Join us in Celebrating our 25th Anniversary!
Serving American Indian/Alaska Native communities since 1996
Current Projects
TLPI is pleased to offer the following projects for the improvement of tribal justice systems. Take a look and visit the corresponding websites to learn more.
Since 2013, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute has been providing training and technical assistance for tribes interested in implementing the “Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction” provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2022 (initially provided T/TA in conjunction with NCAI for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013) Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction). This project’s Tribal Implementation of VAWA website was developed as a resource focusing on Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction. It contains an overview of the Violence against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022: Tribal Criminal Jurisdictions over Non-Indians, categories of criminal conduct under VAWA 2022, Frequently Asked Questions, webinars and resources, news, funding information, events, and information for the Intertribal Technical-Assistance Working Group (ITWG). With funding from the Office on Violence Against Women and Bureau of Justice Assistance – TLPI has developed resources under this project: Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction over Non-Indians: Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2022; Judicial Qualifications for Tribal Court Judges: VAWA 2022 Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Series; Fair Cross Section and Tribal Jury Composition: VAWA 2022 Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Series; Victim’s Rights: VAWA 2022 Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Series; Implementing TLOA and VAWA; a comprehensive VAWA resource on the Tribal Court Clearinghouse; and TribalProtectionOrder.org, which serve as an online resource on the drafting and enforcement of tribal protection orders.
Through funding from the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), the Tribal Law and Policy Institute provides support to legal assistance projects providing legal services (including attorneys and lay legal advocates in Tribal courts) to survivors located on Tribal lands. The project works to benefit the Legal Assistance for Victims Program (OVW) grantees and other legal assistance providers. During project period, TLPI and its project partners will: 1) Develop a website to house resources for legal assistance projects providing legal services to survivors on Tribal land; 2) Provide tailored training to a broad audience via webinar series with two tracks: Victim Advocacy and Legal Advocacy Skills; 3) Support off site TTA requests and 4) Develop two short resources. More information will be forthcoming at the project’s website.
The Tribal Law and Policy Institute in partnership with the National Native Children’s Trauma Center and Communities United for Restorative Justice for Youth serves as the Training and Technical Assistance provider for the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Programs’ Tribal Youth Programs and Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts grantees, as well as to all interested federally recognized Tribes. This free training and technical assistance center is designed to help expand Tribes’ potential in protecting and nurturing their most sacred asset – Tribal youth – through a culturally based and healing informed lens. The Tribal Youth Resource Center (TYRC) accomplishes their vision of “ Working with Tribes to Change the Narrative for Native Youth” through a variety of national and regional trainings, web-based trainings, onsite trainings, and teleconference consultations ranging from sharing Tribal evidence based and culturally validated practices that are proving successful and have longevity in promoting academic, social, and emotional health in working with Native youth to Youth Healing to Wellness Courts development, assessing compliance with OJJDP grant requirements, strategic planning through sustainability, alternatives to detention, Indigenous model of restorative practices, youth leadership & empowerment, parent engagement to a whole host of all other programmatic training and technical assistance offerings. Request training and technical assistance at the www.TribalYouth.org website.​​
The Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI), along with our partners the Tribal Judicial Institute (TJI), the National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA), and the Center for Justice Innovation (CJI) provide training and technical assistance to Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) Purpose Area (PA) #3 Tribal Justice System grantees and non-grantees to support the implementation and enhancement of Tribal courts, Tribal justice systems, and Tribal-state intergovernmental collaborations, under a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. This project includes the WalkingOnCommonGround.org website which serves as a resource for Tribal justice systems and intergovernmental collaborations and contains a wealth of resources, including webinars, publications, and subject matter annotated resource lists for Tribal Justice Systems, joint jurisdictional court resources, and an interactive map with memorandums of agreements searchable by subject matter. This project also includes the TribalJustice.org website which serves as an excellent source of promising programs throughout Indian country and provides examples of programs focusing on alternatives to incarceration, corrections and reentry, jurisdictional collaborations, traditional courts and more. This project also includes providing resources for implementing both the Tribal Law and Order Acts “enhanced sentencing” provisions and the Violence Against Native Women Act “Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction.” Several publications have been produced under this project. For other general Tribal Code development resources, see https://www.home.tlpi.org/legal-code-development-series
TLPI provides Tribal Healing to Wellness Court training and technical assistance for Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Tribal Treatment Court grantees, CTAS Purpose Area 3 grantees with Healing to Wellness Courts, and non-grantee Healing to Wellness Courts to support planning and implementation of newly developed courts and enhancement for operational courts. Training and technical assistance includes individualized onsite and virtual technical assistance, regional and national trainings, featuring an annual Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Implementation and Enhancement Training; a series of publications and webinars, a Mentor Court/Sister Court Program, expansion of veteran-focused activities, and other supplementary resources.
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This project, funded under a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, includes the WellnessCourts.org website which serves as a resource center for project resources, training opportunities; and relevant law, policy, and treatment court field updates for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts. Other web-based resources offered are a community of learning forum for grantees to share various aspects of Wellness Court implementation and enhancement through a peer-to-peer platform, and a Wellness Court listserv to have funding and training opportunities, publications, and other new Treatment Court field resources delivered directly to your email inbox. Newly developed by TLPI is the first Tribal-specific, foundational Healing to Wellness Court training curriculum. The Fundamentals Training for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts is a module-based curriculum that discusses each of the ten fundamental elements in a comprehensive and interactive manner, which allows for individualization with a Tribe’s cultural values, practices, and traditions. This training curriculum is also offered in whole or in part to meet the specific needs of a Tribal Healing to Wellness Court. In addition, several resources have been developed under this project and can be found here: https://www.home.tlpi.org/tribal-healing-to-wellness-courts.
To request training and technical assistance, please submit a THWC Request Form or email Wellness@tlpi.org, and please visit the wellnesscourts.org website.
Under funding from the Children’s Bureau (Administration of Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), the State-Tribal Partnership Project “We are Better Together,” is a collaboration between the Yurok Tribe, California Department of Social Services, Superior Court of Humboldt County, Superior Court of Del Norte County, California’s Court Improvement Project, and the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. The focus of this partnership is the Joint Jurisdiction Family Wellness Courts (JJFWC) in both Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. TLPI and partners will assess current JJFWC practice and develop walkthrough maps that explain how families move through the JJFWC to identify specific challenges, bottlenecks, and their root causes. The project will also assess the partnership to identify common goals and obstacles to achieving those goals. These assessments will be brought to the We are Better Together collaborative partners who will prioritize tasks to address challenges that will drive the development of implementation plans for the project. In addition, the funding will be used to address a specific challenge that was apparent without an assessment – staffing a shared position. The outcome of this project will serve as an example of how tribes, states, courts, and counties can cooperatively navigate jurisdictional boundaries and systems challenges of a Public Law 280 state to better serve Native families by working together.
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The Tribal Court Clearinghouse is a comprehensive website established in June 1997 to serve as a resource for American Indian and Alaska Native Nations, American Indian and Alaska Native people, tribal justice systems, victims services providers, tribal service providers, and others involved in the improvement of justice in Indian country. It is one of the most comprehensive websites on tribal justice system issues, and includes a wealth of tribal, state, and federal resources. The Clearinghouse website contains extensive resources on tribal, state, and federal law along with extensive Indian country subject-matter resources, a training events calendar, and resources from all TLPI webinars. The Clearinghouse has been cited in United States Supreme Court opinions including United States v. Bryant, 579 U.S. ___ (2016).