Final Report: Participatory Evaluation of the Sisseton Wahepton Oyate IASAP Demonstration Project

• NCJ Number: 222740
• Author(s): Jennie R. Joe Ph.D.; Jenny Chong Ph.D.; Robert Young Ph.D.; Darlene Lopez Ph.Dc; B. J. Jones J.D.; Gary Gaikowski B.A.
• Date Published: October 2007
• Length: 72 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-AC-BX-0011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Award: A Participatory Evaluation of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA) Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Demonstration (IASAD) Programs

Annotation

Using a participatory evaluation model, this federally supported study evaluated the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (SWO) Indian Alcohol Substance Abuse Program (IASAP); a program with a goal to lower alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities and decrease access to and abuse of alcohol by tribal youth.

Abstract

Selected results of the evaluative study include: (1) although the efforts of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (SWO)-Indian Alcohol Substance Abuse Program (IASAP) resulted in an admirable study of collaboration between tribal law enforcement, the court, probation, and treatment, their efforts have been hampered significantly by many factors, such as chronic and substantial lack of resources; (2) the need for more community education, involvement and interaction with tribal law enforcement; (3) relationships between tribal law enforcement with those of the State and county appear to be better informally than formally; (4) an absence of AOD free entertainment or diversion for youth that could prevent AOD abuse; and (5) the need to increase the availability of early intervention services. The SWO IASAP highlights the needs of the Oyate and the commitment of their officials to combat the alcohol and drug problem. Even with the chronic lack of resources, the court probation officers were able to improve the supervision of the juvenile probationers by networking and collaborating with schools and other providers, and the law enforcement officers were able to work with community agencies to increase community awareness. The SWO IASAP demonstration project has application for other tribes, demonstrating its use of probation staff to help youth access and utilize existing resources to improve treatment outcomes. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice awarded a contract to the Native American Research and Training Center at the University of Arizona to conduct a participatory evaluation of the SWO IASAP in partnership with the SWO tribal court and law enforcement agency of the Lake Traverse Reservation. The goal of the evaluation was to determine whether the SWO IASAP demonstration project was successful in achieving its goals and if the outcomes of the project had application to other tribal communities. Exhibits, references, and appendixes A-B