Tribal Courts

Wellness Court Specialist Kristina Pacheco provided onsite TTA with TLPI Consultant Julie Wilkens. The primary concerns were legal screening and participant motivation to begin THWC.
The training agenda included:
Day 1
Opening Prayer, Welcome and Introductions
10 Key Components of HTWC
Entering Healing to Wellness Court
Healing to Wellness Court Team Roles and Communication
Phases and Responding to Participant Behavior
Wrap up/Next Steps for SSCC

Last reporting period Gila River Community (FY20 ATC Grantee) submitted a TTA request with a need for guidance to address challenges involving prosecutor's office as a gatekeeper to THWC and the length of program versus sentencing time. As the tribe needed time to have an internal strategic planning meeting, a meeting to further discuss assistance needed was planned for January 2024. Follow up to this request did occur this reporting period and a brief overview of the benefits and the importance THWCs for tribal communities was added to the TTA request.

Wellness Court Specialists Kristina Pacheco and Angie Juárez-Monger met with Rosebud Sioux Judge Anne Marie Michaels and the Wellness Court Coordinator to discuss the planning and implementation of the Rosebud Sioux THWC. Sample THWC documents were being reviewed and Rosebud Sioux completed an initial draft of their Operational Manual. The target start date was April 2024 and had planned to initially accept 10 participants to test their program. Rosebud Sioux observed Mentor Court Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa on February 9, 2024 and Mentor Court Tulalip on February 12, 2024.

Skadden Fellow Grace Carson met with Penobscot Tribal Court Administrator, Rebecca Winter, at the CTAS - New Grantee Orientation. An introductory meeting occurred where project goals of their court were discussed. Penobscot requested a review of their Operational Manual. A meeting was then set with the Penobscot THWC team to discuss substantial feedback offered by TLPI. The team worked to revise their guide based on TLPI feedback. Grantee outreach continued and information for TLPI's Enhancement Training was shared. Grantee support will continue next reporting period.

Blackfeet Veterans Alliance Administrator Leo Pollock and Judge Sam Juneau reached out to Wellness Court Specialist Kristina Pacheco about creating a Veterans Court on the Blackfeet Reservation, along with local partners. An initial information gathering meeting occurred. A tentative plan was developed for a future onsite training with TLPI Veteran Consultant and TTA Partner Justice for Vets, potentially in to occur in October at the request of Blackfeet Nation.

The Cultural Onsite resulted from two years of working with LTBB as a Mentor Court Program and the technical assistance requests from other programs across the country to implement more traditional activities into their own Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts. LTBB offered to host a cultural onsite training to offer examples of the way they do things in their program, and encourage other programs to use their own traditional activities and how they can engage their own cultural practices and creation story into programming.

The Yurok Tribe (FY20 ATC grantee) submitted a Foundational Training application to All Rise, which was referred to TLPI. Yurok THWC also contacted TLPI with a request for technical assistance.
Wellness Court Specialist Kristina Pacheco coordinated a meeting on February 5, 2024 as an initial meeting with Yurok. As TTA was further discussed, it was determined that a future onsite in collaboration with the Tribal Youth Resource Center would occur to train overlapping staff in the Adult and Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts. The onsite TTA was scheduled for August 2024.

Through monthly check ins, each TLPI TTA coach will work to support grantees in completing work plans and tracking their progress in accomplishing grant deliverables.

TLPI's Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts TTA project includes the creation of a tribal-specific foundational training curriculum as Objective 4: Develop and provide Foundational Training, with the following associated tasks:
4.1 Design and develop a tribal-specific foundational training curriculum.
4.2 Pilot test a tribal-specific foundational curriculum (with 2 new THWCs).
4.3 Assess and refine the piloted tribal specific foundational training curriculum.
4.4 Deliver tribal specific foundational training to 10 courts seeking to launch a new THWC.

The Mentor Court Program remained highly active this reporting period.