OJJDP Tribal Youth Program.

Abstract

Although the violent crime arrest rate for American Indian juveniles fell 20 percent between its peak year of 1995 and 1998, the 1998 rate was still about 20 percent above the average rate of the 1980’s (Snyder, in press). Of particular concern to American Indian tribes and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is the increasing number of violent crimes being committed by juveniles in many tribal communities. The number of American Indian youth in Federal Bureau of Prisons(BOP) custodyhas increased 50 percent since 1994, and more than 70 percent of the approximately 270 youth in BOP custody on any day are American Indians.