The Tribal Youth Resource Center was honored to host the 2021 OJJDP Tribal Youth Virtual National Conference. The 2021 Conference Theme was “Shaping Brighter Futures with American Indian, Alaska Native Youth, and Tribal Communities- Strengthening Resilience, Promoting Healing, Restoring Culture.” The conference was coordinated and presented in partnership with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Alaska tribal youth training and technical assistance provider, The Resource Basket, and The National Native Children’s Trauma Center.
While it is has historically been an in-person event, the 2021 Conference was the first ever virtual National OJJDP Tribal Youth Conference. The 2021 Conference was presented to a record number of tribal and non-tribal conference attendees from across the country. Session recordings are provided below. Please note that the 2021 conference held two sessions of Question, Persuade, Respond (QPR) that were presented live only. For more information about the Question, Persuade, Respond (QPR) training you may contact us at TribalYouth@TLPI.org or submit a training and technical assistance request.
We look forward to seeing you at the next OJJDP National Tribal Youth Conference- stay tuned for dates and details about the 2022 conference!
Download a copy of the 2021 Conference Booklet and check out the 2021 Conference Agenda.
Session A1 | Panel: Youth Voice
Facilitator: Tasha Fridia, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Youth Panelists: Rory Wheeler, Devin Hernandez, Kennedy Fridia, Daryle Conquering Bear Crow, and Rebekah Sawers
Workshop Description: Tribal youth panelists share their thoughts, experiences, and perspectives on issues their generation is currently facing. This dynamic group of young people discuss their priorities in creating wellness for their communities and recommend solutions for the most pressing concerns and challenges related to safety, empowering youth, and juvenile justice.
Sessions A2 and B2 | Building an Indigenous Resilience-Focused Lens (Two-Part Session)
- Laura Guay, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
- Ashley Trautman, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
Workshop Description: It is important to understand the risk factors for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth at risk or involved in the juvenile justice system in order to support safety and empower youth who may suffer from Childhood Traumatic Stress (CTS). CTS is the result of unaddressed exposure to trauma and contributes to increasing the negative impacts of risk factors. This session provides critical information about the impact of CTS on the risk factors that can lead to juvenile delinquency and negative involvement in the juvenile justice system and builds a foundation for participants to understand and utilize best practices and Indigenous knowledge to be able to address the impacts of CTS. Understanding risk factors will develop the skills needed to promote protective factors that support AI/AN youth empowerment and enhance family and community safety.
Building an Indigenous Resilience Part One
Building an Indigenous Resilience Part Two
Session A3 | Restorative Approaches and Cultural Integration in the Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
- Amy Modig, Resource Basket, RurAL CAP
- Doug Modig, Tsimshian Elder
- Joie Millet, Resource Basket, RurAL CAP
- Anna Clough, Tribal Law and Policy Institute (session moderator)
Workshop Description: Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts have an opportunity to empower youth and promote accountability and restorative justice by implementing a range of approaches to support youth engagement and activities that promote healing, understanding, and support. The Restorative Circle Approach has been implemented within wellness court frameworks to support trust-building, open dialogue, and peer engagement.
Session B1 | Digital Smoke Signals: Using Technology as a Tool for Engagement
- Tasha Fridia, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Angey Rideout, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
- Nicole Hewitt, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Workshop Description: Connection with youth is integral to enhancing both safety and accountability for individual youth and communities as a whole. There is a growing need for digital engagement to enhance Tribal Youth Program and Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court efforts, especially in times that require social distancing. This session focuses on engaging with youth through a variety of digital channels to ensure that tribal youth programs have the capacity to provide avenues for innovative programming. The session includes grantee community examples that exhibit ways in which digital engagement broadens access to services. A variety of digital platforms and strategies for virtual interactions that allow for prevention and intervention to transcend challenges of space and time will are explored.
Session B3 | Profile in Youth Resiliency
- Jamie Crowe, Pueblo of Tesuque
- Tasha Fridia, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Workshop Description: This session presents a digital storytelling event highlighting Pueblo of Tesuque youth, Jamie Crowe. In this session participants learn about one youth’s desire to stay on a positive path and overcome the vast impacts of the year 2020. Ms. Crowe shares her story and the desire to continue positive relationships, increase her education, and continue to adaptively engage within the local community and surroundings. Ms. Crowe’s story demonstrates youth resiliency to overcome challenging circumstances through personal accountability, individual goal setting, and family support.
Session C1 | Panel: Tribal State Relations to Support Juvenile Justice Improvements
- Moderators: Anna Clough and Jacob Metoxen, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Alisha Edelen and Amber Loftis, Choctaw Nation Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court Team
- Kheri Smith, Office of Juvenile Affairs, State of Oklahoma
- Janelle Bretten, Office of Juvenile Affairs, State of Oklahoma
- Debra Gee, Chickasaw Nation
- Tasha Fridia, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Bridget Coppersmith, South Dakota State Department of Corrections
Workshop Description: This panel dialogue focuses on establishing and strengthening Tribal and State partnerships, discusses the cultivation of collaborative relationships between Tribal and State juvenile justice stakeholders and provides insight into the experiences of several community members and their work toward solution-focused responses to support Tribal youth. The session highlights some practical steps taken by Tribal community juvenile justice and prevention stakeholders to establish and engage in a Tribal task force to support the identification of processes and protocols to coordinate with local State juvenile justice leaders. These efforts have led to improved communication regarding Tribal youth resources and diversion opportunities, the shared review of local Tribal juvenile justice data, and development of strategies to support coordinated referral processes for Tribal youth who make contact with the State juvenile justice system.
Session C2 | Building the Capacity of Tribal Youth Programs and Communities to Prevent and Reduce Juvenile Delinquency with Two Spirit and LGBTQ Youth
- Lenny Hayes, Tate Topa Consulting, LLC
- Daryle Conquering Bear Crow, Foster Youth Specialist, Native American Youth and Family Center
- Elicia Goodsoldier, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Workshop Description: This session focuses on building the capacity of Tribal Youth serving programs to meet the needs of youth with increased risk factors for juvenile justice system involvement. Research has shown that LGBTQ and Two Spirit youth have a higher likelihood of experiencing bullying, family rejection, homelessness, illicit drug use, and arrest for status offenses. By understanding historical and contemporary factors that influence risk and resiliency factors, programs can increase awareness of the complexities of juvenile justice involvement among LGBTQ and Two Spirit youth to reclaim, reinvent, and redefine their place as valued and contributing Tribal citizens.
Session C3 | Innovative Strategies- Tribal Youth Courts and Peer-Led Processes
- Anna Clough, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Angela Noah, United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc., (UNITY) Healing Indigenous Lives Initiative
- Elise Hocking, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Workshop Description: Youth/Peer courts provide strategies for diversion, peer engagement, and youth led processes. Learn how Tribal youth and peer courts offer a unique opportunity for communities to support youth accountability and develop proactive and prosocial solutions by engaging youth who have minor or first-time infractions.
Session D1 | Telling Our Story Through Evaluation
- Ethleen Iron Cloud-Two Dogs, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Marneena Evans, Westat
Workshop Description: Participants are provided with an example of an evaluation process from data collection through data analysis and an example of how to present the evaluation findings to the community.
Session D2 | Probation and Supervision in the Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
- Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Anna Clough, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Dave McArthur, White Earth Nation Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
Workshop Description: The Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court emphasizes ongoing support, supervision, and accountability. This session provides an overview of the methods by which supervision may occur and includes an overview of one community’s approach to supervision within the Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court.
Session D4 | A Continuum of Connectedness: Strategies and Considerations for Implementing Youth Substance Use Reduction Initiatives
- Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Gerry RainingBird, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Leon Leader Charge, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Anna Clough, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Workshop Description: This session focuses on current substance abuse trends in Indian Country, efforts to address substance use among Tribal youth, and examines strength-based processes to support Tribal youth substance use/reduction in Tribal prevention and youth wellness programs. Speakers share community-driven processes for initiatives that lead to youth connectedness and resiliency.
Session E1 | Creativity & Innovation in the Face of COVID-19: Maskiizibii Oshki Gabeshiwin 2020 Virtual Youth Conference
- Lynn BigBoy, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians Tribal Youth Program
- Jeri Brunoe, Jeri Brunoe Training and Consulting, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
- Daryl Jay, Jeri Brunoe Training and Consulting
Workshop Description: This session present the journey undertaken in 2020 to develop, plan, and implement a virtual peer to peer mentoring and experiential youth leadership conference that encompassed poetry, photography, music, and art for middle and high school students during a pandemic. The session also explores peer to peer mentoring and cultural arts approaches that promote healing, resilience, and prevent or reduce delinquent behavior.
Session E3 | A Deeper Dive into Restorative Approaches and Cultural Integration in the Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court: Peer-to-Peer Sharing
- Amy Modig, Resource Basket, RurAL CAP
- Doug Modig, Tsimshian Elder
- Joie Millet, Resource Basket, RurAL CAP
- Anna Clough, Tribal Law and Policy Institute (session moderator)
Workshop Description: For those who would like to dive deeper into discussion around Restorative Approaches and Cultural Integration in the Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court, this session builds upon the principles and ideas shared in the correlating prior session and opens the floor for more extensive peer-to-peer discussion of restorative approaches to support youth within juvenile justice settings and prevention program frameworks. This session allows grantees and others to continue to learn from each other about what is working in their communities to support trust-building, open dialogue, and peer engagement.
Session E4 | Enhancing Tribal Juvenile Justice with Trauma-Informed Systems Change- Trauma Expert Panel
- Veronica Willeto DeCrane, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
- Maegan Rides At The Door, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
- Lisa Stark, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
- Laura Guay, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
- Marilyn Zimmerman, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
- Nona Main, National Native Children’s Trauma Center
Workshop Description: Research suggests that Native American youth are at increased risk of trauma, depression, and PTSD as a result of grief and exposure to violence which can lead to relationship problems, drug and alcohol abuse, violent behavior, suicide and depression, problems in school, and bullying and victimization. National Native Children’s Trauma Center provides training in evidence-based and promising practices as well as technical assistance in trauma-informed systems change across all tribal child-serving systems, including schools, behavioral health providers, child welfare agencies, and juvenile justice systems. The National Native Children’s Trauma Center also assists in the cultural adaptation of evidence-based and promising practices and develop products and practices intended for use in Native communities. This panel provides an opportunity for attendees to hear more about their work and to ask questions that may have been generated throughout the conference.
