Indian Country has longstanding criminal justice issues associated with substance abuse, and most recently, tribal communities have been forced to confront a rapid and unprecedented rise in methamphetamine, heroin, and opiate trafficking and abuse that has led to a dramatic increase in reservation crime. The National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA) is committed to customizing innovative, grassroots solutions by providing true peer-to-peer TTA that will address the unique interests of tribal sovereigns as defined by the community the justice system serves. The benefit of this approach is bringing together TTA providers who understand the insular nature of reservations and who are invested in the growth and wellbeing of tribal communities with current best practices and cultural competency.

NAICJA will provide TTA to Program Area 3 grantees in partnership with National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the Indigenous Peacemaking Initiative of the Native American Rights Fund, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI), Cheryl Fairbanks, LLC, the Hon. Shawn Watts, KU Law School, National Indian Law Library (NILL), and the Center for Indigenous Research and Justice (CIRJ). NAICJA’s goal is to provide Training and Technical Assistance that preserves each tribe’s own individual concepts of native law and support tribal self-determination by strengthening the justice system and the intervention programs designed to address alcohol and substance abuse.

1. Increasing the knowledge of criminal and tribal justice practitioners through in-person training, web-based learning, distance learning including webinars and podcasts, and developing or revising training curricula;
2. Increasing all serviced tribal justice agency’s ability to solve problems and/or modify policies and practices; and,
3. Increase information provided to BJA and the criminal and tribal justice communities.

• Publications, fact-sheets, and model codes
• Code drafting assistance
• Peer-to-peer consultations
• Listserv communications
• Onsite TTA
• Distance Learning TTA via teleconference, videoconference, and email
• Interactive online training modules
• Webinars
• In-person training and needs assessments via a National Training Conference. Training and pre-conference topics will be related to tribal justice systems, including traditional justice, alcohol and substance abuse as it relates to public safety and victims’ services, law enforcement, prosecution, defense services/legal aid, offender reentry, tribal-federal-state intergovernmental collaboration, and justice information sharing.