DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CONSULTS WITH INDIAN COUNTRY AND RESPONDS TO TRIBAL NEEDS

         WASHINGTON -Assistant Attorney General Regina B. Schofield will visit the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache Reservations today and tomorrow as part of a weeklong series of tribal consultation, training, site visits and related activities in Arizona aimed at improving law enforcement and criminal justice in Indian country, and ensuring that federally recognized tribes are full partners in this effort.

         "We learned from tribal leaders at previous consultation sessions about the greatest challenges to Native communities," said Regina B. Schofield, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. "We are here in Arizona this week working with our federal and tribal partners to address those challenges, to share how OJP has responded to improve services to tribal communities, and to continue honest dialogue critical to further progress."

         The tribal consultation and training session occurring in Phoenix this week is the fourth provided by OJP this year. This session is a multi-department effort aimed at addressing not only public safety and criminal justice needs, but also health and welfare needs of tribal communities. These events are complemented by OJP's 2007 Tribal Crime Data and Information Sharing Conference being held in conjunction with the session by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

         "The collaboration occurring here shows that tribal governments and federal departments can come together to address the needs of Native Communities," said AAG Schofield.

         Topics on the agenda include available grant resources, training and technical assistance critical to building capacity for public safety and criminal justice infrastructures, Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act implementation, sexual assault, criminal record development and data sharing, AMBER Alerts, behavioral health, and methamphetamine abuse, among others.

         Federal participants include components of the Department of Justice, the Department of Interior, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration which are bulleted below.

• Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs, Office of Tribal Justice, and the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys
• Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Department of Health and Human Services: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Office of Minority Health, and the Indian Health Service
• Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Native American Programs
• The Small Business Administration, Native American Office

         More details are available on the OJP Tribal Justice and Safety web site, http://www.tribaljusticeandsafety.gov/.

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