Bill Baer: Department of Justice works closely with Indian Country

While the department is proud of the progress we have made working with our tribal partners, we understand that there is more we can do together.

This is precisely why I believe it is so important to highlight the efforts of tribal partners, like the Salish and Kootenai, whose commitment to reducing recidivism and promoting community safety is a holistic model of best practices for others.

With the help of a $600,000 Second Chance Act grant from the department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Salish and Kootenai started a model reentry program, which is the first of its kind in the state and is exemplary of what is possible through collaborative partnerships between tribal, federal and state agencies, culturally-appropriate problem solving and a community that is invested in addressing underlying root causes and focusing on positive outcomes and alternatives.

The department has spent this spring highlighting our efforts to improve reentry and this includes work that is being done with tribal communities:
• a historic memorandum of understanding between federal, tribal and two state agencies in North and South Dakota to collectively provide community-based, culturally specific reentry services to the Standing Rock Reservation;
• a BJA partnership with the Executive Office for U.S. Attorney’s National Indian Country Coordinator to host three regional Intergovernmental Reentry Workshops to provide tribes interested in developing reentry initiatives with guidance based on evidence-based practices; an opportunity to learn from tribes with effective programs; and an opportunity to work with state and federal counterparts;
• working with states to encourage successful re-entry by facilitating the process in which individuals obtain government-issued identification, which can be critical to accessing benefits, securing housing, employment, school registration and opening bank accounts; and
• working with tribes that are exploring ways to ensure that members who are reentering have the identification they need to lead productive lives.