June 2013
The Cabinet-level Reentry Council is working to enhance community safety and well-being, assist those returning from prison and jail becoming productive citizens, and save taxpayers dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration
Reservation Communities
The Reentry Council aims to identify the additional challenges faced by individuals reentering reservation communities due to the increased poverty and isolation often found there and to then identify and develop policies, programs, and services that will support the cultural-social fabric and increase the employment, education, and health and housing opportunities for this population.
Problem Statement There exist serious public safety challenges in reservation communities in the United States. American Indian people are incarcerated at higher rates than the general population: at midyear 2009, tribal, federal, and state authorities incarcerated American Indian or Alaska Native individuals at a rate 25 percent higher than the overall national incarceration rate. Due to federal criminal jurisdiction on many reservations, juveniles detained in federal facilities are predominantly American Indian males, generally between 17 to 20 years of age, with an extensive history of drug and/or alcohol use/ abuse and violent behavior and who have often been sentenced for sex-related offenses. Of further concern is the rate of violent crime that exists in some reservation communities and the fact that this violence is often directed at the most vulnerable members of the community at rates that far exceed the rates off the reservations. For instance, it is a grim fact that an American Indian female has a one-in-three chance of being sexually assaulted in her lifetime. American Indian women also experience homicide at rates almost 50 percent greater than Caucasian women. Finally, violence in the form of sexual assault and domestic violence against American Indian women also occurs at heightened rates. The response to the heightened violent crime rates in reservation communities must be multi-pronged and culturally appropriate. Certainly vigorous enforcement of criminal laws by federal law enforcement and federal support for viable
crime prevention programs are key. But the public safety challenges faced by reservation communities are exacerbated by the unique challenges that an American Indian who is returning to his or her home community faces after serving a federal prison sentence for a crime of violence. Indian country unemployment rates reportedly average 49 percent, even in better economic times. High unemployment compounded with a lack of affordable and adequate housing magnifies challenges for returning individuals. Further, community confinement housing facilities actually located in a reservation community are uncommon, which may be for cultural as well as economic reasons. This too often results in an American Indian spending his or her final months of incarceration in a halfway house facility that is located a great distance from the reservation community to which the individual will eventually return. In addition, their home communities are far from health and employment services that are critical to successful reentry.
Snapshot
Agenda Moving Forward Expand Data Collection Much appears to be unknown about the “flow” of American Indians through the federal criminal system. Data needs to be gathered as to the number of American Indians by: • • •
the reservations where they committed their feberal crimes; the Bureau of Prisons facilities in which they serve their sentences; and the reservations to which they return and serve their supervision under United States Probation and Pre-trial Services.
Increase Coordination Because the Department of Justice and the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs often have primary criminal jurisdiction over certain serious crimes committed on reservations, they have a broad and deep expertise on the public safety challenges that these communities face. The Reentry Council has expertise in the implementation of successful reentry programs in non-reservation communities. Finally, United States Probation and Pre-trial Services has expertise in the day-to-day supervision of offenders
reentering reservation communities. Increased coordination among these centers of varied expertise is essential to understanding and then positively impacting the issue of reentry in Indian country.
Explore Transition Assistance Currently too many American Indians who are transitioning out of federal prisons to community confinement settings are doing so in non-reservation communities many miles from the reservation communities to which they will be returning. Enhanced understanding of resource availability and need is required to address this issue.
Focus on Employment, Education, Health and Housing Opportunities American Indians reentering reservation communities can face employment, education, health, and housing challenges that are unique given the high unemployment rates and isolation of some reservation communities. These challenges need to be further considered by the Reentry Council agencies and efforts redoubled to find creative and effective methods to address these challenges.
Key Resources (Reservation Communities) Reentry Council http://csgjusticecenter.org/nrrc/projects/firc/
Reentry MythBusters http://csgjusticecenter.org/nrrc/projects/mythbusters/
National Reentry Resource Center – Tribal Affairs http://csgjusticecenter.org/reentry/issue-areas/tribal-affairs/