepeace Productions, All rights reserved. You are receiving this because you expressed an interest the films of Anne Makepeace & Makepeace Productions from our website makepeaceproductions.com, one of our documentary screenings, or other event. Our mailing address is: Makepeace Productions PO Box 6 Lakeville, CT 06039 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Wed Nov 1 10:57:16 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2017 15:57:16 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] NCAI Update on Declaration of Opioid Crisis as Public Health Emergency Message-ID: <5d5c3a8bcfa443ffb734bbf58d52dde4@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> NCAI Legislative and Administrative update below President Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a Public Health Emergency On Thursday, October 26th, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. "We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic," said President Trump, who later signed a presidential memorandum directing his acting health secretary to declare a nationwide public health emergency and ordering all federal agencies to take measures to reduce the number of opioid deaths. According to the White House's press release, President Trump's directive will: Allow patients further access to "telemedicine" so they can receive prescriptions without seeing a doctor; make grants available to those who have had trouble finding work due to addiction; allow the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to hire more people to address the crisis, particularly in rural areas; and allow states to shift federal funds from HIV treatments to opioids, since the two are linked as drug users often share infected needles. A Public Health declaration does not come with additional funding, however, it would enable federal agencies to bypass "bureaucratic delays" and redirect existing funding to efforts aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic. No additional funding is allocated through the Presidential Memorandum and the HHS Public Health Emergency Fund currently sits at $57,000, so the Trump Administration will need to work with Congress to approve additional funding in a year end spending package. President Trump announced that the administration will push efforts to overturn the 16 bed limit for in-patient treatment facilities that currently exists, as a well as plans to commence a prevention advertising campaign. Tribes have been seeking revisions to the 16-bed limitation and passed a resolution that addresses this issue at NCAI's Annual Convention held in Milwaukee last week. American Indian and Alaska Native populations are disproportionately affected by opioid addiction. National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that death rates involving opioid pain relievers for American Indians and Alaska Natives were up to three times higher than rates for other racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally vulnerable groups include those affected by trauma, such as veterans, as well as populations that are more likely to be exposed to opioid pain killers: elders As a result, NCAI has taken several actions to address this growing epidemic. During the 2017 Mid-Year Conference in June 2017, NCAI officially reestablished its Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force. The task force, which most recently met during the Annual Conference earlier this month, is focused on sharing successful practices, creating solutions, and examining the impact that this borderless disease has on Indian Country. During the meeting, the task force heard from the Director of the Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy at SAMHSA, the Director of the Division of Behavioral Health at IHS, and the BIA's Opioid Task Force on agency efforts to reduce opioid addiction. In addition, NCAI passed two resolutions, MKE-17-039 and MKE-17-040, addressing the opioid crisis during its annual conference last week. The first resolution calls for NCAI to support the adoption of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain by Indian Health Service and Tribal Health Organizations to reduce opioid addiction, overdose and death of American Indian and Alaska Native people. The second resolution calls for NCAI to support legislation to amend the Social Security Act in order to achieve more favorable substance abuse and mental health outcomes for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, which was established in March, released an interim report in July 2017, and is planning on releasing their final recommendations next week. NCAI will follow up with congress and the White House on providing direct appropriations for the hardest hit population per capita. NCAI Contact Info: Denise Desiderio, Policy Director, ddesiderio at ncai.org [http://files.constantcontact.com/c2394f27001/788b9dcd-e1d9-4ea8-8342-ab3f07e218c1.jpg] 30 October, 2017 IN THIS WEEK'S LEGISLATIVE & ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATE ________________________________ NCAI Update NCAI 2017 ANNUAL RESOLUTIONS POSTED TO WEBSITE NATIVE FARM BILL COALITION, NOW ACCEPTING TRIBAL RESOLUTIONS Congressional Update APPROPRIATIONS House Passes Budget Resolution INTRODUCED LEGISLATION Justice for Native Survivors of Sexual Violence Act (S. 1986) Tribal Economic Assistance Act (S. 2012) & The Tribal Tax Reform Act (S. 1935) Competing Proposals to Stabilize U.S. Healthcare System Floated in Congress Bill on Wireless Infrastructure Permitting (S. 1988) Native American Heritage Month Resolution REAUTHORIZATIONS House to Consider CHIP Reauthorization Bill this Week House Subcommittee pushes Reauthorization of FCC HEARINGS HELD American Indian Empowerment Act of 2017 (H.R. 215) SCIA Legislative Hearing on Public Safety Bills UPCOMING HEARINGS Senate Subcommittee Oversight - Native American Subsistence Rights - Oct. 31 SCIA Oversight - Tax Policies - Nov. 1 House Subcommittee Legislative - H.R. 221 (Hydrographic), S. 140 (Apache) - Nov. 2 SCIA Legislative - S. 1400 (STOP Act) and S. 465 (Audit of IHS) - Nov. 8 Administration Update PRESIDENT'S DECLARATION OF OPIOID PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY ISSUED MEMORANDA President Issues a Memorandum to Form Drone Partnership Pilot Program Attorney General Releases Memo on "Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberties" NOMINATIONS White House Nomination for the DOI's Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Post President Nominates Robert Weaver to Serve as Indian Health Service Director CONSULTATIONS USDA Consultation on the Office of Tribal Relations and Agency Reorganization Bureau of Indian Education Announces Strategic Plan and Tribal Consultations DOI Hosts Listening Session on Fee to Trust Proposal at NCAI Annual Conference COMMENTS DUE Comments Due Today on the DOI's ANPRM on Trade and Commerce in Indian Country Comments on IHS Strategic Plan due Tomorrow U.S. DOT Seeks Public Comments on Draft Strategic Plan for FY 2018-2022 [congress] NCAI Update ________________________________ [ncaires] NCAI Resolutions Posted The action on the sixty-seven resolutions considered at the 2017 Annual Convention are posted online and available for download here. NCAI would like to thank the tribal leaders who vetted each of these resolutions on behalf of Indian Country as well as the sponsors who put forward the policy positions for consideration through NCAI's resolution process. NCAI also thanks the committee chairs for their service to NCAI and Indian Country. These resolutions are the result of debate and deliberation on issues of concern to tribes and reflect the consensus of tribes on some of the most important issues facing tribal governments today. NCAI Contact Info: Amber Ebarb, Budget and Policy Analyst, amber_ebarb at ncai.org [farmco] Native Farm Bill Coalition Announced, Now Accepting Tribal Resolutions At NCAI's Annual Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, NCAI announced it will be joining the Native Farm Bill Coalition. The Farm Bill addresses food, agriculture, conservation and rural development programs. Congress is expected to take on this major piece of legislation in 2018 and in advance of that national discussion, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and their Seeds of Native Health initiative is forming a Native Farm Bill Coalition to bring the Tribal Voice to this important legislative debate. The Native Farm Bill Coalition is also asking Tribal Nations to join the coalition and make their voices heard. For more information on the coalition, click here. NCAI Contact Info: Maria Givens, Policy Analyst, mgivens at ncai.org [congress] Congressional Update ________________________________ Appropriations [budg] House Passes Budget Resolution The House voted to approve the budget resolution on a vote of 216-212 on Thursday October 26th. The non-binding budget resolution, which had been amended by the Senate, allows for annual deficits to grow by $1.5 trillion over the coming decade to help pay for tax cuts. A House tax plan will be released on Nov. 1, with a markup in the Ways and Means Committee the following week. Impact on Future Federal Funding By 2027, under the Senate plan, overall non-defense discretionary funding would be 18 percent below its 2017 level and 29 percent below its 2010 level, after adjusting for inflation. This would impact funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, Indian Housing Block Grant, and Department of Justice tribal funding, among others. Protecting Federal Treaty and Trust Obligations NCAI recently passed a resolution calling for Full Funding of the Federal Trust Responsibility and Ensuring the United States has the Revenue to Finance Federal Commitments in Tax Legislation (Res. #MKE-17-012 ). Due to insufficient funding and services by federal agencies, Native communities have suffered severe social, economic, and environmental harms at a rate far in excess of other communities. Indian tribes across the nation have been forced to spend large amounts of scarce tribal funds to support the services that should have been provided or paid for by the United States. Deficit-financed tax cuts that lead to potential austerity cuts would affect all Americans, but would disproportionately impact American Indians and Alaska Natives who rely on federal funding of the trust responsibility as well as social programs. NCAI urges Congress to consider the impacts to American Indians and Alaska Natives if the federal budget is cut in the future to reduce deficits caused by tax cuts. The cuts to federal treaty and trust obligations coupled with cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicaid and SNAP could leave tribes and tribal people worse off, even with some tax reductions. NCAI urges Congress to uphold, in any tax legislation, the federal treaty and trust obligations that are funded in the appropriations process, as well as ensure that the U.S. Government has the revenue to finance existing federal commitments and meet critical national needs now and in the future. NCAI Contact Info: Amber Ebarb, Budget and Policy Analyst, amber_ebarb at ncai.org [congress] Introduced Legislation [pubsafbill] Justice for Native Survivors of Sexual Violence Act (S. 1986), Introduced S. 1986, the Justice for Native Survivors of Sexual Violence Act, was introduced by Senators Franken (D-MN) and Murkowski (R-AK) on Oct. 19, 2017. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Udall (D-NM), is aimed at addressing the high rates of sexual violence and other crimes perpetrated against Indian women by non-Indians. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice found that more than 84% of American Indian and Alaska Native women experience violence in their lifetime. Of those victims, 97% experience inter-racial violence. S. 1986 would amend 25 USC 1304 to reaffirm tribal inherent authority over sexual assault, trafficking, and stalking crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian Country. The bill was referred to the Indian Affairs Committee where it awaits further action. NCAI Contact Info: Virginia Davis, Senior Policy Advisor, vdavis at ncai.org [Taxbills] S. 2012, Tribal Economic Assistance Act and S. 1935, The Tribal Tax Reform Act, Introduced On October 25, 2017, Senator Hoeven, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, introduced S. 2012, the Tribal Economic Assistance Act, with Senators Murkowski and Heitkamp as cosponsors. The bill updates several provisions in the tax code for the purpose of attracting capital in Indian Country and stimulating tribal economies. S. 2012 was referred to Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over matters related to taxation. However, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold an oversight hearing on tribal tax issues entitled, "Building Tribal Economies: Modernizing Tax Policies that Work for Indian Country." The hearing will be held Wednesday, November 1, 2017, at 2:30 p.m. in Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 628. The hearing will also be webcast live. On October 5, 2017, Senator Moran introduced S. 1935, the Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act of 2017. The bill would create parity between tribes and states for several provisions in the tax code. S. 1935 is the Senate companion bill to H.R. 3138, which was introduced in the House earlier this year by Representatives Kind and Jenkins, along with other bipartisan cosponsors. NCAI passed Resolution #MOH-17-011, Equitable Treatment for Tribal Nations in Congressional Tax Reform, at the Mid Year Conference in June. NCAI has developed a series of proposals based on the resolution and has been working with the Administration and Congress to ensure tribal tax priorities are included in tax reform. NCAI Contact Info: Jacob Schellinger, Staff Attorney, jschellinger at ncai.org [hcprops] Competing Proposals to Stabilize U.S. Healthcare System Floated in Congress Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA)-the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, respectively-recently unveiled the Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act. Their legislation, often referred to as the Alexander-Murray proposal, would appropriate money for cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) through 2019 and make several changes to the state innovation waiver process established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that this legislation would reduce the deficit by $3.8 billion over the next decade. CBO also estimated that health insurance premiums likely would not change much and neither would the bill drastically reduce the number of citizens covered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). All 48 Senate Democrats support the bill and Senator Alexander indicated that he has 12 Republicans supporting the bill, which would give the bill the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. Despite a favorable CBO score and widespread support in the Senate, the likelihood of the Alexander-Murray proposal becoming law is not promising. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not agreed to bring this legislation to the Senate floor and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) stated that the Senate should remain focused on repealing the Affordable Care Act, not propping it up. Further damaging the chances to advance Alexander-Murray is an alternative plan proposed by SenateFinance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX). The Hatch-Brady proposal would fund CSR payments through 2019, suspend the individual and employer mandate from 2017-2021, refund employer mandate penalties incurred from 2015-2017 and expand the use of health savings accounts. Further, the proposal would add anti-abortion provisions to the funds that help offset out-of-pocket costs for lower-income Americans. It is unlikely that this plan gains momentum, especially in the Senate, where it would be subject to a Democratic filibuster. NCAI Contact Info: Josh Pitre, Senior Policy Analyst, jpitre at ncai.org [wireless] Senators Wicker and Cortez-Masto Introduce Bill on Wireless Infrastructure Permitting, (S. 1988) On October 20th,2017, Senators Wicker (R-MS), and Cortez Masto (D-NV), introduced S. 1988, the "Streamlining Permitting to Enable Efficient Deployment of Broadband Infrastructure Act of 2017" (SPEED Act). The measure would streamline the permitting process for telecommunications equipment that is installed in locations that have already been subjected to historical or environmental reviews. The bill would also allow Tribes to "op-in" to allow wireless deployment on Tribal Lands with no NEPA or Historic Preservation review. However, the bill allows for development in Rights of Way without any historic preservation review. Many tribes have highlighted the need for historic preservation reviews for infrastructure in Rights of Way because these areas were historically ancient trade routes. NCAI has been very active on this issue at an administrative issue and filed comment three times with the FCC. NCAI Contact Info: Maria Givens, Policy Analyst, mgiven at ncai.org [NAHER] Native American Heritage Month Resolution Introduced On Wednesday, October 25th, Senators Hoeven (R-ND) and Tom Udall (D-NM) led a bipartisan group of 21 Senators in introducing a resolution to officially recognize November as National Native American Heritage Month. In addition to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, eight other members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs joined the effort: Senators, Barrasso (R-WY), Heitkamp (D-ND), Daines (R-MT), Lankford (R-OK), Moran (R-KS), Cantwell (D-WA), Franken (D-MN), and Tester (R-MT). NCAI Contact Info: Denise Desiderio, Policy Director, ddesiderio at ncai.org [congress] Reauthorizations [CHIP] House to Consider CHIP Reauthorization Bill this Week Last week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) indicated his intentions to bring legislation to reauthorize federal funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for 5 years to the House floor. H.R. 3922, the CHAMPION Act (Walden, R-OR), was approved along party lines by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on October 4, 2017. Democrats on the Committee opposed the bill due to its cuts to the Affordable Care Act as well as Medicare and Medicaid in order to offset the costs of funding CHIP. Since the program expired on September 30, 2017, at least five states-Arizona, California, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon-in addition to the District of Columbia predict that they will run out of funding by the end of 2017 or beginning of 2018. This legislation contains a two-year renewal of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) at current funding levels. SDPI funding is set to expire at the end of 2017. NCAI Contact Info: Josh Pitre, Senior Policy Analyst, jpitre at ncai.org [FCC] House Subcommittee pushes Reauthorization of the Federal Communications Commission On October 11, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a mark up on legislation to reauthorize and reform the Federal Communications Commission for the first time since 1990. By a voice vote, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee passed the measure and it will head to the full committee next. For more information on the bill, amendments and to view the subcommittee mark up, click here. NCAI Contact Info: Maria Given, Policy Analyst, mgivens at ncai.org [congress] Hearings Held [empow] Legislative Hearing Held on H.R. 215, the American Indian Empowerment Act On October 25, 2015, the House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing on H.R. 215, the American Indian Empowerment Act. The bill is intended to empower Indian tribes to convert their trust land into restricted fee status and then use such lands for any purpose without federal restrictions. NCAI submitted a letter to the House Natural Resources Committee prior to the hearing, expressing the need for further examination of the bill and related land issues, as amending trust land status in this way could have broader implications for tribal governments. NCAI is creating a Workgroup to study the implications of the legislation and to recommend proposals for the elimination of federal interference in tribal land management. The Workgroup will be open to any tribal representative who wishes to participate and will report its findings at the 2018 NCAI Mid Year Conference in Kansas City. The hearing witnesses included: Mr. John Tahsuda III, Acting Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs; the Honorable Jonathon Nez, Vice-President, Navajo Nation; the Honorable Henry Cagey, Council Member, Lummi Nation; Mr. Cris Stainbrook, President, Indian Land Tenure Foundation; and Mr. Eric Henson, Executive Vice President, Compass Lexecon, and Research Affiliate, the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. NCAI's letter is available: here The hearing memo, testimony, and recording of the hearing are available: here NCAI Contact Info: John Dossett, General Counsel, jdossett at ncai.org [pubsaf] Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Legislative Hearing on Public Safety Bills The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a legislative hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 25th on three public safety bills: * S. 1870, the SURVIVE Act: introduced by Sen. Hoeven (R-ND) and cosponsored by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Al Franken (D-MN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jon Tester (D-MT), and John Barrasso (R-WY). This legislation will increase needed tribal victim assistance by creating a tribal grant program within the Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime. The bill directs that five percent of the total annual outlays from the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) be provided to Indian tribes. Similar legislation was approved by the Committee in the last Congress with bipartisan support. * S. 1953, Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2017: Introduced by Senator Hoeven (R-ND), co-sponsored by Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Barrasso (R-WY). The bill would reauthorize the grant programs included in the Tribal Law & Order Act of 2010 and includes other reforms to improve public safety in tribal communities including: * Extending the Bureau of Prisons pilot program, which allows tribally convicted defendants of violent crimes to be housed in federal facilities, for 7 years; * Making permanent the Shadow Wolves program within the Department of Homeland Security; * Directing the Federal Public Defender to designate a tribal liaison for each district that includes Indian Country; * Improving Department of Justice data collection related to trafficking of Native Americans; * Improving justice for Indian youth by requiring the Interior Secretary, Attorney General, and Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to coordinate and assist tribes in addressing juvenile offenses; to consult with tribes on delinquency prevention; to develop a means for collecting data on Indian youth and notifying tribes when a tribal member youth comes in contact with federal, state, and other local juvenile justice systems. Similar legislation was approved by the Committee in the last Congress with bipartisan support. * S. 1942, "Savanna's Act": Introduced by Senator Heitkamp (D-ND) and co-sponsored by Senators Tester (D-MT), Franken (D-MN), Merkel (D-OR), Warren (D-MA), and Heinrich (D-NM). The bill is named in honor of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a young Native woman who was tragically killed in North Dakota in August. The bill aims to improve the response to missing and murdered Native women by improving tribal access to the federal criminal information databases, requiring data collection on missing and murdered Native people, and by directing the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop law enforcement and justice protocols to address missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. The hearing included five witnesses: Trent Shores, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oklahoma; Bryan Rice, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Carmen O'Leary, Executive Director of the Native Women's Society of the Great Plaines; Chairman Dave Flute, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate; and Councilman Joel Boyd, Colville Business Council. The testimony and questions focused on the need for additional resources for tribal public safety and victim services. The Department of Justice and Bureau of Indian Affairs witnesses were generally supportive of the key concepts in the bills, but have not taken formal positions on the bills at this time. NCAI Contact Info: Virginia Davis, Senior Policy Advisor, vdavis at ncai.org [congress] Upcoming Hearings [subsis] Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Oversight Hearing on "Exploring Native American Subsistence Rights and International Treaties" Tuesday, October 31st, 2017 2:30 p.m. Russell 253 [TAXHEAR] Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Oversight Hearing on "Building Tribal Economies: Modernizing Tax Policies that Work for Indian Country" Wednesday,November 1st, 2017 2:30 p.m.Dirksen 628 [TRIO] House Subcommittee on Water, Power, and OceansLegislative Hearing on Trio of Water Bills Thursday, November 2, 2017 10:00 a.m. 1324 Longworth [STOP] Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Legislative Hearing to Receive Testimony on S. 1400 - Safeguarding Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act of 2017 and S. 465 - Independent Outside Audit of the Indian Health Service Act of 2017 November 8th, 2017 2:30 p.m. Dirksen 628 [congress] Administration Update ________________________________ [opioid] President Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a Public Health Emergency On Thursday, October 26th, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. "We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic," said President Trump, who later signed a presidential memorandum directing his acting health secretary to declare a nationwide public health emergency and ordering all federal agencies to take measures to reduce the number of opioid deaths. According to the White House's press release, President Trump's directive will: Allow patients further access to "telemedicine" so they can receive prescriptions without seeing a doctor; make grants available to those who have had trouble finding work due to addiction; allow the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to hire more people to address the crisis, particularly in rural areas; and allow states to shift federal funds from HIV treatments to opioids, since the two are linked as drug users often share infected needles. A Public Health declaration does not come with additional funding, however, it would enable federal agencies to bypass "bureaucratic delays" and redirect existing funding to efforts aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic. No additional funding is allocated through the Presidential Memorandum and the HHS Public Health Emergency Fund currently sits at $57,000, so the Trump Administration will need to work with Congress to approve additional funding in a year end spending package. President Trump announced that the administration will push efforts to overturn the 16 bed limit for in-patient treatment facilities that currently exists, as a well as plans to commence a prevention advertising campaign. Tribes have been seeking revisions to the 16-bed limitation and passed a resolution that addresses this issue at NCAI's Annual Convention held in Milwaukee last week. American Indian and Alaska Native populations are disproportionately affected by opioid addiction. National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that death rates involving opioid pain relievers for American Indians and Alaska Natives were up to three times higher than rates for other racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally vulnerable groups include those affected by trauma, such as veterans, as well as populations that are more likely to be exposed to opioid pain killers: elders As a result, NCAI has taken several actions to address this growing epidemic. During the 2017 Mid-Year Conference in June 2017, NCAI officially reestablished its Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force. The task force, which most recently met during the Annual Conference earlier this month, is focused on sharing successful practices, creating solutions, and examining the impact that this borderless disease has on Indian Country. During the meeting, the task force heard from the Director of the Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy at SAMHSA, the Director of the Division of Behavioral Health at IHS, and the BIA's Opioid Task Force on agency efforts to reduce opioid addiction. In addition, NCAI passed two resolutions, MKE-17-039 and MKE-17-040, addressing the opioid crisis during its annual conference last week. The first resolution calls for NCAI to support the adoption of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain by Indian Health Service and Tribal Health Organizations to reduce opioid addiction, overdose and death of American Indian and Alaska Native people. The second resolution calls for NCAI to support legislation to amend the Social Security Act in order to achieve more favorable substance abuse and mental health outcomes for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, which was established in March, released an interim report in July 2017, and is planning on releasing their final recommendations next week. NCAI will follow up with congress and the White House on providing direct appropriations for the hardest hit population per capita. NCAI Contact Info: Denise Desiderio, Policy Director, ddesiderio at ncai.org [congress] Issued Memoranda [drone] The President Issues a Memorandum to form a Drone Partnership Pilot Program On October 25, 2017, President Trump issued a memorandum directing Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to form an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program or Drone Partnership Pilot Program. The program would assist Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration in addressing the challenges of drones in national airspace, to find ways to develop regulations that would reduce dangers against public safety and security, and improve communication with local, state and tribal jurisdictions. The Administration acknowledges the importance drones play a role in using technology for emergency situations, photography, agriculture, monitoring, inspections, and commerce. DOT will published a more detailed notice through the Federal Register soon. Click here for the Press Release, Informational Slides, and Drone Pilot Q and A. NCAI Contact Info: Gwen Salt, Legislative Assosiate, gwen_salt at ncai.org [relig] Attorney General Releases Memo on "Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberties," Upholding AIRFA On October 6th, the Department of Justice released the Attorney General's Memorandum that issues guidance for interpreting religious liberty protections in Federal Law. This Memorandum was a directive of the President, asking the Attorney General to issue guidance on religious liberty. It was circulated to the heads of all executive Departments and agencies on October 6th. The Memo focused on the principles of religious liberty and how agencies can consider religious liberty in rulemakings. Of the Federal Laws protecting freedom of religion, the DOJ Memo cites the American Indian Religious Freedom Act as one of the tenants for considering religious freedom in the Federal Government. NCAI Contact Info: Maria Givens, Policy Analyst, mgivens at ncai.org [congress] Nominations [tara] White House Nominates Tara Sweeney (I?upiaq) for the Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Post On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, Tara Sweeney was nominated to serve as the new Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (AS-IA). "The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs is charged with the federal responsibility to protect tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and the trust relationship," said former NCAI President Brian Cladoosby. "This nomination is an important step by the Administration, and we look forward a swift confirmation by the United States Senate." Until Sweeney is confirmed by the Senate, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs John Tahsuda III (Kiowa) will continue as the Acting Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs. "We appreciate the Administration's commitment to efficiently staffing important positions within governmental departments directly effecting Indian Country, and we look forward to hearing from Ms. Sweeney about her goals and plans for working with tribal leaders to ensure the government-to-government relationship is upheld," said Cladoosby. Sweeney most recently served as the Executive Vice President of External Affairs for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) where she led corporate media, government relations, and communications strategy for ASRC. The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs assists and supports the Secretary of the Interior in fulfilling the United States' trust responsibility to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages, and also helps foster and maintain the Federal-Tribal government-to-government relationship. NCAI Contact Info: Derrick Beetso, Staff Attorney, dbeetso at ncai.org [robweav] President Trump Formally Nominates Robert Weaver to Serve as Indian Health Service Director On October 24, 2017, President Trump's nomination of Robert M. Weaver to serve as the Director of the Indian Health Service for a term of four years was officially received by the Senate. According to the White House announcement earlier this month, Mr. Weaver, an enrolled member of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma, is "the founder and owner of four companies that provide healthcare consulting services to tribal governments, their enterprises, and their members." One of those companies, RWI Benefits LLC, was awarded the 2017 American Indian Business of the Year by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. According to the company's website, Mr. Weaver's motivation to improve access and affordability to quality healthcare for American Indians and Alaska Natives comes from "his own family's devastating experiences with the death and destruction caused by substance abuse, mental health issues, addiction and preventable diseases." Mr. Weaver is expected to receive a nomination hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. If his nomination is approved by the Committee, it will go to the full Senate for consideration. If confirmed by the Senate, he will be responsible for overseeing an agency that provides comprehensive health care delivery to approximately 2.2 million American Indian and Alaska Natives through 26 hospitals, 59 health centers, 32 health stations, and nine school health centers. NCAI Contact Info: Josh Pitre, Senior Policy Analyst, jpitre at ncai.org [congress] Consultations [usda] USDA Consultation on the Office of Tribal Relations and Agency Reorganization Last week, the US Department of Agriculture hosted a consultation at NCAI's Annual Convention on the agency's reorganization efforts. The USDA's plan looks to move the Office of Tribal Relations out of the Secretary's Office and into a new Office of Partnerships and Public Engagements. NCAI submitted comments to the USDA requesting the USDA to continue housing the Office of Tribal Relations within the Office of the Secretary, as is mandated in the 2014 Farm Bill authorizing language. NCAI's comments highlighted the importance of the government-to-government relationship and how the Federal Trust Responsibility is a more serious obligation than simple outreach. NCAI encourages Tribes to write to the USDA Office of Tribal Relations expressing their support for its position within the Secretary's Office. NCAI Contact Info: Maria Givens, Policy Analyst, jpitre at ncai.org [bie] Bureau of Indian Education Announces Strategic Plan and Tribal Consultations At the NCAI Annual Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) shared with tribal leaders and tribal officials, the BIE's draft Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan consist of BIE's priorities, mission and goals and how BIE will accomplish them. BIE developed the draft Strategic Plan through input and feedback from its employees, school boards, school administrations, and representatives from the National Indian Education Association and National Congress of American Indians. BIE announced five tribal consultations on the BIE Strategic Plan: Wednesday November 15, 2017 - Salem, OR Time: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Location: Chemawa Indian School Auditorium 3700 Chemawa Road NE., Salem, OR 97305 Tuesday November 28, 2017 - Anadarko, OK Time: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Location: Riverside Indian School 101 Riverside Drive Anadarko, OK 73005 Tuesday December 5, 2017 - Bismarck, ND Time: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Location: United Tribes Technical College Lewis Goodhouse Wellness Center, 3315 University Drive Bismarck, ND 58504 Tuesday December 12, 2017 - Albuquerque, NM Time: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Location: National Indian Programs Training Center 1011 Indian School Road NW Albuquerque, NM 87104 Thursday December 14, 2017 - The last session will be held telephonically and by webinar, by calling 631-992-3221 and entering the passcode 759-763-471. The link for the webinar is: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7727750735595699458; webinar ID 993-210-731. This session can accommodate 500 participants. The deadline to submit comments is Saturday, January 13, 2018, you can submit comments to Ms. Paulina Bell, Bureau of Indian Education via email or U.S. postal mail: Email: paulina.bell at bie.edu U.S postal mail: ATTN: Ms. Paulina Bell, RE: BIE Draft Strategic Plan Consultation Comments 1849 C Street NW., Mail Stop 3609, Washington, DC 20240. For question or more information you can contact: Clint Bowers (clint.bowers at bie.edu) or Travis Clark (travis.clark at bie.edu) Click here for copy of Draft BIE Strategic Plan, Dear Tribal Leader Letter, Federal Register Notice, and BIE PowerPoint Presentation For more information on BIE's webpage on Strategic Plan click here. NCAI Contact Info: Gwen Salt, Legislative Associate, gwen_salt at ncai.org [doilis] Department of the Interior Hosts Listening Session on Fee to Trust Proposal at NCAI Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin On Monday, October 16, 2017 the Department of the Interior hosted a listening session with Tribal Leaders in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during NCAI's 74th Annual Conference regarding the Department's proposed revisions to its fee-to-trust regulations. The Department's regulations at 25 C.F.R. Part 151 govern how it processes applications from Indian tribes and individual Indians to have fee land taken into trust status by the United States. In its October 4, 2017 Dear Tribal Leader Letter to Tribes, the Department included draft revisions that would affect the off-reservation fee to trust process and the final decision process for both off-reservation and on-reservation land acquisitions. The October 16 Listening Session was well attended and provided an opportunity for Tribes to share their thoughts on the Department's Consultation Draft. The overwhelming majority of Tribes expressed opposition to the Consultation Draft, citing concerns about the additional layer of review; potential added legal and technical costs; changes that invite litigation from anti-Tribal interests; added considerations of state and local government interests; lack of meaningful consultation with Tribes before drafting the revisions as well as an inadequate consultation schedule moving forward; and legal questions on whether components of the Consultation Draft are prohibited by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act at 25 U.S.C. 2719(c). After a healthy dose of consideration and discussion, NCAI's Land and Natural Resources Committee worked with the Gaming Subcommittee to pass NCAI Resolution MKE-17-059 - Opposing the Department of the Interior's Efforts to Amend the BIA's Land intro Trust Regulations. Acting on the recent resolution, NCAI submitted a letter to the Department of the Interior last week requesting that the Department withdraw its efforts to amend the fee to trust regulations and requesting further that, if the Department decides to undertake similar initiatives in the future that it wait until the recently nominated Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs is confirmed and a Deputy Solicitor-Indian Affairs is appointed, and that it consult meaningfully with all of Indian Country as required by the Department's own consultation policy and Executive Order 13175. NCAI Contact Info: Derrick Beetso, Staff Attorney, dbeetso at ncai.org [congress] Comments Due [doi] Comments Due Today on the DOI's ANPRM on Trade and Commerce in Indian Country Comments supporting amendments to the Indian Trade and Commerce Regulations are due today, October 30, and we encourage all tribes to provide comments. The purpose of this comment period is to provide factual examples of the need for updated regulations that will recognize tribal regulatory authority over business activity on tribal lands, and pre-empt dual taxation in Indian country. Even a short letter of support for moving forward with the process would be very helpful. Click here for a DRAFT letter you can adopt as your own. Attached is a great example of comments from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. The comments support amended regulations, and then use a series of factual examples to demonstrate the need. These examples might be useful as you consider developing comments. BIA has a good website with a lot of background information here. In short, comments should be sent to the attention of Elizabeth Appel, Director, consultation at bia.gov Even if you sent a short e-mail of support, the more the better. During consultations, NCAI has heard strong support for updating the regulations, consensus appears to say that dual taxation is an enormous problem in Indian country. There appears, however, to be concern of whether this approach can work legally. Can a regulation pre-empt state taxes? To that question we have three answers. 1. It worked with the leasing regulations at 25 CFR 162.017 2. It worked with the Right-of-Way regulations at 25 CFR Part 169.11 3. It can work with the Trader Regulations at 25 CFR Part 140, because validly promulgated regulations authorized by federal statute displace conflicting state laws by operation of the Supremacy Clause. "The phrase 'Laws of the United States' encompasses both federal statutes themselves and federal regulations that are properly adopted in accordance with statutory authorization." City of New York v. FCC, 486 U.S. 57, 63 (1988). We have also attached NCAI Resolution SD-15-045 and a one-pager with background on the authority and the need for updated regulations. We encourage all tribes to submit comments in support. NCAI Contact Info: Derrick Beetso, Staff Attorney, dbeetso at ncai.org [ihs] Comments on Indian Health Service Strategic Plan Due Tomorrow - October 31st The Indian Health Service (IHS) began its outreach on the IHS Strategic Plan (2018-2022) by sending a letter announcing Tribal Consultation and Urban Confer on September 15, 2017. Specifically, IHS is asking the following question on the initial framework: "Do the IHS mission, vision, goals and objectives reflect the direction and priorities you feel IHS should pursue over the next 5 years?" IHS held a listening session on its strategic plan during NCAI's annual conference earlier this month in Milwaukee, WI. In addition, IHS has held a tribal leader conference call, urban Indian organization leader conference call and a listening session at the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) conference. Once again, the deadline to provide your comments is October 31, 2017. IHS asks that you please provide your written comments or recommendations by email at consultation at ihs.gov or urbanconfer at ihs.gov with "IHS Strategic Plan 2018-2022" as the subject line. Additional information, including the comments that have already been submitted, can be found here. NCAI Contact Info: Josh Pitre, Senior Policy Analyst, jpitre at ncai.org [DOT] U.S. Department of Transportation Seeks Public Comments on Draft Strategic Plan for FY 2018-2022 On October 20, 2017, the Department of Transportation (DOT) released its draft Strategic Plan for FY 2018-2022. The DOT Strategic Plan shows the Department's mission and four identified goals: * Safety: Reduce Transportation-Related Fatalities and Serious Injuries Across the Transportation System. * Infrastructure: Invest in Infrastructure to Ensure Mobility and Accessibility and to Stimulate Economic Growth, Productivity and Competitiveness for American Workers and Businesses. * Innovation: Lead in the Development and Deployment of Innovative Practices and Technologies that Improve the Safety and Performance of the Nation's Transportation System. * Accountability: Serve the Nation with Reduced Regulatory Burden and Greater Efficiency, Effectiveness and Accountability. The deadline to submit comments is November 13, 2017. When submitting comments, please include name, title, organization, postal address, telephone number and email address. Submit comments via email or U.S. mail to: Email: dotstrategicplanning at dot.gov Please include the full body of your comments in the text of the electronic message and as an attachment. Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Under Secretary for Policy, Attn: Strategic Plan Comments, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590. Click here for more information. NCAI Contact Info: Gwen Salt, Legislative Associate, gwen_salt at ncai.org ________________________________ Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of tribal governments, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. [Find us on Facebook] [Follow us on Twitter] [https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/1101093164665/lawyer-orn.gif] National Congress of American Indians, Embassy of Tribal Nations, 1516 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 SafeUnsubscribe? jerry at tlpi.org Forward email | Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by ncai at ncai.org in collaboration with [Constant Contact] Try it free today -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Wed Nov 1 13:26:01 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2017 18:26:01 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] Tasha's Story In-Reply-To: <53E53B731896534E8E8728A08F70303C0234ECF95C@vExchange01.sagchip.org> References: <53E53B731896534E8E8728A08F70303C0234ECF95C@vExchange01.sagchip.org> Message-ID: <9d9fb4e0d2b24e34a088eb79aaa97fd0@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> Greetings, >From our friends at Saginaw Chippewa is this beautiful story from Tasha House, who bravely publicly shared her story of addiction, only to suddenly pass the next day. As Judge Shannon of the Saginaw Chippewa Healing to Wellness Court notes, "her story underscores the tragedies we see in our work and communities. Tasha was very involved in prevention strategies and will be missed." Sincerely, Lauren ________________________________________ Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist Tribal Law and Policy Institute 8235 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 211 West Hollywood, CA 90046 Phone: (323) 650-5467 ~ Fax: (323) 650-8149 Email: Lauren at TLPI.org ________________________________________ Please visit: www.WellnessCourts.org Providing resources and technical assistance for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Natasha House.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 651175 bytes Desc: Natasha House.pdf URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Thu Nov 2 13:28:54 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2017 18:28:54 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] Save-the-Date: American Indian Justice Conference, Dec. 7-8, 2017, Coachella Valley, CA Message-ID: <4098db725ed544799fd8c2011526dfaf@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> [cid:image002.jpg at 01D353CD.C27D50B0] December 7-8, 2017 Renaissance Palm Springs Palm Springs, CA Registration Information: TBA. No cost for registration, but participants must cover the costs of travel, lodging, and per diem/food. The goal of the AIJC is to provide training to enhance your tribal community's response to combat alcohol and drug abuse, recognize how trauma impacts drug and alcohol abuse in tribal communities, and identify current trends and best practices for tribal justice systems to strengthen multi-disciplinary approaches to healing and justice. The five multi-disciplinary tracks include alcohol and substance abuse, tribal justice strategic planning, tribal courts, tribal security and probation, and tribal youth. CTAS Purpose Area 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9 grantees may use grant funds to attend the AIJC. Please confirm with your Program Manager that you have adequate travel and training funds remaining in your award. The conference is pending final approval by the Department of Justice. Do not make any non-refundable reservations under final approval from the DOJ has been confirmed. The Tribal Law and Policy Institute will be presenting four workshops at the AIJC, including: * Healing to Wellness Courts: Best Practices Across Indian Country, * Implementing VAWA and/or TLOA and Collateral Consequences of TLOA Enhanced Sentencing Authority, * Tribal Protection Order Enforcement, and * Juvenile and Family Healing to Wellness Courts For more information about the AIJC, contact: Ansley Sherman ansley at naicja.org (303) 449-4112 www.naicja.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 14715 bytes Desc: image002.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AIJC Save the Date 2017.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 355098 bytes Desc: AIJC Save the Date 2017.pdf URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Fri Nov 3 10:37:05 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2017 15:37:05 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] MATCP 2018 Conference - Save the Date, Scholarships, Hotel Info & More! In-Reply-To: <1129303248217.1103281454805.1278330125.0.440630JL.2002@scheduler.constantcontact.com> References: <1129303248217.1103281454805.1278330125.0.440630JL.2002@scheduler.constantcontact.com> Message-ID: <5db86460153a4ebea139494f986ff5da@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> [http://files.constantcontact.com/5def2b0e001/74462e4d-54fc-40cd-9dfd-847fdc1b7a09.jpg] 2018 Annual Conference [http://files.constantcontact.com/5def2b0e001/15905e0a-3168-4bbb-a062-cd767b76c368.png] Join us for the 18th Annual Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals (MATCP) Conference Tuesday & Wednesday, March 13-14, 2018 DeVos Place Conference Center & Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Grand Rapids, Michigan [http://files.constantcontact.com/5def2b0e001/211e1457-3136-4e6a-b1b6-5602ec5a78f3.jpg] [http://files.constantcontact.com/5def2b0e001/93fc58c9-43f9-406d-bdcd-2f7aae7181e8.jpg] MATCP's two day conference is designed to meet the educational needs of anyone who works within the justice system and deals with defendants and clients engaged in drug and alcohol abuse, dealing with mental health issues, trauma, and family matters. Whether or not your jurisdiction has a drug treatment court, veteran's treatment court or mental health court, this conference will enhance your skills in dealing with the needs of your defendants and clients. ONLINE REGISTRATION WILL OPEN MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018 Call for Proposals MATCP is pleased to issue a call for workshop proposals for its 19th Annual Conference. Workshop proposals are due Friday, December 1, 2017. MATCP is looking for workshops that will provide attendees with information, tools, and/or action items that they can take back to their respective treatment courts and use in their jurisdictions and communities. Workshops may be targeted for a particular treatment court type; Veterans, Mental Health, Family, Juvenile, DWI, Adult, Tribal, or be generally applicable to all. We are also seeking workshops that may be discipline specific for judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, probation agents, treatment providers, and law enforcement. MATCP will be hosting approximately thirty-six (36), 75-minute workshops during the 2-day conference. Each workshop should allow time for questions and answers from the attendees. All proposals will be reviewed by the MATCP Conference Committee, which will select those that best meet attendee needs to provide information that is relevant and practical and enables attendees to build skills and increase competencies in treatment courts in their home communities. Proposals must be submitted via the online form. Hotel Blocks Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Follow this link to book directly online Or alternatively you may call Group Reservations to access special block rates. Reservations Toll Free: 800.253.3590 Reservations Local Phone: 616.776.6450 Price: $154/room Country Inn & Suites Rooms can be reserved by calling the hotel directly at 616.942.7000. Use code "MATCP Overflow Block" to receive the special rate. Price: $113/room Hampton Inn & Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Follow this link to book directly online Or alternatively you may call the front desk at 616.456.2000 or Hilton's reservation line at 800.445.8667 any time before the cutoff date (Monday, February 12th, 2018) and reference "MATCP" or group code "MAT" to obtain the discounted rate. Price: $139/room Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown Follow this link to book directly online (please note that the group code "TCP" will automatically populate when you put the 2018 dates in) Click here for a bird's-eye view of the hotel Price: $139/room Homewood Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Follow this link to book directly online Group Name: MATCP Group Code: MAT Price: $159/room 2018 Conference Important Dates to Remember Registration Registration Opens - Monday, January 8, 2018 Registration Closes - Friday, February 23, 2018 Conference Call for Proposals Workshop Proposals Due - Friday, December 1, 2017 Scholarships Application Scholarship Applications Due - Friday, December 1, 2017 Scholarship Notification - Monday, January 15, 2018 Scholarship Awards Acceptances Due - Friday, January 26, 2018 Treatment Court Heroes Nominations Hero Nominations Due - Friday, February 2, 2018 Hero Notifications to Nominators - Friday, February 23, 2018 Vendors Vendor Registration Closes - Friday, January 26, 2018 2018 Conference Scholarship Applications MATCP is offering scholarships to assist in attending the Annual Conference. Recipients must apply by Friday, December 1, 2017 and will be notified by Monday, January 15, 2018 of scholarship receipt. If applying for a scholarship, please do not register until you are notified of the status of your award. You may apply for either a Full Scholarship (Registration + Hotel) or a Partial Scholarship (Registration). All other costs are the responsibility of attendee including travel and any meals not included with registration. Click here to apply online. 2018 Treatment Court Heroes Nominations MATCP recognizes that it takes many dedicated people to keep up the good work of treatment courts. That is why we choose to recognize "Michigan Treatment Court Heroes" each year at our Annual Conference. Please nominate your Hero by submitting your nomination online. Nominators will be informed of the status of the nomination by Friday, February 23, 2018. Alerting the recipient will be at your discretion. We will be announce the 2018 Treatment Court Heroes awards during the morning plenary session on the first day of the conference, Tuesday, March 13, 2018. 2018 Vendor Registrations We rely on the generous support of our Private Partners and Vendors in helping us present a successful conference each year. Click here to apply for Vendor Registration. Registration is requested by Friday, January 26, 2018. We are finalizing Private Partner benefits for the upcoming year, so please stay tuned for more details! In the meantime, if you are interested in being a Private Partner for 2018, please email us for more information. Memberships Attendees at the 2018 Annual Conference will automatically become members for 2018. However, if you are unable to attend the 2018 annual conference and would like to purchase a membership, please visit the Membership page of our website to apply. The annual fee is $40.00 and includes access to our online communication and upcoming Members Only resources on our website. MATCP Drug Testing Manual 2nd Edition MATCP will provide Michigan Treatment Courts with up to 4 hard copies of the printed MATCP Drug Testing Manual - 2nd Edition. The manuals will be mailed to the court at no cost. Please fill out the online form to request your manuals. Manuals will be mailed on a first come-first serve basis. Please note that a limited number of copies are available and MATCP may run out before your request can be fulfilled. We also encourage you to download the pdf version of the Manual. [http://files.constantcontact.com/5def2b0e001/626362d6-6c21-4b98-ad06-dfef804506e3.png] Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals, Inc., 824 North Capitol Avenue, Lansing, MI 48906 SafeUnsubscribe? lauren at tlpi.org Forward this email | About our service provider Sent by info at matcp.org in collaboration with [Constant Contact] Try it free today -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Wed Nov 8 16:39:29 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2017 22:39:29 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis: Final Report Message-ID: <1c93a7ea0a074199a37af5c5c558b3bd@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> [cid:image001.jpg at 01D2FF3B.F71AAE80] President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis releases Final Report Last week, the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released their final report to the President and federal agencies. The report contained 56 recommendations that the Commission proposes to overcome the opioid epidemic. The report was broken into categories of: * Federal Funding and Programs * Instructed Congress and the Administration to issue block grants to states for opioid and SUD-related programming. * Encouraged the upgrade of Office of the National Drug Control Policy funding tracking. * Prevention * Proposed prescribing regulations and education. * Prescription Drug Monitoring Program enhancements. * Opioid Addiction Treatment, Overdose Reversal, and Recovery * Encourages federal agencies, such as IHS, to lift reimbursement and policy barriers to treatment. * Instructs the national, state, local and tribal stakeholders to begin using medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with pre-trial detainees and post-release. * Recommends the National Health Service Corp to supply health services to states and localities with higher than average opioid use and abuse. * Research and Development * Recommends federal agencies to look at existing research on pain management best practices. * Recommends further research and funding for monitoring technologies. The report offers suggestions for Tribal governments to strengthen surveillance, increase the use of medication-assisted treatment in pre-trial detainees and post-releases, and encourages tribes to apply for drug court grants. A large portion of the document offered a report on the statistics and rate in which the opioid crisis effects specific populations. Although Native Americans were concluded to be one of the most widely effected groups, the report did not address the data disparities that skew the accuracy of the data. This is to say that the data reported in the text is most likely drastically under representative of the accurate numbers. Rather than suggesting direct funding, the commission suggested allocating block funding reserved to the states. NCAI consistently works towards encouraging direct funding to tribes, which is especially important for this epidemic, as Natives are disproportionately afflicted by the opioid crisis, and have repeatedly shown effectiveness in solving domestic issues on reservation. Questions? Request for technical assistance? Email: wellness at tlpi.org Tribal Law and Policy Institute 8235 Santa Monica Blvd. Ste. 211 West Hollywood, CA 90046 www.Home.TLPI.org www.WellnessCourts.org Phone: (323) 650-5467 Email: wellness at tlpi.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 19434 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Fri Nov 10 10:53:06 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2017 16:53:06 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] NDCRC November 2017 Newsletter In-Reply-To: <1129335223503.1124199088752.1994640045.0.591045JL.1002@scheduler.constantcontact.com> References: <1129335223503.1124199088752.1994640045.0.591045JL.1002@scheduler.constantcontact.com> Message-ID: <0db8a3f564864fa3a9bab7863312d14a@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> Veterans Treatment Courts- providing justice to those who have served [http://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?ca=7d43dc04-1c81-4d5a-bc41-057514b53413&a=1124199088752&c=86128c00-210e-11e6-92d8-d4ae5275b546&ch=862e7870-210e-11e6-92d8-d4ae5275b546] [http://files.constantcontact.com/072cc7fb501/83c68628-6aaa-4437-8741-af6876c7d69c.png] November 2017 [https://files.constantcontact.com/072cc7fb501/eb4e512e-793e-4906-a718-e2dec9045e55.png] [Facebook] [Twitter] [YouTube] [http://files.constantcontact.com/072cc7fb501/2efc2f10-7846-4422-b6d5-bd0f15caac28.png] Celebrating Veterans Day and Veterans Treatment Courts This Saturday, Veterans Day, is a time to recognize all those who have served in the armed forces. At the National Drug Court Resource Center, we are taking this time to highlight how treatment courts provide justice to those who fought to defend our freedom. Veterans treatment courts, a relatively new type of treatment court, are designed to serve veterans facing criminal charges through structure, treatment, and mentoring. The courts often imitate the rituals of the military and connect veterans to services available to them through the VA. In 2016, American University?s Justice Programs Office published a report detailing the most predominate features of VTC programs and the implementation of VTCs in a wide range of jurisdictions. The full report is available on the NDCRC website. [http://files.constantcontact.com/072cc7fb501/154ff9cd-8de4-4920-80b0-7f31ab94e817.png] New On the Docket with the National Drug Court Resource Center Have you been following On the Docket with NDCRC? The three-part series explores the fundamentals of family treatment courts, innovations in the field, and their powerful impact on individuals. In the final episode of On the Docket, we meet with Teresa Anderson-Harper, a graduate of the King County Family Treatment Court. Teresa shares her experience as a participant in this program and offers advice to practitioners working in the family treatment court setting and to families looking for help. Teresa also shared with us that she maintains a special connection to this program. Episodes are available in the iTunes Podcast Store. For more information, visit the NDCRC website. New Webinar Series by the Family Drug Court Learning Academy The National Family Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance Program is launching a new webinar series in 2018. The series will explore hot topics in the field, contemporary approaches, and practice-based lessons from FDC practitioners. The series will include pre-recorded webinars; live, follow-up discussions; and actionable items to advance your FDC. Registration is coming soon! To learn more, click here. Engaging Work with the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Initiative As part of the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Training and Technical Assistance (JDTC TTA) Initiative's mission to provide training and technical assistance to juvenile drug court practitioners, JDTC TTA staff members attend professional conferences to educate and engage with the juvenile justice field. This month Anna Koozmin and Zo? Root presented at the Ohio Annual Specialized Dockets Conference in Columbus, Ohio, and the Washington State Juvenile Drug Court Conference in Seattle, Washington, respectively. Anna's presentation on behalf of JDTC TTA induced a lively and interactive discussion with Ohio JDTCs about the JDTC Guidelines. Teams discussed goals and action steps they could take to implement each guideline. Zo? also led a reflection on each set of Guidelines, grouped by objective, with the JDTC teams in Washington. The JDTC TTA team is a great resource for practitioners seeking technical assistance. To learn more about their work visit au-jdtc.org. [https://files.constantcontact.com/072cc7fb501/f5ecd6ac-78ce-40ff-82ee-69fc7a46f14f.png] Frontiers in Addiction Research: NIDA/NIAAA Mini-Convention November 10 The American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting November 12-18 Special Considerations in Substance Use Disorder Habilitation Treatment Webinar November 29; 3:00-4:00 PM 2nd Annual Conference Progress Made Possible: Better Outcomes at the Intersection of Mental Health and Criminal Justice December 3-5 Mindfulness in Recovery Webinar December 6; 3:00 - 4:30 PM Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Webinar December 20; 3:00- 4:00 PM For more events, see the full calendar here. Subscribe to the NDCRC Newsletter The National Drug Court Resource, Policy, and Evidence-Based Practice Center, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and operated by the Justice Programs Office (JPO) at American University, strives to provide practitioners and professionals working in the drug court field with current resources and upcoming events. Please email ndcrc at american.edu with any inquiries. Justice Programs Office | 4801 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 508, Washington, DC, DC 20016 Unsubscribe lauren at tlpi.org Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by ndcrc at american.edu in collaboration with [Trusted Email from Constant Contact - Try it FREE today.] Try it free today -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Mon Nov 20 12:17:39 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2017 18:17:39 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] New SAMHSA Grant: Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Family Treatment Courts, Due: January 16, 2018 Message-ID: <9afb67b90d66414b90b77d8cae82e1d9@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> [cid:image001.jpg at 01D2FF3B.F71AAE80] SAMHSA Grant: Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Family Treatment Drug Courts Posted on Grants.gov: Friday, November 17, 2017 Application Due Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2018 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 93.243 Description: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2018 Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Family Treatment Drug Courts [Short Title: Family Treatment Drug Courts (FTDC)]. The purpose of this program is to expand substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services in existing family treatment drug courts, which use the family treatment drug court model in order to provide alcohol and drug treatment to parents with a SUD and/or co-occurring SUD and mental disorders who have had a dependency petition filed against them or are at risk of such filing. Services must address the needs of the family as a whole and include direct service provision to children (18 and under) of individuals served by this project. Eligibility: State governments; the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau are also eligible to apply. Governmental units within political subdivisions of a state, such as a county, city or town. Federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes, tribal organizations, Urban Indian Organizations, and consortia of tribes or tribal organizations. Family treatment drug courts that received an award under TI-17-004 (FY 2017 Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Family Treatment Drug Courts) are not eligible to apply for this funding opportunity. [See Section III-1 for complete eligibility information.] Anticipated Total Available Funding: Up to $8,500,000 Anticipated Number of Awards: Up to 20 Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $425,000 per year Length of Project: Up to five years Cost Sharing/Match Required?: No Proposed budgets cannot exceed $425,000 in total costs (direct and indirect) in any year of the proposed project. Annual continuation awards will depend on the availability of funds, recipient progress in meeting project goals and objectives, timely submission of required data and reports, and compliance with all terms and conditions of award. Funding estimates for this announcement are based on an annualized Continuing Resolution and do not reflect the final FY 2018 appropriation. Applicants should be aware that funding amounts are subject to the availability of funds. Contact Information: Amy Romero Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Division of Services Improvement Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (240) 276-1622 Amy.Romero at samhsa.hhs.gov(link sends e-mail) Grants Management and Budget Issues Eileen Bermudez Office of Financial Resources, Division of Grants Management Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (240) 276-1412 FOACSAT at samhsa.hhs.gov(link sends e-mail) Application Materials: FOA Document (PDF | 1.1 MB) FOA Document (DOC | 226.64 KB) Useful Information for Applicants: Application Forms and Resources Applying for a New SAMHSA Grant Search Grants.gov and Apply Now Find more information on future grant announcements at WellnessCourts.org?s Federal Funding Agencies and Funding Announcement webpages. Questions? Request for technical assistance? Email: wellness at tlpi.org Tribal Law and Policy Institute 8235 Santa Monica Blvd. Ste. 211 West Hollywood, CA 90046 www.Home.TLPI.org www.WellnessCourts.org Phone: (323) 650-5467 Email: wellness at tlpi.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 19434 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Tue Nov 21 17:30:39 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2017 23:30:39 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] New Wellness Court Publication: Treatment Guidelines (2017) Message-ID: [cid:image001.jpg at 01D2FF3B.F71AAE80] Announcing New Wellness Court Publication: Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: Treatment Guidelines [http://www.wellnesscourts.org/images/THWC%20Treatment%202017.png] Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: Treatment Guidelines, 2nd ed. (2017), is designed to provide tribal communities with an overview of Western substance abuse treatment strategies that have been developed by drug court programs over the past several years and that tribal programs might consider adapting, along with traditional healing practices. This guideline draws upon drug court standards and best practices, and the experiences of hundreds of tribal and state adult and juvenile drug court programs, operating in various environments and serving a wide range of individuals addicted to alcohol and/or other drugs. Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: Treatment Guidelines for Adults and Juveniles (2002 draft) You can find this publication for free download on our Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Publication Series webpage, as well as on our Home.TLPI.org website. The Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Publication Series is a free resource available to the field, documenting best practices and the latest in practice-based knowledge. Questions? Request for technical assistance? Email: wellness at tlpi.org Tribal Law and Policy Institute 8235 Santa Monica Blvd. Ste. 211 West Hollywood, CA 90046 www.Home.TLPI.org www.WellnessCourts.org Phone: (323) 650-5467 Email: wellness at tlpi.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 19434 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.png Type: image/png Size: 86400 bytes Desc: image002.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image004.png Type: image/png Size: 19825 bytes Desc: image004.png URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Wed Nov 22 15:04:58 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2017 21:04:58 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] American Indian Justice Conference, Dec. 7-8 Message-ID: <1c7eda31a0a6476387e683443f1a5d74@MBX082-W2-CO-2.EXCH082.SERVERPOD.NET> [http://www.naicja.org/EmailTracker/EmailTracker.ashx?emailCode=awE9tuU%2bwAfeeqgBQNbgWwl266w08hBFOIXtV5%2b%2fLLjZNvWl1rWby5K1uMoPWWJNte968ViYJ%2frQTpFSkc%2b8K8HK%2ffrKGpZWmU3A0hMHd04%3d] [http://www.naicja.org/resources/Pictures/email-header.jpg] FREE TRAINING OPPORTUNITY Register Now for the American Indian Justice Conference and Present Your Work at the All Nations Cafe December 7-8, 2017 Renaissance Palm Springs Agua Caliente Reservation, CA All Nations Cafe Session at the AIJC: Join us for the All-Nations Cafe. This session is designed for you to share your innovations and learn from your fellow participants! This activity is similar to a poster session and we encourage you to create something and become exhibitors. What you can do: develop a poster board or visual display describing the process (including the change-process); draft talking points and select a team member to present; bring brochures, fact sheets, sample forms or policies that you would like to share; bring business cards or provide contact information so participants will be able to reach you if they have additional questions or seek advice. If you are interested in participating please contact Cheri Ely atcely at ncjfcj.org to sign-up or ask questions. Raffle prizes will be drawn for both exhibitors and participants. Registration for the Training: Register HERE. No cost for registration, but participants must cover the costs of travel, lodging, and per diem/food. About: The goal of the Bureau of Justice Assistance sponsored AIJC is to provide training to enhance your tribal community's response to combat alcohol and drug abuse, recognize how trauma impacts drug and alcohol abuse in tribal communities, and identify current trends and best practices for tribal justice systems to strengthen multi-disciplinary approaches to healing and justice. The five multi-disciplinary tracks include alcohol and substance abuse, tribal justice strategic planning, tribal courts, tribal security and probation, and tribal youth. CTAS Purpose Area 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9 grantees may use grant funds to attend the AIJC. Please confirm with your Program Manager that you have adequate travel and training funds remaining in your award. THIS CONFERENCE HAS RECEIVED FINAL APPROVAL BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. Venue: The AIJC will be held at the Renaissance Palm Springs. The hotel is within a five-minute drive from Palm Springs International Airport and offers complimentary airport transportation. To get the discount rate of $114.00 you can make your reservations for this event by clicking on this link American Indian Justice Conference or by directly connecting with Marriott reservations at 1 (888) 682-1238 or (760) 322-6000. *You must use the link to make reservations from the AIJC event page* Individuals must identify themselves as being with the group, DOJ2017 - American Indian Justice Conference at the time the reservation is made in order to receive the special group rate. Reservations must be made by November 30, 2017. The Renaissance currently has availability for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night. See below for overflow hotel information. [http://www.naicja.org/resources/Pictures/1e71c5_c728d037d3c84de4aff78ebae326f030~mv2.jpg] Overflow Hotel: The Renaissance is sold out for the nights of Monday, December 4 and Tuesday, December 5. We have reserved a block of rooms for those nights at the Hilton Hotel at the rate of $114 per night. You can make your reservation by calling 1-800-445-8667, or you can call the hotel direct at 760-320-6868. Use the code DOJ when making your reservations. The Palm Springs Hilton Hotel is one of the Hilton 'resorts', so a one-night deposit is required when a reservation is made. For More Information Contact: Ansley Sherman, ansley at naicja.org or Bridget McClesky, confcoor at gmail.com. This training will not be hosting vendors. National American Indian Court Judges Association 1942 Broadway ? Suite 321 ? Boulder, CO 80302 Tel: 303.449.4112 ? info at naicja.org Unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Tue Nov 28 11:02:44 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2017 17:02:44 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] Today is GivingTuesday! Show your support for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute In-Reply-To: <2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f.48a90e1d41.20171128162455.af545f076f.2d341e7b@mail35.sea31.mcsv.net> References: <2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f.48a90e1d41.20171128162455.af545f076f.2d341e7b@mail35.sea31.mcsv.net> Message-ID: View this email in your browser [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f/images/674d1f66-ac8c-4f41-b099-9ad807e6eaaa.png] Today, you can make a difference! Take part in #GivingTuesday by showing your support for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. Since 1996, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, a Native American operated non-profit, has been dedicated to providing free publication resources and comprehensive training and technical assistance for Native Nations and tribal justice systems in pursuit of our vision to empower Native communities to create and control their own institutions for the benefit of all community members, now, and for future generations. We welcome you into our circle of supporters and ask that you consider making a tax-deductible donation today! Your tax-deductible donation will help us to provide increased training and resources for the tribes, tribal court systems, and tribal victim services programs that we serve every day. Your donation will allow us to further our mission of enhancing and strengthening tribal sovereignty and justice while honoring community values, protecting rights and promoting well-being. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f/images/abeb39bc-b326-4867-b623-00f0c4920841.jpg] [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f/images/05640021-3cd1-45e4-ac77-b77b795ef951.jpg] [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f/_compresseds/699c882c-985e-4d79-b1b4-458d75b210a2.jpg] Donate Today! Other Ways To Give [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f/images/34888643-acfb-4c96-9295-81398b5ba425.gif] The Tribal Law and Policy Institute is a CFC approved charity. If you are a federal employee, please consider donating to CFC Code: 78453 [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2098ca541b563fa96b8822b3f/images/349f3daf-7de7-4c94-9cf1-4f1c25ec2870.jpg] Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Select the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (Tax ID: 943255933) Would you like more information about our organization? [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/video_thumbnails_new/b86b4016cf3ce86e2e979ca3dd889b20.png] In 2015, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute celebrated 20 years of serving American Indian and Alaska Native Communities. Please watch this video to learn more about the Tribal Law and Policy Institute and the work that we do. The following are illustrations of Current TLPI Projects: * The Tribal Court Clearinghouse and many other websites * Tribal-State Collaborations projects including the Walking on Common Ground website * National Indian Nations Conferences: Justice for Victims of Crime * VAWA 2013 Enhanced Tribal Jurisdiction * Tribal Sexual Assault Resources and Violence against Native Women resources * Tribal Sex Trafficking Resources * Tribal Legal Code Resources and Tribal Legal Studies textbooks * Tribal Healing to Wellness Court training and resources Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts * Tribal Child Welfare Resources and Child Welfare Capacity Building Center for Tribes For more information, please visit www.home.tlpi.org. THANK YOU! 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URL: From Lauren at tlpi.org Thu Nov 30 12:49:45 2017 From: Lauren at tlpi.org (Lauren van Schilfgaarde) Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2017 18:49:45 +0000 Subject: [Tribal-drug-courts] Article on Judge Abby Abinanti and Peacemaking Courts Message-ID: [cid:image001.jpg at 01D2FF3B.F71AAE80] NATIVE AMERICAN JUDGE SHOWS PEACEMAKING COURTS OFFER A MODEL FOR REFORM REBECCA CLARREN [http://1k0y401b7r382frmh33gn3qz.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Clarren6-336x252.jpg] Yurok Tribe Judge Abby Abinanti On a gloomy day in September, Lisa Hayden rushed through the circular door of the Yurok Tribal Court in Klamath, California, with her 1-year-old son on her hip. Hayden, 31, worried that the day wouldn?t turn out any different from all the others she?d spent in court trying to protect herself from her ex-husband. For 12 years, starting when she was pregnant with their first child, Hayden alleges, her ex-husband had held guns to her head, punched her and called her terrible names. The abuse that Hayden says she suffered is shockingly common: According to a Justice Department study in 2016, four out of five Native Americans have experienced violence from an intimate partner. In 97 percent of those cases, Native women were victimized by non-Natives. To make matters worse, indigenous people are less likely to receive fair treatment when interacting with police and judges, according to a recent analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and a report from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. This has been Hayden?s experience. Last year, anticipating her ex-husband?s release from prison, Hayden went to county court to request a restraining order, showing the judge threatening letters her ex had sent from prison. After spending less than five minutes listening to Hayden, the judge dismissed her fears as something ?she had to work through? and denied her request. Within six months of his release, according to Hayden, her ex-husband?high on heroin, wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with three guns?kicked in the front door of her apartment, yelling that he wanted to kill her, as she and her three children huddled on the floor. Though her ex was sent back to prison, Hayden remained afraid. This was why Hayden brought her request for a restraining order to Judge Abby Abinanti of the Yurok Tribal Court, a respected figure with a distinctive approach to jurisprudence. Abinanti doesn?t wear a robe, opting instead for jeans and cowboy boots. She sits not on a dais, but behind a wooden desk in a small room. Immediately upon entering Abinanti?s courtroom on that September day, Hayden said, she felt ?more like a person? than she had in county court. Abinanti listened at length, squinting as if trying to solve a puzzle. Ultimately, Abinanti issued the restraining order. But she also made an offer to Hayden?s ex-husband, to send letters to his children and receive photos through a caseworker; an earlier offer still stands for him to attend a program designed by Abinanti?s court to rehabilitate batterers, and to remove his gang tattoos on the tribe?s dime. The goal was to protect Hayden while giving her ex-husband a chance to end his cycle into and out of prison. (So far, he?s refused all services.) ?No one ever came up with that in the county system,? Hayden said after Abinanti?s ruling, smiling as her kids played nearby. ?No one ever tried to get at the root of it. ?Relieved? is the big word for today.? Abinanti is one of a growing number of tribal judges nationwide incorporating traditional culture into their courtrooms, with the dual aim of rehabilitating individuals and providing justice to people often failed by the regular criminal-justice system. Abinanti, whose court was recently described in a federal assessment as ?extremely fair and balanced in its rulings,? is more likely to ask defendants to devise their own ways to atone for a crime or settle a dispute than to slap them with fines or incarceration. As Abinanti explains, ?I?m looking at: How did we resolve things before our cultural interruption, when invasion occurred? We were village people, and we sat around and had discussions. My purpose is to help you think up how to make it right if you made a mistake?. For me, jail is banishment. It?s the last resort.? Traditional models of dispute resolution, which are characterized by the involvement of everyone affected by an offense and emphasize repairing harm instead of inflicting punishment?an approach often called ?restorative justice??are gaining attention outside Native communities. It?s a significant shift, as historically both Congress and the Supreme Court have diminished the legitimacy of tribal courts and peacemaking forums. (In almost all circumstances, tribal courts cannot hear criminal cases involving non-Native people, even for crimes committed on Native land.) Now five Western states as well as Michigan are using tribal models to develop courts that seek to create a consensus between the plaintiff and the defendant. Casey Family Programs, one of the nation?s largest child-welfare foundations, is promoting partnerships between state and tribal courts in which judges, social workers and attorneys convene to adjudicate cases. In the past several years, courses in Native American peacemaking have been taught at the Columbia, Lewis and Clark, and University of New Mexico law schools. Prestigious law-review journals, including the American Bar Association?s, have published articles on the importance of therapeutic tribal courts and peacemaking. As a sign of this increasing respect, Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently introduced legislation that would grant tribal judges expanded ability to prosecute non-Native assailants. The new attention is partly due to the growing recognition that the country?s punitive approach to criminal justice has failed: The United States has 5 percent of the world?s population but 25 percent of its population of prisoners, a disproportionate number of them people of color. ?The American justice system is in crisis, and we have to think about what else could work,? said Cheryl Fairbanks, a board member at the National American Indian Court Judges Association. Could the old practices revived by Abinanti be part of this future? ?You don?t start out to be a meth-head? Every other week, Abinanti packs her hatchback with groceries, books and blankets and drives six and a half hours from her apartment in San Francisco, through the tawny hills of Northern California, and up into the foggy redwood forests of the Yurok Reservation. Abinanti, 70, has been making this drive her entire life. As a child, Abinanti was shuttled from her drug-addicted mother?s house near the reservation to the home of her paternal grandmother, who lived in San Francisco?s Noe Valley neighborhood, blocks away from Abinanti?s current apartment. Like many Native children, Abinanti was misdiagnosed by her school and placed in a class for developmentally delayed students; not until high school did a teacher realize she was bright. Abinanti was angry a lot. (?I?m better now, even though I?m still half-mean,? she offered with a dry smile.) Relatives often said she reminded them of her grandfather, Marion Rube, a bank robber who once escaped from San Quentin prison. Her childhood isn?t something that she typically shares from the bench, but it informs her empathic orientation. ?You don?t start out to be a meth-head?it?s not, like, a career objective,? Abinanti said on a recent drive north. When not talking, she hummed along with Hank Williams on the radio. ?You don?t know what breaks a person, and if you?re strong enough to come back, you can?t judge someone who isn?t.? Abinanti speaks often about intergenerational trauma, the idea that the events of colonization in the past?rape, murder, and the dissolution of indigenous languages and cultures?create ongoing problems in the present: Native American communities now experience physical and sexual assault at three times the national average. For the Yurok, that traumatic history is recent. Throughout Abinanti?s childhood and until 1970, the federal government, eager to assimilate indigenous people, terminated more than 100 nations, including the Yurok. The government stripped those citizens of their land and made it illegal to dance ceremonially or practice Native religions. By 1974, when Abinanti became the first Native American woman to pass the bar in California, there was no tribe for her to work for, so she joined California Indian Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm for the state?s tribes and tribal members. In some courtrooms, she was the first Native American lawyer ever to enter there. Abinanti was the first Native woman in California to become a state judge; she also taught law at the University of California, Berkeley, and served as a judge or attorney for seven other tribes. In 2007, after the Yurok Tribe reclaimed its legal status and reestablished its government, Abinanti became chief justice. At the time, the court was open only once a month, mostly to adjudicate fishing violations. Under Abinanti, it?s grown into an enterprise with about 20 employees and hears an average of 670 cases per year, ranging from illegal trash dumping to domestic-abuse cases. Innovation and flexibility are what distinguish Abinanti?s court. For instance, if both parents agree to the terms, she permits nonmonetary child-support payments such as manual labor or salmon. Abinanti and her staff have created a handful of programs intended to provide alternatives to incarceration. A wellness program sanctioned by the state allows the Yurok Tribe to pull members accused of drug crimes out of the court system and bring them home for addiction treatment; the program includes cultural rituals like sweat lodges and prayer. ?If we were serious about mirroring Judge Abby?s style, we?d have to create and sustain a society with minimal incarceration.? Another program is designed to rehabilitate people who have beaten their partners or children. It?s the first in the state of California, and possibly in the country, certified to include non-Native people. That?s imperative on the Yurok?s checkerboard reservation, where tribal members and non-Natives are often neighbors and partners. Participants in the yearlong program consult with elders and learn to identify personal triggers and to use anger-management tools. Since the program began two years ago, none of its participants have returned to jail for domestic violence. The tribe has yet to analyze its recidivism rates overall, but a handful of studies indicate that other tribal courts are achieving better success for their members than are state courts. The Kake Tribe in Alaska found that members enrolled in a peacemaking project fulfilled their court-ordered amends 97.5 percent of the time, compared with a 22 percent success rate in the Alaskan state-court system. Participants in the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Wellness Court, which allows people arrested for driving while intoxicated to receive culturally specific treatment on the reservation, had 60 percent fewer rearrests one year after entering the program than the DUI offenders, both Native and non-Native, who attended a county rehab program. Timothy Connors, who?s been a state judge in Michigan for more than 25 years and has served by invitation in the past five on the court of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, is leading an effort to create county courts that use a tribally inspired peacemaking approach in cases where the parties involved will have an ongoing relationship after they leave court. In the first four years of these peacemaking courts, 94 percent of the cases resulted in an agreement between both parties and avoided litigation. Unlike mediation, the goal of these courts isn?t simply the resolution of a given issue, but rather a deepened understanding between the affected parties. ?It?s the idea of cleansing and healing versus judging,? Connors said. ?They are designed not to get even, but to get well.? Under current law, states aren?t required to recognize most tribal-court rulings. Yet there are now at least 15 Tribal-State Court Forums?coalitions of federal, state and tribal judges, which meet regularly to facilitate efficient cross-jurisdictional enforcement of court orders, civil proceedings and compliance in child-welfare cases. ?Tribal courts have been continuously attacked as illegitimate forums since contact,? said Jerry Gardner, executive director of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. ?But with the rise of restorative justice, tribal courts are being seen not just as legitimate institutions but as partners, which have wise and innovative approaches and resources to probe the root causes of crimes.? The challenge now One recent evening, Abinanti sat on her couch watching baseball with a few colleagues and discussing the people who?d ended up in jail over the weekend. For the judge?who spends much of her spare time studying economic development, searching for a way to help her tribe overcome its 73 percent unemployment rate?knowing these families is an asset, as it deepens her understanding of the impact of a particular crime. In non-tribal courts, by contrast, judges must recuse themselves if they know a defendant. That?s just one of a number of barriers to applying tribal models to America?s criminal-justice system more broadly. The scale of the state-court system alone makes it nearly impossible for judges to take the time required for Abinanti?s approach: There were nearly 7 million cases filed in California state court in 2015. Mandatory-sentencing laws would also have to be overhauled. ?If we were serious about mirroring Judge Abby?s style, we?d have to create and sustain a society with minimal incarceration,? Savala Trepczynski, executive director of the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at the UC Berkeley School of Law, noted by e-mail. ?We?d have to reimagine the purpose of the criminal-justice system and destroy the economic incentives to incarcerate.? Developing such courts can be a challenge even for tribes. There?s no reliable data on how many of the 567 federally recognized tribes have set up courts that reflect their traditions. But at least 19 have written tribal codes, and many more are revitalizing their courts with cultural concepts. However, many face significant budget challenges. (Abinanti likens herself to a street hustler for all the time she spends applying for grants.) The Bureau of Indian Affairs is funding most tribal courts at just 6 percent of what is needed, according to a 2015 BIA report to Congress. Certain states, including California and Alaska, receive no allocated federal funds for tribal courts. A pilot project to determine funding needs in those states was created during the Obama administration, but it would be eliminated under President Trump?s proposed budget. There is also the question of whether a restorative-justice model is appropriate for every crime, particularly those involving sexual predators. There is a real potential for further harm if the victims of sexual violence are expected to communicate with the perpetrators, said Sarah Deer, co-director of the Indian Law program at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and a national expert on violence against Native women. ?I get nervous about putting victims in that system,? Deer continued, ?because it sets up a lot of victim-blaming.? Still, Abinanti believes that for perpetrators truly committed to making amends, rehabilitation is possible, even though it may take years. ?This isn?t as simple as saying you?re sorry and moving on,? she said. ?Some things aren?t fixable, but? you at least have to try.? You can access the article here. Wellness Court News: [http://www.wellnesscourts.org/images/THWC%20Treatment%202017.png] New Publication: Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: Treatment Guidelines, 2nd ed. (2017), is designed to provide tribal communities with an overview of Western substance abuse treatment strategies that have been developed by drug court programs over the past several years and that tribal programs might consider adapting, along with traditional healing practices. This guideline draws upon drug court standards and best practices, and the experiences of hundreds of tribal and state adult and juvenile drug court programs, operating in various environments and serving a wide range of individuals addicted to alcohol and/or other drugs. Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: Treatment Guidelines for Adults and Juveniles (2002 draft) You can find this publication for free download on our Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Publication Series webpage, as well as on our Home.TLPI.org website. The Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Publication Series is a free resource available to the field, documenting best practices and the latest in practice-based knowledge. Upcoming Trainings: American Indian Justice Conference December 7-8, 2017 Palm Springs, CA Upcoming Grants: SAMHSA Grant: Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Family Treatment Drug Courts Posted on Grants.gov: Friday, November 17, 2017 Application Due Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2018 Questions? Request for technical assistance? Email: wellness at tlpi.org Tribal Law and Policy Institute 8235 Santa Monica Blvd. Ste. 211 West Hollywood, CA 90046 www.Home.TLPI.org www.WellnessCourts.org Phone: (323) 650-5467 Email: wellness at tlpi.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 19434 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 44696 bytes Desc: image003.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image005.png Type: image/png Size: 86400 bytes Desc: image005.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image004.png Type: image/png Size: 19769 bytes Desc: image004.png URL: