Prior Event Resources

Also see our Healing to Wellness Court Webinar Series

2020 Trainings and Events

Tribal Veterans Healing to Wellness Court Virtual Training
May 18-22, 2020

A Native American Docket: Eighth Judicial District of Montana (PowerPoint) (Session Recording)

– Hon. Gregory Pinski, District Judge, Montana Eighth Judicial District

– Kathy Hankes, Native American Cultural Coordinator, Montana Eighth Judicial District

– Wesley Old Coyote, Chief Executive Officer, Indian Family Health Clinic

This session will provide a summary of the model developed by the Eighth District, Native American Docket staff, which has provided more culturally relevant services, as well as improved collaboration with tribal partners to serve their participants for better and more long-lasting outcomes. In light of a significant portion of the docket including American Indians and Alaska Native participants, the Eighth Judicial District of Montana established a Native American docket, devoted solely to the Native population.

Co-Occurring Disorders (PowerPoint) (Session Recording)

– Jill Campoli, Clinical Supervisor, Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Court

– Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Wellness Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

– Lori Vallejos,Counselor III, Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health Services

This session will cover what the Healing to Wellness Court team should consider at the time of assessment, what the latest research says about treating this population and modalities of therapy that are proven effective. Many individuals who apply to Healing to Wellness Courts, not only have an addiction, but also mental health concerns. It can be challenging for Healing to Wellness Court staff to determine if the program is a viable option for these individual with co-occurring disorders.

Native Veterans: Treatment Considerations (PowerPoint) (Session Recording)

– Sean Bear, Co-Director, National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center

– Ray Daw, Consultant/Health Administrator

This presentation will provide an overview of the National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center’s curriculum for serving Native veterans. Topics will include the history and context of warriors and veterans in Native societies; unique considerations for the role of trauma as distinct from non-veterans; and resources that both tribal and non-tribal communities can leverage to provide culturally competent care. This session will include a Q&A discussion section.

Mitigating Trauma in Courthouses: Understanding the Science of the Brain and Trauma Responses; Historical Trauma; and Substance Use Disorders (PowerPoint) (Handout 1) (Handout 2)  (Handout 3) (Handout 4) (Session Recording)

– Hon. Kim McGinnis, Chief Judge, Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Court

The primary goal of this session is to improve the way court stakeholders and justice partners interact with survivors of trauma and people struggling with substance misuse. This session will (1) describe how acute and chronic trauma—including military trauma, domestic violence, child abuse, substance use disorders, and historical trauma– may change the structure of the brain and protein expression; (2) discuss why a trauma response may be triggered and what it may look like (fight, flight, freeze, surrender); (3) explain what it means to be a trauma-responsive and trauma-informed court; and (4) provide practical ideas for incorporating strategies to help court systems be more trauma informed and trauma responsive. Judge McGinnis will delve into the neuroscience of trauma, including historical trauma, and walk the audience through the areas of the brain that play important roles in trauma responses. She will discuss structural changes commonly found in the brains of trauma survivors, including people struggling with substance use disorders, that may explain some frustrating behaviors. The presentation combines resources and research to give attendees practical tools and resources in improving court interactions and environment for survivors of trauma.  

Why Have a Veterans Treatment Court (PowerPoint) (Session Recording)

– Mark Panasiewicz, Program Director, National Association of Drug Court Professionals

This session will provide a brief overview of veterans treatment courts. It reviews the impact that military culture as well as multiple clinical and criminogenic needs, have on justice involved veterans. Strategies and best practices when working with this challenging population are discussed. Attendees will be able to identify what a veterans treatment court is; learn why we have them; identify elements of veteran culture; identify the needs of veterans in the veterans treatment court; and will learn about resources available for developing a veteran treatment court.

38th Annual Virtual Protecting Our Children Conference
March 31-April 1, 2020

Family Healing to Wellness Courts and “Active Efforts”
Lauren van Schilfgaard and Carrie Garrow, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

The federal guidelines calls for “active efforts” to be provided consistent with prevailing social and cultural norms of the Tribe, and in partnership with the Tribe. This workshop will explore how Tribal Family Healing to Wellness Courts, also known as treatment courts, offer a unique opportunity to actualize the calls of the ICWA. They offer an institutionalized mechanism for tribal-state collaboration. Most importantly, they provide a means for increased and longer-lasting reunifications and family and community healing. This workshop will trace the statutory language and case law regarding “active efforts” and how the structure of a Wellness Court aligns.

2019 Trainings and Events

National Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference
July 14-17, 2019
National Harbor, MD

Healing to Wellness/Tribal Practitioners Discipline-Specific Breakout
Precious Benally, Kristina Pacheco, and Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Tribal Nations Forum
Precious Benally, Kristina Pacheco, and Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
The Tribal Nations Forum is an opportunity for tribal courts in attendance to gather, meet other Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts, learn about tribal-specific resources, and develop a game-plan for the conference. This is an excellent opportunity to network with other courts and comparable roles, learn about different models, and brainstorm on common challenges being faced by tribes. Attendees will receive an overview of tribal-specific training and technical assistance services and resources as well as an update on the “state-of-the-field.”
Learning Objectives: (1) Meet other tribal practitioners and tribal-specific technical assistance providers. (2) Identify tribal-specific resources available at the NADCP conference, as well as notable workshops and plenaries for tribal courts. (3) Receive an up-to-date “state of the field” of tribal specialty courts across the country.

The Healing to Wellness Court Partnership: The Treatment Provider and Healing to Wellness Court
Sean A. Bear, Co-Director, National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Training Center
Jeffrey N. Kushner, Statewide Drug Court Coordinator
This session will focus on the advantages for treatment providers when partnering with and providing services in the Healing to Wellness/drug court environment. The session will focus on the Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards Volume I, Chapter V – Substance Abuse Treatment, and Volume II, Chapter VI – Complimentary Treatment and Social Services. The session will include a review of evidence-based drug court treatment practices for Healing to Wellness Courts to use in partnering with and monitoring their treatment providers. Part Two of the session will focus on cultural trauma as it relates to the Native American Healing to Wellness Court participants who, in addition to their substance use dependency, may also be experiencing problems from a legacy of chronic trauma and unresolved grief across generations enacted upon them by the European dominant culture. Clinicians need to be culturally competent, conventional counseling theories need to be adjusted, and traditional counseling theories should be integrated with elements of historical trauma and the Native American holistic view of the person.

Battling Opioids in Indian Country
Precious Benally, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Jordan Martinson, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Hon. Patrick Shannon, Chief Judge, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan
American Indians and Alaska Native saw a 500% increase in death by drug overdose in 2015. National data does not reveal regional/local differences, in which some tribes are not registering a significant opioid crisis, while other tribes are at the center of the epidemic. This workshop will explore how some tribes are combatting the opioid crisis in their community, by first identifying the needs, collaborating with existing resources, and leveraging the most effective strategies. From high-level tribal-state policy collaborations to on-the-ground law enforcement-treatment collaborations, tribes, with their state partners, are being creative and diverse in their approaches. Learning Objectives: (1) Obtain an overview of the opioid epidemic has impacted Indian country. (2) Review tribal-state initiatives implemented in states like Michigan and Minnesota. (3) Learn about tribal-specific initiatives that have creatively combined forces to address opioids in their communities.

Judicial Leadership in Healing to Wellness Court
Carrie E. Garrow, Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
As the Healing to Wellness Team Leader, the Judge is faced with numerous responsibilities. The Judge is required to actively participate with team members, participants, and also ensure the sustainability of the Wellness Court within the Judicial Branch. This workshop will focus on the responsibilities of the Judge and lead participants in a discussion on the cultural component of leadership. Learning Objectives: (1) Identify particular issues of ethical concern for judges generally. (2) Review the legal and cultural considerations tribal judges must explore. (3) Explore cultural concepts surrounding leadership.

Working with Native Veterans
Sean A. Bear, Co-Director, National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Training Center
Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
This presentation will overview substance use disorders generally, then overview the unique issues often faced by veterans, especially veterans aged 18-35. Attendees will learn about the complexities of chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, and substance use in veterans. Attendees will learn the signs and symptoms of opioid use disorder. Finally, attendees will appreciate the use of medication-assisted therapy in opioid use in veterans. Learning Objectives: (1) Overview special considerations for veterans, particularly American Indian veterans. (2) Overview tribal judiciaries and considerations for collaborations with Veterans Affairs and state courts. (3) Identify innovative strategies for working with Natives in both tribal courts and in partnerships with state courts.

Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts: Best Practices for Adolescent Natives
Precious Benally, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Adolescents, ages 14-25, are neither children nor adults. The standard substance use treatment is designed Anglo adults and may be inappropriate for Native adolescents in a variety of ways. This workshop will explore the special considerations for treating American Indian youth and their risk of substance use disorders. Attendees will learn to recognize opioid use in Native youth. Attendees will additionally learn about the use and considerations for medication-assisted therapies in treatment of Native youth with substance use disorders. Learning objectives: (1) Overview adolescent behavior and development. (2) Identify tribal juvenile Wellness Court best practitioners. (3) Review current tribal operations and their innovative strategies.

Infusing the Tribal Wellness Court Model into the Family Court
Carrie Garrow, Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
The statistics regarding child abuse and neglect demonstrate our families are suffering and have difficulty functioning, especially in regard to substance use. The Indian Child Welfare Act requires state courts to use active efforts to prevent the break-up of Indian families. Meanwhile, Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts and Family Treatment Courts have been successful in helping families work towards recovery and reunification. Importantly, they have broken down some of the long-standing silos between parent recovery, family services, and the courts. This workshop will focus on importing the principles of Family Treatment Courts into all child welfare cases with a team approach to assist families gain the skills needed to be successful. Both state courts and tribal courts can benefit from the lessons learned. Learning Objectives: (1) Overview the tribal child welfare structure in conjunction with the mandates of ICWA on state courts. (2) Identify practices current Family Treatment Courts and Tribal Family Healing to Wellness Courts are using with success. (3) Highlight Wellness Court best practices that can be used to enhance the overall child welfare docket.

Webinar: FY 2019 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program: Funding Opportunity for Tribes
Webinar Slides
FY 2019 BJA COAP Solicitation 
April 18, 2019
The BJA Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program (COAP) provides financial and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to plan, develop, and implement comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by the opioid epidemic.
Category 1: Locally Driven Responses to the Opioid Epidemic—Funding amount: $600,000–$1,200,000
This webinar overviewed the FY 2019 solicitation and highlight the three categories for which tribes are eligible to apply. Applications Due: June 5, 2019
Panelists:
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Timothy Jeffries, Senior Policy Advisor, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice

Arizona Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference
April 17-19, 2019
Prescott, AZ

Joint Jurisdiction Wellness Courts
Lauren van Schilfgaarde
Materials:

Indigenizing the Wellness Court: The Need for Culture-Based Interventions
Kristina Pacheco

Family Well-being: Reunifying Families Through Wellness Court
Kristina Pacheco

2019 National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA Conference)
March 31 – April 3, 2019
Albuquerque, NM

Family Healing to Wellness Courts
Lauren van Schilfgaarde

Webinar: FY 2019 Funding Opportunity for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: The BJA Adult Drug Court Solicitation
Webinar Slides
FY 2019 BJA Adult Drug Court Solicitiation
March 5, 2019
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Adult Drug Court solicitation offers grants to establish new drug courts or enhance existing drug court programs. Federally recognized Indian tribal governments are eligible for both categories. In fact, in FY 2018, nine (9) tribes were awarded grants! This webinar will overview the FY 2019 solicitation, including requirements of the grants, the tribal key components and NADCP Drug Court Standards, performance measures, and grant writing tips. Gregory Torain, Policy Advisor with BJA will join the webinar and be available to answer application questions.
 

Michigan Healing to Wellness Court Refresher Training
February 26-27, 2019
Mt. Pleasant, MI

Tribal 10 Key Components and NADCP Drug Court Best Practice Standards, Part I
Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute 

Medication-Assisted Treatment and TeleHealth
Isabella County Sheriff Office Medical Assisted Treatment of Inmates Policy and Procedure
DOJ Memo: Medication-Assisted Treatment and the American with Disabilities Act
Michael Main, Sheriff, Isabella County
John Pattison, Nurse Practitioner, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Court
Dr. Cara Poland, MD, MEd, FACP, DFASM 

Judges Panel
Hon. Mark Esqeda, Lac Vieux Desert Tribal Court
Hon. Jocelyn Fabry, Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Court
Hon. Joshua Hudson, Bay Mills Tribal Court
Hon. Patrick Shannon, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Court 

Coordinators Panel
Aubree Gross, Coordinator, Saginaw Chippewa Healing to Wellness Court
Brian Wagner, Project Director of Problem Solving Courts, 65B District Court

Tribal 10 Key Components and NADCP Drug Court Best Practice Standards, Part II
Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Lauren van Schilfgaarde

Substance Exposed Newborns/Maternal Health and Addiction
Dr. Janis Romanik, Medical Director, Sacred Heart

Family-Focused Approach: Engaging Child Welfare and Social Services
Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Grant Funding Update
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

2018 Trainings and Events

2018 Montana Statewide Drug Court Conference
October 22-24, 2018
Billings, MT

Incorporating Customs and Traditions in Your Healing to Wellness Courts
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Joint Jurisdiction MOUs with Tribes
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

2018 National American Indian Court Judges Association Conference
October 16-18, 2018
Albuquerque, NM 

Henu–Collaborative Justice that Works
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Hon. Christine Williams, Shingle Springs Tribal Court
Hon. Susan Wells, Kenaitze Tribal Court

2018 California Collaborative Courts Conference
September 11-13, 2018
Sacramento, CA

Joint Jurisdiction: Tribal Courts and State Courts Working Together
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal La and Policy Institute
Chief Judge Christine Williams, Shingle Springs Tribal Court
Presiding Judge Suzanne Kingsbury, El Dorado County Superior Court

Tribal Justice: Utilizing Customs and Beliefs While Navigating Cross-Jurisdictional Issues
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal La and Policy Institute

2018 Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training
August 28-30, 2018
Albuquerque, NM

2018 Enhancement Training Agenda
2018 Enhancement Training Speaker Biographies

The Tribal Ten Key Components and National Drug Court Standards, Part I
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
The Tribal Key Components form the foundation of all tribal drug courts. The Adult Drug Court Standards represent the latest research-based best practices for what works within the drug court setting. This workshop will overview both the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court key components and the national drug court Standards and discuss how they inter-relate. This workshop is designed to form the foundation of the Wellness Court model and highlight the best practices.
Sample Transfer Memorandum of Understanding

Using Sports to Decrease Substance Use in Adolescents
Anthony Dekker, Physician, Northern Arizona Veteran’s Administration Healthcare System; Medical Director, East Community Based Outpatient Clinics
Adolescents, ages 14-25, are neither children nor adults. The standard substance use treatment is designed not only for adults but envisions use over the course of years. This workshop will explore the unique needs o adolescents and their substance use. Then, the workshop will examine the effectiveness of sports as a useful mechanism to address these unique needs.

Group Dynamics
Kristina Pacheco, Program Manager, Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health
Lori Vallejos, Counselor III, Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health Services
This workshop will explore the complexities of group dynamics amongst your participants, both within and outside of therapy sessions. A participant’s recovery journey is impacted not just by the make-up of the team, but also of their peers. Their dynamics are constantly changing. Yet, there are group cultures that tend to ebb and flow, which can be managed by helping to set the group culture and set group rules. This workshop will explore what the team can do to help guide the group, including fidelity to the Moral Reconation Treatment model and how it plays into Healing to Wellness Court, the importance of solidarity amongst team members, and the specific types of relationships that tend to develop within Wellness Court.

Special Needs of Veterans with Substance Use Disorders
Anthony Dekker, Physician, Northern Arizona Veteran Administration Healthcare System; Medical Director, East Community Based Outpatient Clinics
This presentation will overview substance use disorders generally, then overview the unique issues often faced by veterans, especially veterans aged 18-35. Attendees will learn about the complexities of chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, and substance use in veterans. Attendees will learn the signs and symptoms of opioid use disorder. Finally, attendees will appreciate the use of medication-assisted therapy in opioid use in veterans.

Infusing the Healing to Wellness Model into the Dependency Court
Hon. Carrie Garrow, Chief Judge, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
The statistics regarding child abuse and neglect demonstrate our families are still suffering and have difficulty functioning. Healing to Wellness Courts and Family Treatment Courts have been successful in helping families work towards recovery. This workshop will focus on importing the principles of Family Treatment Courts into all child welfare cases and use a team approach to assist families gain the skills needed to be successful.

Gookomis Endaad: A Different Way to Treat Addiction
Richard McCoy, Group Facilitator/Cultural Liaison, Gookomis Endaad
Mark Panasiewicz, Program Director, Healing to Wellness Counseling, LLC
Gookomis Endaad provides a therapeutic setting that incorporates clinical and traditional tribal healing practices to support the relatives in their holistic healing journey. Gookomis believes in incorporating the principles of Healing to Wellness court. This work shop will explore the positive results from blending Native American traditions with Western addiction and mental health treatment.

Accounting for Trauma in Your Court
Dr. Vivian Brown, Consultant, Integrated and Trauma-Informed Services
The majority of our populations in Treatment Courts have histories of trauma and violence. Failure to identify trauma at an early stage of court involvement, can lead to poor follow-through on court requirements and treatment plans, early dropout from treatment, increase in relapse events, and poor treatment outcomes. It is important for family treatment court staff to understand that the court experience can be confusing, intimidating, dis-empowering, and, possibly, re-traumatizing for individuals who have experienced trauma. Dr. Vivian Brown will discuss trauma and its impacts on both parents and children, how trauma can impact staff, the difference between trauma-specific interventions and trauma-informed practice, how Family Court Systems can become trauma-informed, and give an overview of a Trauma-Informed Walk-Through process and how it can help sites.

Preserving Our Culture: Realizing Restorative Justice in Tribal Wellness Courts
Hon. Allie Maldonado, Chief Judge, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Tribal Court
Hon. Jocelyn Fabry, Chief Judge, Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Tribal Court. A participant’s healing often includes re-integration into the community and re-integration with one’s self. Cultural resources can be used to ground the self, reconnect with lost custom, and develop spiritual and cultural meaning that may have been lost or disregarded. Incorporation of culture into Healing to Wellness Court programming can take a variety of forms, from including cultural activities into the sanctions and incentives, to having a Wellness Court tribal name, to embedding treatment phases with cultural significance. Incorporation of custom and tradition can be especially important for Native participants, who often stem from a different worldview than that offered in standard drug court settings. This workshop will explore this different worldview, and strategies for incorporating custom and tradition into both Tribal Healing to Wellness Court and into State Drug Court programs. This workshop will include a dialogue of cultural readiness for Wellness Court/Drug Court participants, as well as different examples from operational Wellness Courts.

The Healing to Wellness Partnership: The Treatment Provider and Healing to Wellness Court
Jeffrey Kushner, M.H.R.A., Montana Statewide Drug Court Administrator, Montana Supreme Court
Sean Bear, Co-Director, National American Indian and Alaska Native ATTC
This session will focus on the advantages for treatment providers when partnering with and providing services in the Healing to Wellness/drug court environment. The session will focus on the Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards Volume I, Chapter V Substance Abuse Treatment, and Volume II, Chapter VI Complimentary Treatment and Social Services. The session will include a review of evidence-based drug court treatment practices for Healing to Wellness Courts to use in partnering with and monitoring their treatment providers. Part Two of the session will focus on cultural trauma as it relates to the Native American Healing to Wellness Court participants who, in addition to their substance use dependency, may also be experiencing problems from a legacy of chronic trauma and unresolved grief across generations enacted upon them by the European dominant culture. Clinicians need to be culturally competent, conventional counseling theories need to be adjusted, and traditional counseling theories should be integrated with elements of historical trauma and the Native American holistic view of the person.

Addiction as a Disease
Mark Panasiewicz, Program Director, Healing to Wellness Counseling, LLC
Many people don’t understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. They may mistakenly think that those who use drugs lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop their drug use simply by choosing to. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting usually takes more than good intentions or a strong will. Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even for those who want to. Fortunately, researchers know more than ever about how drugs affect the brain and have found treatments that can help people recover from drug addiction and lead productive lives. This workshop will explore that science, and how understanding addiction as a disease impacts the Wellness Court approach and operations.

Evaluation and Treatment for Adolescent Substance Use in Indian Country
Anthony Dekker, Physician, Northern Arizona Veteran Administration Healthcare System; Medical Director, East Community Based Outpatient Clinics
Adolescents, ages 14-25, are neither children nor adults. The standard substance use treatment is designed Anglo adults and may be inappropriate for Native adolescents in a variety of ways. This workshop will explore the special considerations for treating American Indian youth and their risk of substance use disorders. Attendees will learn to recognize opioid use in Native youth. Attendees will additionally learn about the use and considerations for medication-assisted therapies in treatment of Native youth with substance use disorders.

Role of the Advocates
Hon. Carrie Garrow, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Court and Hon. Charlene Jackson, Owner, Jackson Law Firm, PLLC
The Healing to Wellness Court is a unique collaboration that combats against the standard adversarial model. Nevertheless, key aspects of that model are preserved, including the roles of the prosecutor and defense counselor, albeit modified. This workshop will explore that tension how are the roles similar and how do they differ. What ethical obligations must the advocate keep in mind, and how can the still preserve their duties to their office, to their client, but also to the Wellness Court collaborative process.

Wednesday, August 29th

Honoring Their Story: Fairness and Accountability in the Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
Anna Rangel Clough, J.D., Asst. Director, OJJDP Tribal Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center
Balancing Justice and Healing: Honoring the Individual, Their Story, and Culture in Treatment and Wellness Courts
Evan Elkin, Ph.D., Executive Director, Reclaiming Futures
The Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court is a justice process that seeks to balance the importance of holding youth accountable for their actions with the opportunity to support the youth and community in their path toward wellness. In that sense, the process is restorative and balanced in nature not just targeting or blaming the youth and engages a broad set of stakeholders surrounding the youth including the family, community members and the Tribal Wellness Court team itself in building an individualized case plan that everyone has a stake in. Critical to this process is the ability of the Wellness Court to implement an effective and engaging screening and assessment step so that the team can accurately understand the youth’s support and treatment needs and so the youth and other stakeholders can feel motivated and engaged from the earliest point in the process. The development of trauma-informed, strength-based and collaborative screening and assessment processes honors youth as they begin the journey toward wellness.

Technology in Drug Courts: How Technology Can Address Treatment, Supervision, and Training Goals
Precious Benally, Program Manager, Tribal Justice Exchange; Senior Associate, Treatment Court Programs, Center for Court Innovation
Adelle Fontanet, Program Manager, Tribal Justice Exchange; Senior Associate, Research Practice Strategies, Center for Court Innovation
In today’s tech-savvy world, computers, smartphones, and videoconferencing offer new opportunities for drug courts to serve clients and address staff training needs. The Center for Court Innovation, in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, is piloting technology initiatives with problem-solving courts in Idaho, Illinois, Montana, and West Virginia. These jurisdictions are using technology to increase capacity, address treatment barriers, supervise clients, and provide training for staff. The courts have found that treatment services, toxicology screening, compliance monitoring, court hearings, and staff training are all accessible remotely. Join staff from the Center for Court Innovation for a practical discussion about technology implementation and discover what technological advances are on the horizon for Healing to Wellness Courts and other problem-solving courts. Participants will learn about current technologies being used by problem-solving courts; understand specific strategies for using technology to enhance treatment delivery, client supervision, and staff training; and learn how to access online training resources for drug court professionals.

The Tribal Ten Key Components and National Drug Court Standards, Part II
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
The Tribal Key Components form the foundation of all tribal drug courts. The Adult Drug Court Standards represent the latest research-based best practices for what works within the drug court setting. This workshop will overview both the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court key components and the national drug court Standards and discuss how they inter-relate. This workshop is designed to form the foundation of the Wellness Court model and highlight the best practices.

Incentives and Sanctions
Mark Panasiewicz, Program Director, Healing to Wellness Counseling, LLC
This presentation outlines the basic behavior modification principles and their applicability in incentives, sanctions and therapeutic adjustments. It identifies the importance of incentives, both formal and informal, and their application in the program. The presentation recognizes the effect of immediate consequences in modifying client behavior and identifies the distinctions between court-imposed sanctions and incentives and treatment responses. The presentation discusses the importance of formulating a strategy for the application of graduated sanctions and incentives and appropriate treatment responses, along the importance of the consistency in those responses.

Developing Your Tribal Laws to Support Your Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Carrie Garrow, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Hon. Charlene Jackson, Owner, Jackson Law Firm, PLLC
Healing to Wellness Courts are innovative, non-adversarial forums, intended to shift the focus from judicial punishment to judicial rehabilitation. But the root of the Wellness Court remains in its connection to the judiciary. Program sustainability depends on building the Wellness Court as an essential component of that judiciary. This workshop will detail institutional structures that can help secure the Wellness Court. In addition, this Wellness Court will explore the tribal code context in which the Wellness Court operates that can help motivate or disincentive participation. Tribal communities must balance public safety against the need for restorative justice.

Capturing the Healing to Wellness Court Landscape
Dr. Julie Baldwin, Associate Director of Research, Justice Programs Office, American University
Zephi Francis, Research Specialist, Justice Programs Office, American University
This session will provide an overview of the life cycle of data collection, beginning with setting up an infrastructure for data collection to the ways data can be utilized by tribes to present their successes, look at needs and obtain future funding. Once the data is collected and managed by tribes, comprehensive look at all the Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts data can be collected and reported to back tribes.

Judicial Leadership in the Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Carrie Garrow, Chief Judge, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
As the Healing to Wellness Team Leader, the Judge is faced with numerous responsibilities. The Judge is required to actively participate with team members, participants, and also ensure the sustainability of the Wellness Court within the Judicial Branch. This workshop will focus on the responsibilities of the Judge and lead participants in a discussion on the cultural component of leadership.

Strengthening the Parent-Child Relationship in the Context of A Family Healing to Wellness Court
Brooke O’Byrne, Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures, Inc.
Russ Bermejo, Senior Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures, Inc.
With over 400 Family Treatment Courts (FTC) now in operation across the nation, FTC outcomes have shown significantly higher rates of parents’ participation in substance use disorder treatment, longer stays in treatment, higher rates of family reunification, less time for children in foster care, and decreased incidence of repeat maltreatment and return to out-of-home care compared to non-family treatment court participants (Rodi et al., 2015). FTCs are able to achieve these outcomes through several common practices or ingredients. This workshop will introduce the Big Seven system of identifying families; timely access to assessment and treatment services; enhanced case management and recovery support; improved family services and focus on parent-child relationships; increased judicial oversight; contingency management; and collaborative approach and efficient information sharing. This presentation will provide an in-depth view and discussion around improved family services and focus on parent-child relationships. Facilitators will present examples of family treatment courts which have taken steps to address the parent-child relationship by improving access to and delivery of visitation, implementing evidence based parenting practices, and working collaboratively with community partners to ensure that their clients are accessing available services.

Case Management and The Road Map for Recovery
Mark Dyea, Senior Consultant, National Drug Court Institute
The objective of this presentation is to demonstrate the centrality of case management in drug court. This workshop will describe the role, functions, principles, knowledge, and skills of drug court case managers. It will encourage the critical review of existing drug court case management services. It will provide guidance in establishing data collection, information management, and evaluation practices for case management in a drug court setting, as described by the National Drug Court Institute in the Drug Court Case Management: Monograph Series 7. This presentation will focus on the development of Case Planning strategies as it relates to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to allow staff to create realistic, attainable, and effective case plans that foster the recovery process of our clients. Attendees will gain a basic understanding of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, tools required to identify and address client needs, and the importance of Case Management in the Drug Court setting.

Incorporating Culture and Community in Wellness Recovery: A Penobscot Perspective
Rhonda Decontie, Cultural Advisor/Clerk, Penobscot Nation Tribal Court
Eric Mehnert, Chief Judge, Penobscot Nation Tribal Court
Many addicts are ostracized and isolated by their communities because of the behaviors that come with their addiction. That isolation is a trigger for further self-medication deepening the cycle of addiction. This program explores the ways the Penobscot Nation Wellness Court has re-connected Wellness Participants with their culture and community. It is designed as an interactive discussion to encourage participants to discuss how they have, or how they might, integrate their community’s culture into Healing to Wellness Courts. The program will share the experiences the Penobscot Nation has had in integrating culture and community. It is designed for First Nations just starting a Wellness Court as well as those having an operating Wellness Court.

Family Matters: Transitioning Towards a Family-Centered Approach in All Healing to Wellness Courts
Brooke O’Byrne, Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures, Inc.
Russ Bermejo, Senior Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures, Inc.
All collaborative courts are family courts if their clients are part of a family system. Substance use disorders have a profound effect on all relationships in the family unit and recovery support must extend beyond the client to a more family-centered approach. This workshop will offer leaders and Wellness Court professionals working in any Wellness Court key strategies for implementing a family-focused approach. This presentation will make the case for why all Wellness Courts should pay greater attention to children and families and that cross-system collaboration and communication are critical for family safety and recovery. This session will draw from the findings of the recently published study by Center for Children and Family Futures and NADCP – Transitioning to a Family Centered Approach: Best Practices and Lessons Learned from Three Adult Drug Courts. Presenters will share lessons fromthree drug courts that transitioned from a traditional adult drug court to one that expanded services to families and children. Additionally, presenters will engage the audience in discussion regarding the strategies that may be most applicable to tribal drug court settings and communities.

Reform and Responsibility for DWI Offenders
James Eberspacher, Division Director, National Center for DWI Courts, National Association of Drug Court Professionals
Too often in the justice system, instead of focusing on the individual, decisions are made solely based on their offense. With impaired driving, it’s logical to assume that the individual has an alcohol or drug problem, particularly if they are a repeat offender. But these may only be surface issues. Through the use of assessment instruments, practitioners can delve deeper and identify other risk factors or treatment needs. The assessment process allows practitioners to go beyond the more patent symptoms and instead develop a holistic picture of the impaired driver on their court docket, supervision caseload, or participating in their treatment program. This interactive workshop will provide the latest information on validated DUI assessment instruments including the Computerized Assessment and Referral System (CARS). Attendees will understand the vital role that these instruments can play in the criminal justice system in determining risk level while assisting practitioners in developing supervision and treatment plans that reflect criminogenic factors.

Problem-Solving Justice: Community Court Model for Tribal Justice Systems
Precious Benally, Program Manager, Tribal Justice Exchange; Senior Associate, Treatment Court Programs, Center for Court Innovation
Adelle Fontanet, Program Manager, Tribal Justice Exchange; Senior Associate, Research Practice Strategies, Center for Court Innovation
Problem-solving justice is an approach to justice that seeks to do more than just process cases. It deals with underlying problems that bring people to court by using alternative responses such as treatment and restorative justice practices. The emphasis for problem-solving justice is on collaboration with community and building on community strengths. Community courts embody problem-solving justice. Community courts are neighborhood-focused courts that attempt to harness the power of the justice system to address local problems, including drug possession, shoplifting, vandalism and assault. Core principles have evolved from community courts in the past decade that have made the community court approach to justice more effective and accepted in the communities in which they operate. Most, if not all, Native American communities have practiced these principles for generations in resolving their disputes. The core principles of community courts are community engagement, collaboration, better information sharing and individualized justice, accountability, and outcomes. In taking these principles further, community courts can learn from traditional tribal justice practices, such as integrating cultural practices into the justice system such as Peacemaking, valuing community and elder engagement, and emphasizing healing and wholeness instead of selecting winners and losers. By focusing on community court principles and utilizing the strength of tribal communities, tribal courts can implement meaningful, culturally relevant community courts in their communities. The examples of Aneth Community Court on the Navajo Nation and Colorado River Indian Tribes Community Court near Parker, Arizona will illustrate the planning and implementation process, challenges associated with the development process, and success stories to highlight that the community court model is reflective of tribal justice values.

Team Roles: Working Within Your Lane
Mark Dyea, Senior Consultant, National Drug Court Institute
This presentation will aid teams in the development of team member roles, responsibilities, and requirements. Drug Courts often struggle to identify and implement team member roles and responsibilities. This is particularly so in Indian Country, where individuals often have multiple roles on the team. The importance of having clearly defined roles will be emphasized for effective program operations. Each team member is the identified expert in their field and need to be relied upon to provide their expert opinion during staffing and status hearings. There will be additional emphasis placed on the importance of not only understanding one’s role on the team but operating within one’s identified role for effective program operations and participant success. This presentation will provide evidence of the benefits of having all team members actively participating in all aspects of the Drug Court.

Tribal Law Enforcement: An Important Part of the Healing to Wellness Court Team
Maria Galvan, Police Officer, Patrol Division, Pueblo of Laguna Law Enforcement Program
Drug Court researched has consistently shown that the presence and participation of law enforcement on the team can dramatically affect participant outcomes. However, how and why law enforcement should participate is frequently unclear. This workshop will over the importance of the police officer team member. The workshop will overview common roles and responsibilities, and how they should interact with the participant and with fellow team members. This workshop will also overview how the Wellness Court can more effectively engage law enforcement.

Resilience, Recovery, and Healing to Wellness
Hon. Lawrence King, Chief Judge, Colorado River Indian Tribes
This workshop will explore the differences between people in recovery and people not in recovery. Attendees will understand the concepts of risk factors, protective factors, and resiliency. Attendees will learn the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) new working definition of recovery, the four dimensions that support recovery, and the guiding principles of recovery. The workshop will include an update of neuroscience and addiction. Finally, we will discuss how we can affect patient recovery under the Healing to Wellness Model.

CTAS Grant Writing
Jessica Harjo, Operations Director, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
This workshop will explore the key components of a Department of Justice tribal funding grant application. The workshop will focus on the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS), but will also touch on other Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and other federal grant writing tips.

Recognizing the Need for Risk Assessment Tools in Tribal Courts
Precious Benally, Program Manager, Tribal Justice Exchange; Senior Associate, Treatment Court Programs, Center for Court Innovation
Adelle Fontanet, Program Manager, Tribal Justice Exchange; Senior Associate, Research Practice Strategies, Center for Court Innovation
The use of technology and data-driven practices has grown remarkably in criminal justice systems across the country over the past few decades. Jurisdictions are relying more and more heavily on evidence-based practices, data-driven actuarial tools and technological developments in criminal justice management software to assist jurisdictions in the administration of justice. One such data-driven practice is the use of risk-need assessments to tailor treatment interventions to the individual’s level of risk and need. While there have been more than 60 risk tools developed in the United States, some utilizing data from over 300 jurisdictions, there are very few, if any, tools that have been developed and validated for use with Native American populations. There are currently no widely known or used risk and need assessment tools developed or adapted specifically for the Native American population and tribal justice practitioners have repeatedly requested instruments and technologies that are tailored to their populations to support their work. This presentation will walk through the tools currently utilized by tribes and what the limitations of those tools are. The audience will then hear about the Center for Court Innovation’s efforts to develop a risk-need tool for populations in New York City and how lessons learned in that process can be utilized and leveraged for the development of a tribally-appropriate and validated tool. The discussion will center around what factors must be considered in developing a tool tailored to Native communities, what are the challenges in validating an Indian Country-wide tool, and what the development process looks like for creating a risk-need assessment tool for use in Native communities.


National Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference 2018 
May 30 – June 2, 2018
Houston, TX 

Tribal Nations Forum Agenda
The National Opioid Litigation: Justice for Indian Country
Little Fawn Boland, Ceiba Legal, LLP, Aliance for Tribal Justice 

The Staffing and the Hearing: Strategies for Tribal Wellness Courts
Hon. Carrie Garrow, Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Hon. Charlene Jackson, Owner, Jackson Law, LLP
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
The staffing and the hearing represent the weekly manifestation of the Wellness Court model. The multi-disciplinary team gathers to discuss the participants’ progress, issue incentives and sanctions, and problem-solve their needs. However, the method and form that the staffing and the hearing can take can vary across a wide spectrum. This workshop will explore a variety of different options, ranging from structured to formal to restorative. This workshop will explore the mechanics of both the staffing and the hearing, including sample progress reports, court room layout, and court orders. The workshop will explore communication considerations between team members, trauma-informed strategies for participants, and incentives and sanctions within the hearing.
Materials:
Sample Participant Progress Reports
Bench Card 15: Staffing Meeting
Bench Card 17: Review Hearing

Housing and Transportation: Successes in Indian Country
Hon. Kim McGinnis, PhD., Esq., Chief Judge, Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Court
Hon. Kami Hart, Children’s Court Judge, Gila River Indian Community Court
Ruben Baca, Family Healing to Wellness Court Coordinator, Gila River Indian Community Court
Hon. Mary Cardoza, Chief Judge, Lummi Nation
Diane Phair, Executive Director, Lummi Nation Housing Authority
Housing and transportation are the two most oft-cited barriers for Healing to Wellness Court participants. This workshop will explore some of the reasons behind these chronic challenges, then explore a variety of effective strategies being employed by tribes across Indian country. Examples will include sober housing initiatives, HUD grants, utilizing treatment transportation, driver’s license programs, and other strategies that have coupled with the Wellness Court to better engage participants and help ensure their success. 

Preserving our Culture: Realizing Restorative Justice in Tribal Wellness Courts
Hon. Allie Maldonado, Chief Judge, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Tribal Court
Patrick McKelvie, Wellness Court Coordinator, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
A participant’s healing often includes re-integration into the community and re-integration with one’s self. Cultural resources can be used to ground the self, reconnect with lost custom, and develop spiritual and cultural meaning that may have been lost or disregarded. Incorporation of culture into Healing to Wellness Court programming can take a variety of forms, from including cultural activities into the sanctions and incentives, to having a Wellness Court tribal name, to embedding treatment phases with cultural significance. Incorporation of custom and tradition can be especially important for Native participants, who often stem from a different worldview than that offered in standard drug court settings. This workshop will explore this different worldview, and strategies for incorporating custom and tradition into both Tribal Healing to Wellness Court and into State Drug Court programs. This workshop will include a dialogue of cultural readiness for Wellness Court/Drug Court participants, as well as different examples from operational Wellness Courts. 

Ethics in Tribal Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Carrie Garrow, Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Hon. Charlene Jackson, Owner, Jackson Law, LLP
Healing to Wellness Court sheds much of the formality of adversarial proceedings. But Healing to Wellness Courts are not relieved of the same ethical boundaries and considerations. With collaboration among different agencies, frequent interactions with participants, and the increased potential for ex parte and confidential communications, Wellness Court practitioners must maneuver distinct and sometimes competing ethical considerations. This workshop will overview some of these ethical considerations ranging from the attorney to the treatment provider’s perspective. Topics will include confidentiality, relationships among team members and participants, and the inter-relationship of Wellness Court duties and distinct professional ethical obligations.
Materials:
Kaitlyn Griffin, Answering the Critics: How Judges‘ Adherence to High Ethical Standards Increases Drug Courts’ Effectiveness, 36 J. Legal Prof. 545 (2012).
Tamar M. Meekins, Risky Business: Criminal Speciality Courts and the Ethical Obligations of the Zealous Criminal Defender, 12 Berkeley J. Crim. L. 75 (2007).
Susan P. Weinstein, Features, ethical Considerations for Prosecutors in Drug Courts, 15 Crim. Just. 26 (2000).

Family Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: Special Considerations for the Family Docket
Jennifer Foley, Senior Program Associate, Children and Family Futures
Hon. Carrie Garrow, Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Hon. Mary Cardoza, Chief Judge, Lummi Nation Hon. Charlene Jackson, Owner, Jackson Law Firm, LLP Family Healing to Wellness Court integrates the drug court model with child welfare and dependency court to improve the recovery, safety, and permanency outcomes for families affected by parental substance use. For tribal communities, this integration additional includes tribal values, laws, and resources. However, within a civild docket the drug court model must adapt. This workshop will highlight special considerations for Family Healing to Wellness Courts, including the competing needs of child welfare’s focus on the best interests of the child and timelines, differing case referrals, engagement in treatment challenges, parenting resources including Native-specific resources, and different incentive and sanction considerations.

Webinar: Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program FY 2018: Funding Opportunity for Tribes
May 11, 2018
Webinar Slides
FY 2018 COAP RFP
 

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) was signed into law on July 22, 2016. As part of CARA, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program (COAP) solicitation offers states, local governments, and Indian tribes six funding categories to expand outreach, treatment, and recovery efforts to individuals impacted by the opioid epidemic. In only its second year, this solicitation offers immense new funding opportunities for tribes to design and enhance their own systems pursuant to community needs. This webinar overviews the FY 2018 solicitation and highlights the three categories for which tribes are eligible to apply.
Presenters:
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Timothy Jeffries, Senior Policy Advisor, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs.

Webinar: BJA Adult Drug Court Grant FY 2018: Funding Opportunity for Tribes
May 9, 2018
Webinar Slides
FY 2018 BJA Adult Drug Court RFP


This webinar provides an overview of the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court funding opportunity available within the FY 2018 Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant solicitation. This webinar focuses upon the application requirements of the grant, the tribal ten key components and NADCP Drug Court Standards, performance measures, and general grant writing tips.
Presenters:
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Gregory Torain, Policy Advisor, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs

Webinar: CTAS FY 2018: Funding Opportunities for Healing to Wellness Courts
Webinar Slides
Feb. 6, 2018
This webinar provides a brief overview of Healing to Wellness Court funding opportunities available within the FY 2018 Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS). This webinar focuses primarily on purpose areas 3 and 8, which can include funding for adult, family, and juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts. The webinar details the CTAS application process, updates from last year, important considerations for drafting a Wellness Court narrative, general grant writing tips, and available technical assistance. Representatives from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention were available to answer questions.
 

2017 Trainings and Events

American Indian Justice Conference
December 7-8, 2017
Palm Springs, CA

Tribal 10 Key Components – National Drug Court Standards: Best Practices
Carrie Garrow
This presentation overviews the foundational aspects of the Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts. It draws from both the 2013 Tribal Key Components, tribally-adapted pillars for successful Wellness Courts, as well as the 2015-2016 National Drug Court Standards, research-based best practices for drug courts. This presentation highlights how the components and standards interact, how the best practices can be utilized in Indian country, and how best to approach these tools to implement or enhance your Wellness Court.

Family Healing to Wellness Courts: Tools to Strengthen and Reunify Families
Carrie Garrow
This presentation overview the foundational aspects of the Family Healing to Wellness Court, in which child welfare cases in which parents have a substance use disorder are handled using the Wellness Court model. This presentation uses the 2013 Tribal Key Components and the Family Drug Court Guidelines. This presentation highlights how the components and guidelines interact, the difference between the integrated and parallel court models, the importants of holistically serving the family including the children, and other key lessons learned for adapting the Wellness Court into a civil model.

Webinar: Tribal Community of Practice: Healing to Wellness Courts
Webinar Slides
November 17, 2017
Hosted by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Tribal Community of Practice is a web-based event to share best practices and brainstorm solutions through peer-to-peer networking with tribal judges and other tribal court staff from across the country. November’s monthly call focused on the planning and implementation of a Healing to Wellness Court. The webinar focused on highlighting foundational resources and key considerations.

Webinar: Planning a Healing to Wellness Court: Inspiration and Vision to Get Started
Webinar Slides
August 22, 2017
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts bring together community-healing resources with the tribal justice process, using a team approach to achieve the physical and spiritual healing of the participant and the well-being of the community. This webinar walks participants through the visioning and foundation planning process to begin the development and implementation of a Healing to Wellness Court. Focus is given to the key partners needed, as well as primary components that should eventually be reflected in your policies and procedures. You’ll hear firsthand from seasoned tribal judges who will share reflections, tips, and lessons learned about their experience with developing their own Healing to Wellness Court.
Presenters: Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law and Policy Institute; Hon. Carrie Garrow, St. Reigs Mohawk Adult Healing to Wellness Court; Hon. Jay Pedro, Gila River Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
Conducted in partnership between the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, the National American Indian Court Judges Association, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges


2017 Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training
September 12-14, 2017
Albuquerque, NM
2017 Enhancement Training Agenda
2017 Enhancement Training Presenter Biographies

The Tribal Ten Key Components – National Drug Court Standards: The Best Practices
Hon. Carrie Garrow (Akwesasne Mohawk),Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Lauren van Schilfgaarde (Cochiti Pueblo), Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
The Tribal Key Components form the foundation of all tribal drug courts. The Adult Drug Court Standards represent the latest research-based best practices for what works within the drug court setting. This workshop will overview both the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court key components and the national drug court Standards, and discuss how they inter-relate. This workshop is designed to highlight the best practices of the Wellness Court model.


Serving Pregnant Women Affected by Substance Use Disorders in Healing to Wellness Court
Marianna Corona, Senior Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures
Jennifer Foley, Senior Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures
Pregnant participants present with complicated needs to courts. This workshop will detail some of those needs and identify strategies that Wellness Courts can implement with community partners to better serve their pregnant participants. The workshop will also discuss neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and postpartum care.


Effective Practices for Law Enforcement Working with Tribal Youth – Trauma Informed Policing Virtual Simulation Training: Introduction of Avatar Based Training Simulation Model
Anna Rangel Clough (Muscogee Creek and Yuchi) Attorney, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Tribal Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center
Sutton King (Menominee, and Oneida), Tribal Program Specialist and Research Coordinator, Kognito, LLC
Police/Parole/Probation officers are often called upon to serve in various roles and capacities within the Tribal Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court structure. This session will share a newly developed training and simulation module developed for Police by the OJJDP Tribal Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center and partner Kognito, LLC. The Trauma Informed Policing module is designed to provide education and skills to improve outcomes when law enforcement encounter youth exhibiting problematic behaviors and further support at risk youth in accessing resources. Police will be introduced to principles of trauma informed care and how to better serve tribal youth who are involved in the Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court.


Using Continuing Care and Recovery Support Services to Improve Drug Court Outcomes
Jeffrey N. Kushner, Montana Statewide Drug Court Coordinator, Montana Supreme Court/Office of the Court Administrator
The presentation will discuss alcohol and other drug dependence as a chronic care disease and how the response differs from an acute care model, which has been used by the treatment field for decades. The field requires an understanding for a new language (Recovery, Recovery Maintenance, Recovery Management, Recovery Capital, Recover Oriented Systems of Care). We will discuss the research on relapse and the variables that lead to long-term abstinence. We will then discuss how the New Adult Drug Court Standards begin to reflect this new paradigm. What are the specific standards and how drug courts can meet them. Lastly, we will discuss what Drug Courts can do before discharge, and after discharge to support this new paradigm and their drug court participants who have achieved abstinence above and beyond the standards.


Planning the Wellness Court: Mapping the Policies and Procedures and Other Key Considerations
Lauren van Schilfgaarde (Cochiti Pueblo), Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
This presentation will overview key planning considerations for implementing a Healing to Wellness Court, including the adult, juvenile, and family models. The workshop will overview lessons learned in planning strategies, including key partners needed, timelines, and resources. The workshop will then track the program development process, outlining the policies and procedures manual development from program entry to discharge. This workshop is ideal for Wellness Courts that are in the planning or pre-planning phase of their Wellness Court, or are looking to update their Policies and Procedures manual.


Developing Your Tribal Laws to Support Your Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Carrie Garrow (Akwesasne Mohawk), Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Healing to Wellness Courts are innovative, non-adversarial forums, intended to shift the focus from judicial punishment to judicial rehabilitation. But the root of the Wellness Court remains in its connection to the judiciary. Program sustainability depends on building the Wellness Court as an essential component of that judiciary. This workshop will detail institutional structures that can help secure the Wellness Court. In addition, this Wellness Court will explore the tribal code context in which the Wellness Court operates that can help motivate or disincentive participation. Tribal communities must balance public safety against the need for restorative justice.


Building Stronger Families & Brighter Futures The Unique Adaptations of the Family Drug Court and Family Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts to Better Serve Children, Families, and Communities
Marianna Corona, Senior Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures
Jennifer Foley, Senior Program Associate, Center for Children and Family Futures
The drug court movement led to numerous adaptations by jurisdictions and communities who wanted to take a problem-solving approach to better serve individuals and families affected by substance use disorders and other co-occurring issues. Child welfare and dependency court advocates developed the Family Drug Court (FDC) model to improve the poor recovery, safety, and permanency outcomes for families affected by parental substance use. For tribal communities, the development of Family Tribal Healing to Wellness courts integrated drug court principles with tribal values, laws, and resources. This workshop will discuss both movements, best practices, and strategies to improve collaboration between county and tribal communities. The presentation will highlight how tribal child welfare systems differ from State and County systems and how the family-centered approach of both models uniquely promote family recovery and stability.


Suprising Resources for Your Healing to Wellness Court
Sean Bear (Meskwaki Tribal Nation), Senior Behavioral Health Consultant and Training Coordinator, National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center
Precious Benally (Dine), Senior Associate, Drug Court Programs and Tribal Justice Exchange, Center for Court Innovation\
Hon. Bruce C. Fox, Judge, Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Court
Jeffrey N. Kushner, Montana Statewide Drug Court Coordinator, Montana Supreme Court/Office of the Court Administrator
Lauren van Schilfgaarde (Cochiti Pueblo), Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Description: There are some important resources that will help Healing to Wellness Courts improve their operations and outcomes. This session will feature a panel of individuals discussing (1) The Matrix Adapted for a Native American population: The Matrix was developed by the Matrix Institute and is the only National Institute on Drug Abuse approved curriculum for people with a substance use disorder. (2) The National American Indian and Alaskan Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center is one of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration funded Addiction Technology Transfer Center. This center provides specific training for individuals who counsel Native Americans and provides cultural competency training for others. (3) The Tribal Law and Policy Institute provides training and technical assistance services, including the Tribal Court Collaboration Program. (4) Elder Panels are a culturally-based solution to crime and delinquents behavior occurring in Indian country. Elder Panels reflects the desires expressed by many tribal nations to keep their people out of correctional facilities if they can safely be supervised in the community and is very consistent with the philosophy of Healing to Wellness Courts.


Indigenous Problem Solving for Healing to Wellness Courts
Hon. Lawrence King, Chief Judge, Colorado River Indian Tribes
Precious Benally (Dine), Senior Associate, Drug Court Programs and Tribal Justice Exchange, Center for Court Innovation
Description: The presentation will cover the incorporation of the principles of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, the San Francisco Collaborative Courts, and the assessment of the needs of a Tribal Community to address its needs beyond just substance abuse, but employment, housing, education, life skills, traditions and culture to help community members find their path.


Incentives and Sanctions
Mark Panasiewicz, Founder/Counselor, Hope Works Counseling
Description: This presentation outlines the basic behavior modification principles and their applicability in incentives, sanctions and therapeutic adjustments. It identifies the importance of incentives, both formal and informal, and their application in the program. The presentation recognizes the effect of immediate consequences in modifying client behavior, and identifies the distinctions between court-imposed sanctions and incentives and treatment responses. The presentation discusses the importance of formulating a strategy for the application of graduated sanctions and incentives and appropriate treatment responses, along the importance of the consistency in those responses.


Relapse Prevention
Mark Panasiewicz, Founder/Counselor, Hope Works Counseling
Description: The road towards sobriety often includes the potential for or actual relapse. Drug Court and Healing to Wellness Court’s structured supervision and accountability helps provide short-term consistency, but a participant can grow accustomed to the Drug Court/Wellness Court safety net. Too often, relapse has been viewed as failure, returning clients to the revolving criminal justice door. It is critical, therefore, that Drug Courts and Wellness Courts be able to identify relapse warning signs, and have strategies for both preventing and coping with relapse. This workshop with detail those warning signs, discuss common policies that have the potential to enable relapse, and discuss effective strategies for returning a participant to a good path.


Surveying Drug Treatment Courts: Results from a National Survey and Lessons Learned
Preeti Menon, Associate Director of Programs, Justice Programs Office at American University
Description: BJA’s National Drug Court Resource Center is housed at the Justice Programs Office, a center at American University’s School of Public Affairs. The resource center provides treatment court practitioners access to a wide variety of resources for effective programing. For this workshop, we will explore the results of the 2017 Annual Drug Treatment Court Survey. Our analysis of the survey results will give attendees a brief snapshot of how courts currently operate, challenges to surveying drug treatment courts, and lessons learned as the Justice Programs Office moves forward.


Pueblo of Laguna Community Wellness Court: Looking 10 Years Back, Looking 10 Years Ahead
Hon. Bruce C. Fox, Judge, Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Court
Christine Sisneros, Wellness Court Coordinator, Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Court
Kristina Pacheco(Pueblo of Laguna), Program Manager, Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health Services
Thomasina Antonio, Adult Probation Officer, Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Court
Description: This presentation will trace the development and enhancement of the Pueblo of Laguna Healing to Wellness Court over the last ten years, culminating in their designation as a peer mentor court. The team will highlight lessons learned and the many transitions they have endured. The team will then highlight their plans for the future, as they survey the next ten years for their now institutionalized restorative justice system.


Healing to Wellness Courts Online Curriculum: A New Approach to Interdisciplinary Training
Precious Benally (Dine), Senior Associate, Drug Court Programs and Tribal Justice Exchange, Center for Court Innovation
Alejandra Garcia, Program Associate, Tribal Justice Exchange & Treatment Court Programs, Center for Court Innovation
Description: Participants will learn about the new Healing to Wellness Courts Online Curriculum and learn how to best utilize the TreatmentCourtsOnline.org learning platform to train HTWC team members. The presenters will walk the participants through the key elements of the new site, while highlighting the new Healing to Wellness Court curriculum content, including video lessons, interviews with practitioners, virtual site visit, and research articles relevant to Healing to Wellness Courts. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to navigate the new website, develop their own learning plans, and monitor their learning progress, all via the TreatmentCourtsOnline learning platform.


Cultural Integration of Custom and Tradition, Ho-Chunk Style
Hon. Mary Jo B. Hunter (Ho Chunk), Family Healing to Wellness Court Judge, Ho Chunk Nation
Shelley A. Wilkinson, Assistant Clerk of Court, Ho Chunk Nation
Robert Mann, Family Healing to Wellness Court Coordination, Ho Chunk Nation 
Description: This workshop will feature an overview of the Ho-Chunk Nation Judiciary, including the status of the Nation as a newer tribe within the PL 280 jurisdiction of Wisconsin. The workshop will detail the Nation’s two drug courts: the Adult Healing to Wellness Court (HTW) and the Family Wellness Court (FWC). The team will detail how the Wellness Courts incorporates the Nation’s belief systems to support the participants and their families. There will be copies of forms used to assess cultural levels of their respective participants, and share plans for incorporating culture, language, and spirituality on an ongoing basis.


After Care
Kristina Pacheco (Pueblo of Laguna), Program Manager, Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health Services
Description: Wellness Court immediately introduces accountability and support for participants who have struggled without either for most of their addiction. However, as the participant progresses through the program, many struggle with the progressively diminishing support. Graduation can often mark fears of relapse, with many fearing the sudden loss of immense support to which they have grown accustomed. This workshop will detail strategies for ensuring participants stay on a good road, build up a community of support outside of the Wellness Court, and have an after-care plan.


Federal-Tribal Collaboration: The Northern Cheyenne – U.S. District Court Joint Jurisdiction Wellness Court
Hon. Roni Rae Brady (Northern Cheyenne), Chief Judge, Northern Cheyenne Court
Janet Wolfname (Northern Cheyenne), Director of Public Health, Northern Cheyenne Public Health
Description: Joint jurisdiction courts have been slowly building momentum across the country, particularly in the realm of drug courts/Healing to Wellness Courts. For the first time, a tribe and federal district have dared to implement this model to better serve tribal members convicted within the federal system. The Northern Cheyenne – U.S. District Court Joint Jurisdiction Wellness Court will detail their current planning efforts, how they currently envision the court, and their plans for the future.


Participants’ Rights
Hon. Carrie Garrow (Akwesasne Mohawk), Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Hon. Charlene Jackson (Dine), Owner/Managing Attorney, Jackson Law Firm
Description: Protecting a participant’s due process rights is a foundational component of Healing to Wellness Courts. However, this process differs significantly from adversarial courts. Moreover, the due process rights within tribal court differs both mechanically and substantively from non-tribal courts. This workshop will overview key considerations for when and how a participant’s due process rights are affected, and steps the Wellness Court can take to ensure the participant’s rights are protected, especially when a defense counselor or advocate may not be present.


Vicarious Trauma
Donna Humetewa Kaye (Hopi), Program Director, Nakwatsvewat Institute
Description: Wellness Court participants may have a history of trauma stemming from different sources. Trauma is typically a result of victimization. However, caregivers, helpers, and service providers of Wellness Court participants can experience vicarious trauma. If not aware healers and helpers may experience vicarious trauma impacting their clients as well as themselves. This workshop will provide general information about what to consider when working with program participants as well as Wellness Court team members. The workshop will encourage discussion about what teams are doing to address this topic.


Ethics in Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Carrie Garrow (Akwesasne Mohawk), Chief Judge, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Hon. Charlene Jackson (Dine), Owner/Managing Attorney, Jackson Law Firm
Description: Tribal Healing to Wellness Court sheds much of the formality of adversarial proceedings. But Healing to Wellness Courts are not relieved of the same ethical boundaries and considerations. With collaboration among different agencies, frequent interactions with participants, and the increased potential for ex parte and confidential communications, Wellness Court practitioners must maneuver distinct and sometimes competing ethical considerations. This workshop will overview some of these ethical considerations ranging from the attorney to the treatment provider’s perspective. Topics will include confidentiality, relationships among team members and participants, and the inter-relationship of Wellness Court duties and distinct professional ethical obligations.


De-Escalation and Healthy Wellness Court Team
Kristina Pacheco (Pueblo of Laguna), Program Manager, Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health Services
Mark Panasiewicz, Founder/Counselor, Hope Works Counseling
Description: The nature of Healing to Wellness Court is coming together. But this often can entail conflict and strife. This workshop will focus on ensuring a sustainable and healthy Wellness Court by identifying markers of escalation and stress, and provide strategies for deescalating tense situations, and fostering long-term health and growth
 


2017 National Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference
July 9-12, 2017
National Harbor, MD

Tribal Nations Forum
Tribal Law and Policy Institute
The Tribal Nations Forum is an opportunity for tribal courts in attendance to gather, meet other Tribal Wellness Courts, learn about tribal-specific resources, and develop a game-plan for the conference. This is an excellent opportunity to network with other courts and comparable roles, learn about different models, and brainstorm on common challenges being faced by tribes.

Relapse Prevention
Mark Panasiewicz and Blake Panasiewicz
The road towards sobriety often includes the potential for or actual relapse. Drug Court and Healing to Wellness Court’s structured supervision and accountability helps provide short-term consistency, but a participant can grow accustomed to the Drug Court/Wellness Court safety net. Too often, relapse has been viewed as failure, returning clients to the revolving criminal justice door. It is critical, therefore, that Drug Courts and Wellness Courts be able to identify relapse warning signs, and have strategies for both preventing and coping with relapse. This workshop with detail those warning signs, discuss common policies that have the potential to enable relapse, and discuss effective strategies for returning a participant to a good path.

Building Stronger Families & Brighter Futures – The Unique Adaptations of the Family Drug Court and Family Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts to Better Serve Children, Families, and Communities
Marianna Corona and Lauren van Schilfgaarde
The drug court movement led to numerous adaptations by jurisdictions and communities who wanted to take a problem-solving approach to better serve individuals and families affected by substance use disorders and other co-occurring issues. Child welfare and dependency court advocates developed the Family Drug Court (FDC) model to improve the poor recovery, safety, and permanency outcomes for families affected by parental substance use. For tribal communities, the development of Family Tribal Healing to Wellness courts integrated drug court principles with tribal values, laws, and resources. This workshop will discuss both movements, best practices, and strategies to improve collaboration between county and tribal communities. Each of the presenters will draw from available research and their own professional experience and expertise working with a multitude of programs. The presentation will highlight how tribal child welfare systems differ from State and County systems and how the family-centered approach of both models uniquely promote family recovery and stability. Attendees who want to increase their understanding of Tribal communities and learn strategies to better serve tribal families in their jurisdiction are invited to attend this session.

Healing to Wellness Courts: A National Survey and Latest Research on Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
HTWC: A National Survey Part I
HTWC: A National Survey Part II
Charlene Jackson, Juliette Mackin, Chad Rodi, and Lauren van Schilfgaarde
While Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts have been in operation for nearly twenty years, no comprehensive research has ever been conducted. Drug Court best practices and standards have numerous applications, yet they are not tribal-specific. After a decade in the field, this workshop will overview the findings of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute’s numerous onsite technical assistance visits to offer observed insights into some of the unique challenges, and innovations, of Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts. 

Serving Beyond High Risk/High Need in Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
Mark Panasiewicz and Blake Panasiewicz
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts often have smaller caseloads. Rather than turning potential participants away, Wellness Courts often have room for more. Nevertheless, potential participants vary along the high risk/high need spectrum, and thus require different types and dosages of treatment, and should avoid mixing with participants in other quadrants. This workshop will explore serving participants of different risk and need, such as through separate tracks, the continued importance of screening, and maximizing resources to serve the needs of the community.

Tribal-State Collaborations
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Kimberly Sweet, Matt Oakley, Hans Klodt
Tribal, county, and municipal courts often unfortunately share a tumultuous relationship stemming from years of tension and misunderstanding. Yet these same courts share overlapping and complex jurisdictions, often with overlapping participants. With a scarcity of resources, and a growing need for culturally responsive services, problem-solving courts have led the charge for collaboration. From referral agreements, to shared behavioral health, to joint jurisdiction courts, Drug Courts and Healing to Wellness Courts are engaging in numerous and innovative collaborations. This workshop will detail these collaborations, and provide strategies and examples for effective collaboration.

Participant Rights in Healing to Wellness Court
Carrie Garrow, Charlene Jackson, and Lauren van Schilfgaarde
Protecting a participant’s due process rights is a foundational component of Healing to Wellness Courts. However, this process differs significantly from adversarial courts. Moreover, the due process rights within tribal court differs both mechanically and substantively from non-tribal courts. This workshop will overview key considerations for when and how a participant’s due process rights are affected, and steps the Wellness Court can take to ensure the participant’s rights are protected, especially when a defense counselor or advocate may not be present.

Ethics in Healing to Wellness Court
Carrie Garrow and Charlene Jackson
Tribal Healing to Wellness Court sheds much of the formality of adversarial proceedings. But Healing to Wellness Courts are not relieved of the same ethical boundaries and considerations. With collaboration among different agencies, frequent interactions with participants, and the increased potential for ex parte and confidential communications, Wellness Court practitioners must maneuver distinct and sometimes competing ethical considerations. This workshop will overview some of these ethical considerations ranging from the attorney to the treatment provider’s perspective. Topics will include confidentiality, relationships among team members and participants, and the inter-relationship of Wellness Court duties and distinct professional ethical obligations.

2017 Spring 6th Annual Cultural Conference: Apsaalooke Child & Family Service and Montana Tribal Social Services Association

May 17-18, 2017
Billings, MT

Family Healing to Wellness Courts: Integrating Child Welfare and Substance Abuse Treatment
Lauren van Schilfgaarde
Family Healing to Wellness Courts, also known as Family Drug Courts, are treatment court dockets that target families with dependency cases seeking reunification by providing intense supervision and support for parent(s) in alcohol and/or drug treatment. This workshop detais the key components of Family Healing to Wellness Courts, their best practices, and how they can be successfully implemented in Indian country.

2017 Arizona Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference
April 19-21, 2017
Prescott, AZ

Relapse Prevention
Mark Panasiewicz, Founder/Counselor, Hope Works Counseling
Healing to Wellness Court is an intentionally intensive, structured program, inundating participants with tasks, treatment, and accountability. But even while it might seem like it for some participants, Wellness Court does not last forever. The abruptness of graduation can be startling, and with the loss of the structured support system, can send some participants into relapse. This workshop will detail the concerns of Phase 4 participants, and detail strategies for serving participants post-graduation, ranging from loose alumni groups to a structured fifth phase to recovery coaches. After care is merely the extension of the lessons instilled during Wellness Court, a lifestyle of well-being.

Tribal-State Collaborations
Sample Tribal-County Referral MOU
Cherokee Tribal Drug Court MOU
Leech Lake MOU
Yurok and Del Norte County MOU
Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Law Specialist, Tribal Law & Policy Institute
Tribal, county, and municipal courts often unfortunately share a tumultuous relationship stemming from years of tension and misunderstanding. Yet these same courts share overlapping and complex jurisdictions, often with overlapping participants. With a scarcity of resources, and a growing need for culturally responsive services, problem-solving courts have led the charge for collaboration. From referral agreements, to shared behavioral health, to joint jurisdiction courts, Drug Courts and Healing to Wellness Courts are engaging in numerous and innovative collaborations. This workshop will detail these collaborations, and provide strategies and examples for effective collaboration.

Incorporating Custom into Healing to Wellness Court
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Dr. Marla Kokesh
A participant’s healing often includes re-integration into the community and re-integration with one’s self. Cultural resources can be used to ground the self, reconnect with lost custom, and develop spiritual and cultural meaning that may have been lost or disregarded. Incorporation of culture into Drug Court or Healing to Wellness Court programming can take a variety of forms, from including cultural activities into the sanctions and incentives, to having a Wellness Court tribal name, to embedding treatment phases with cultural significance. Incorporation of custom and tradition can be especially important for Native participants, who often stem from a different worldview than that offered in standard drug court settings. This workshop will explore this different worldview, and strategies for incorporating custom and tradition into both Tribal Healing to Wellness Court and into State Drug Court programs.

Relapse Prevention and Aftercare – Donna Humetewa Kaye Program Manager, Nakwatsvewat Institute, and Mark Panasiewicz, Founder/Counselor, Hope Works Counseling Healing to Wellness Court is an intentionally intensive, structured program, inundating participants with tasks, treatment, and accountability. But even while it might seem like it for some participants, Wellness Court does not last forever. The abruptness of graduation can be startling, and with the loss of the structured support system, can send some participants into relapse. This workshop will detail the concerns of Phase 4 participants, and detail strategies for serving participants post-graduation, ranging from loose alumni groups to a structured fifth phase to recovery coaches. After care is merely the extension of the lessons instilled during Wellness Court a lifestyle of well-being.

Webinar: The Tribal Key Components and the Adult Drug Court Standards
Webinar Slides
February 3, 2017
The Tribal Key Components form the foundation of all tribal drug courts. The Adult Drug Court Standards represent the latest research-based best practices for what works within the drug court setting. Applicants for Wellness Court federal funding are now being asked to abide by both documents. This webinar overviews both the key components and the Standards, and discuss how they inter-relate. This webinar is designed for those less familiar with the Wellness Court model and those seeking to use these documents to apply for federal funding and/or integrate into their own Wellness Court.
NADCP Adult Drug Court Standards Vol. I
NADCP Adult Drug Court Standards Vol. II
 

Webinar: FY 2017 BJA Adult Drug Court Grant: Funding Opportunity for Healing to Wellness Courts
Webinar Slides
January 27, 2017
This webinar provides a brief overview of the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court funding opportunity available within the FY 2017 Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Solicitation. This webinar focuses upon the application requirements of the grant, the tribal ten key components and NADCP Drug Court Standards, performance measures, and general grant writing tips. Tim Jeffries, a representative from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, was available to answer questions.
BJA FY 2017 Adult Drug Court Solicitation
2017 State Drug Court Coordinators Contact Information

2016 Trainings and Events

Webinar: CTAS FY 2017: Funding Opportunities for Healing to Wellness Courts
December 15, 2016
This webinar provides a brief overview of Healing to Wellness Court funding opportunities available within the FY 2017 Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS). This webinar focuses primarily on purpose areas 3 and 8, which can include funding for adult, family, and juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts. The webinar details the CTAS application process, updates from FY 2016, important considerations for drafting a Wellness Court narrative, general grant writing tips, and available technical assistance. Representatives from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention were available to answer questions.
FY 2017 CTAS RFP
CTAS FY 2017 FAQ
www.justice.gov/tribal/open-solicitations

15th National Indian Nations Conference: Justice for Victims of Crime

December 8-10, 2016
Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, CA

Healing to Wellness Courts: Holistic Justice
Cheyenne Sanders, Lauren van Schilfgaarde, and Laura White Woods
The Yurok Tribal Court is a Wellness Court model that boldly asserts Yurok law while identifying innovate ways to increase the net resources of the tribe through strategic partnerships. This workshop highlights innovative tribal programming and ways tribes in Public Law 280 states can creatively exercise tribal sovereignty to promote safety and justice.

Montana Drug Court Conference
October 26-28, 2016
Billings, MT

Working Effectively with Native American Participants
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Mark Panasiewicz

Incorporating Custom and Tradition and Other Healing to Wellness Court Considerations
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Mark Panasiewicz


47th Annual National Tribal Judicial and Court Personnel Conference Tribal Justice Matters: Role of Tribal Courts in Upholding Indigenous Rights

October 19-21, 2016

Morongo, CA

The Judge as Healer: The Role of the Judge in Healing to Wellness Courts
Hon. Carrie Garrow and Lauren van Schilfgaarde
Bench Card #2: The Judge as Protector of Rights
Bench Card #13: Eligibility
Bench Card #14: Initial Hearing
The Judge is an essential keystone to the effectiveness and sustainability of a Wellness Court, and this role is in stark contrast to the Western model of an impartial Judge of the adversarial courtroom. In Wellness Court, the Judge is encouraged to become intimately familiar with each participant and serve as both encourager and immediate disciplinarian for each step of each participant. In addition, the Judge is expected to lead the team, bringing together agencies beyond the legal sphere, to best holistically serve all of the participants needs. This workshop will focus upon the role of the Judge in Healing to Wellness Courts, which can often be misunderstood and not fully realized. To aid in this effort, presenters will utilize the newest Wellness Court publication, Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: The Judicial Bench Book. The publication will be used in the workshop to highlight the Judge’s role as coach and captain, while also providing a resource for comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the different nuances and challenges Judges may face.

2016 Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training
September 27-29, 2016
Albuquerque, NM

The Tribal Ten Key Components and the National Drug Court Standards: The Best Practices
Hon. Carrie Garrow and Hon. Charlene Jackson
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 9:00am 10:15am
Healing to Wellness Courts have been in operation since 1999. While research on Wellness Courts remains limited, research on drug courts have revealed best practices that most effectively and efficiently serve participants. The Tribal Ten Key Components, adopted from the state drug court key components, and the ten foundational principles upon which Healing to Wellness Courts are based. The National Drug Court Standards are research-based specific, practitioner-focused Drug Court guidance. This plenary will overview the Tribal Ten Key Components and how the National Drug Court Standards inform these guideposts through specific best practices.


Healing to Wellness Courts as Good Governance
Hon. Carrie Garrow and Hon. Charlene Jackson
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 10:30am 11:45am
The Healing to Wellness Court is a nonadversarial alternative to incarceration, challenging the status quo of Anglo-based judiciaries. But crucially, it is still a key element of the tribal judiciary. This workshop will overview how Wellness Courts contribute to the overall nation-building of tribes, as well as practical strategies for good governance, including Wellness Court codes, Memorandums of Understanding, and possible structures within the tribal justice system that protect the integrity of the Wellness Court.


Responses to Client Behavior: Incentives, Sanctions, and Therapeutic Adjustments
Mark Dyea
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 10:30am – 11:45am
This presentation outlines the basic behavior modification principles and their applicability in incentives, sanctions and therapeutic adjustments. It identifies the importance of incentives, both formal and informal, and their application in the program. The presentation recognizes the effect of immediate consequences in modifying client behavior, and identifies the distinctions between court-imposed sanctions and incentives and treatment responses. The presentation discusses the importance of formulating a strategy for the application of graduated sanctions and incentives and appropriate treatment responses, along the importance of the consistency in those responses.


Using Collaboration to Change the “System”: The Importance of Family Wellness Courts
Hon. Mary Jo Hunter and Nicole Homer
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 1:15pm – 2:30pm
The Ho Chunk National Family Wellness Court serves Ho Chunk parents with civil child welfare cases that have identified substance abuse dependency issues. As a challenge to conventional western adversarial child welfare court system, this Wellness Court using collaboration as an alternative approach to change the system for the betterment of children, of parents, of families, and of the Nation. This workshop will explore the strategies and experiences of Ho Chunk, presented by the Court’s Judge and Tribal Counsel. The workshop will discuss what a Tribal Family Wellness Court is, explore ways to incorporate culture into the child welfare court, and discuss struggles that the Ho Chunk Nation Family Wellness Court has experienced and continues to experience.


Domestic Violence in Healing to Wellness Court
Mark Panasiewiz
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 1:15pm – 2:30pm
Healing to Wellness Courts target participants with significant substance abuse dependency issues. However, participants often bring a variety of co-occurring issues. The beauty of Wellness Courts is that our multi-disciplinary team is designed to identify and treat these issues in immediate and impactful ways. This workshop will explore a devastating yet common issue in Wellness Court, domestic violence. This can include the participant as both victim or perpetrator. The workshop will explore strategies for identifying DV, safety strategies, as well as strategies for addressing DV within the Wellness Court.


Neuropharmacology of Substance Abuse: Your Brain on Drugs
Hon. Kim McGinnis, Ph.D., Esq.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 2:45pm – 4:00pm
People who abuse substances cause substantial changes to the anatomy of their brains. Chemically-dependent people have trouble learning and making decisions. This talk will explore the current thinking on how/why addictions develop. Evidence of the acute and chronic physical changes to the brain caused by alcohol, heroin, and other drugs of abuse will be shown with the aim of explaining why it is so difficult to work with many addicts. Attendees will be able to discuss definitions of addiction, explain basic neuroanatomy/pharmacology of the reward pathway, and describe the acute and chronic effects of drugs and alcohol on the brain.


HIPAA and Confidentiality
Hon. Carrie Garrow
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 2:45pm – 4:00pm
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) governs medical confidentiality, including for Healing to Wellness Courts. The Wellness Court team is bound to protect a participant’s confidentiality, including most importantly, what is discussed within treatment settings. However, HIPAA does not preclude the sharing of vital information amongst team members, nor does it prevent judicial participation in staffing. This workshop will discuss how HIPAA impacts and interacts with the Healing to Wellness Court, how judges can serve a Healing to Wellness Court and still abide by their judicial ethics, and what forms must be incorporated into our practicing procedures.


Closing Reflections: The Bench Cards/Role Play
Donna Humetewa Kaye, Hon. Carrie Garrow, Hon. Charlene Jackson, Mark Panasiewicz
Part I: Tuesday, September 27, 2016 ~ 4:15pm – 5:00pm
Part II: Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 4:15pm – 5:00pm

Healing to Wellness Court is about coming together. It is often the Court’s biggest strength and the most trying challenge. From varying personalities, professional duties, and time commitments, to the complexities of issues our participants bring to Wellness Court, the components of a healthy and effective team can change week-to-week. This session will highlight some common issues that Wellness Courts encounter, as well as simulate how the staffing and hearing can be conducted.


Interagency Collaboration: Navajo Veterans Outreach Project
Regina Begay and Robertson Yazzie, Jr.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 9:00am – 10:15am
Participants will learn how to strengthen planning for on and offreservation service delivery for Native American veterans particularly those who served in combat and who are justice involved. The information and presentation will provide examples of how to collaborate with state, federal and tribal organizations to improve the existing service array tailored for Native American veterans through the Indian Health Services, tribal programs and the Veterans Affairs. Participants will learn how the coordination and collaboration efforts of the Navajo Nation Judicial Branch’s Healing to Wellness Court’s Veterans Justice Outreach with the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services Rural Coordination Program with the Military Support Group Collaborative has improved access for veterans seeking services particularly for veterans in rural and frontier areas of the Navajo Nation. The presenters will also provide information on a new effort to develop a culturally appropriate Native Veterans behavioral health curriculum that utilizes Navajo fundamental law, customs and traditions through the Judicial Branch’s Peacemaking program. The information and presentation will also give important strategies and information on how to include community in the design of the collaborations, activities and events. A program logic model will be introduced that tribes can use to design their outcomes when servicing Native American combat veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq or other foreign wars.


Marketing our Wellness Court
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Charlene Jackson
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 10:30am – 11:45am
Key Component #9 calls for continuing community education. The effectiveness of the Healing to Wellness Court hinges not just on the team and the participant, but the participant’s family and the community-at-large. This workshop will detail some strategies for better engaging the community within the Healing to Wellness Court, including website information, graduation ceremonies, newsletter write-ups, community outreach events, etc.


Treatment: Developing Phased Treatment
Mark Panasiewicz
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 10:30am – 11:45am
Tribal Key Component #4 states that Healing to Wellness Court provide access to holistic, structure, and phased alcohol and drug abuse treatment. But what should the phases look like? This workshop will detail key considerations for building Wellness Court phases, including balancing intensive supervision with participant accountability, key markers of participant progress, potentials for over or under-supervision, and how to effectively integrate custom and tradition into the phases.


Treatment: Relapse Prevention
Mark Panasiewicz
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 1:15pm – 2:30pm
Healing to Wellness Court often provides such structured supervision and accountability that a participant can grow accustomed to the Wellness Court safety net. Simultaneously, the road towards sobriety often includes the potential for or actual relapse, regardless of Wellness Court. Too often, relapse has been viewed as failure, returning clients to the revolving criminal justice door. It is critical, therefore, that Wellness Courts be able to identify relapse warning signs, and have strategies for both preventing and coping with relapse. This workshop with detail those warning signs, discuss common policies that have the potential to enable relapse, and discuss effective strategies for returning a participant to a good path. 


Improving Family Drug Court Systems to Provide Comprehensive Family-Centered Care – Lessons from the Prevention and Family Recovery (PFR) Initiative
Kimberly Dennis and Ashay Shah
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 1:15 – 2:30pm
Prevention and Family Recovery (PFR) seeks to advance the capacity of Family Drug Courts (FDCs) to provide and sustain a comprehensive family-centered care approach that improves outcomes for children, parents and families affected by substance use disorders and child abuse and neglect. This session will discuss the experiences of the first round of four PFR FDC grantees in integrating evidence-based parenting programs and children’s services into their larger FDC systems of care, which represent geographically and culturally diverse populations. The presenters will highlight the major, cross-cutting PFR lessons learned and provide examples of practice and policy changes that the four grantees made at the project, organizational and systems levels to move towards more family-centered care. The presenters will also briefly touch on the upcoming expansion of PFR to four new sites, including a Tribal Healing to Wellness Court.


Prescription Drug Abuse: Understanding a Global Epidemic and How Tribal Nations are Working to Combat It
Precious Benally and Sarah Reckess
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 2:45pm – 4:00pm
Approximately 7% of American Indian/Alaska Natives used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons last year. This workshop will highlight drug use trends and the ways tribes are addressing the misuse of prescription drugs. Audience members will learn about initiatives and programs that have been effective in curbing prescription drug abuse.


Incorporating Culture and Community in Wellness Recovery: A Penobscot Perspective
Rhonda Decontie and Hon. Eric Mehnert
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 ~ 2:45pm – 4:00pm
Many addicts are ostracized and isolated by their communities because of the behaviors that come with their addiction. That isolation is a trigger for further self-medication. This program explores the ways the Penobscot Nation Wellness Court has re-connected Wellness Participants with their culture and community.


The Latest Research on Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
Juliette Mackin
Thursday, September 29, 2016 ~ 9:00am – 10:15am
What are the practices and procedures in Healing to Wellness Courts? Do Healing to Wellness Courts reduce recidivism? What are the cost impacts? In this presentation we will discuss how Healing to Wellness Courts uniquely follow the drug court model and how different tribal cultures can impact policies and procedures. Recidivism and cost-benefit findings from a recent Healing to Wellness Court study will also be presented.


Recovery in a Drug Court Environment – How to Meet the New Standards
Jeffrey Kushner
Wednesday, September 29, 2016 ~ 9:00am – 10:15am
The presentation will begin by discussing Alcohol and other Drug Dependence as a chronic care disease and how the response differs from an acute care model which has been used by the treatment field for decades. I will discuss the need and understanding for a new language (Recovery, Recovery Maintenance, Recovery Management, Recovery Capital, Recover Oriented Systems of Care). We will discuss the research on relapse and the variables that lead to long-term abstinence. We will then discuss how the New Adult Drug Court Standards begin to reflect this new paradigm. What are the specific standards and how drug courts can meet them. Lastly, we will discuss what Drug Courts can do before discharge, and after discharge to support this new paradigm and their drug court participants who have achieved abstinence above and beyond the standards.


What’s New in Juvenile Drug Courts and Juvenile Healing to Wellness Programs: Focusing on Individualizing Services
Jessica Pearce and Evan Elkin
Wednesday, September 29, 2016 ~ 10:30am – 11:45am
Juvenile drug courts share many characteristics with juvenile healing to wellness programs. Because of this, innovations that work in juvenile drug courts may also be effective in the healing to wellness setting. This session will discuss the efforts juvenile drug courts have made in treating each youth as an individual with their own strengths and challenges. In addition, this session will discuss promising approaches for creating a continuum of care in juvenile healing to wellness programs by introducing brief interventions.


Team Building and Self-Care
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Dr. Maria Kokesh
Thursday, September 29, 2016 ~ 1:15pm – 3:00pm
The strength of our Wellness Court stems from the strength of its team members. This closing session will reflect on some of the innovative and effective strategies Wellness Courts have used to incorporate custom and tradition into their program. This session will close with strategies for our own self-care.
 

2016 National Association of Drug Court Professionals Annual Conference
May 31 – June 4, 2016
Anaheim, CA

Pharmacology and Medically Assisted Treatment in Healing to Wellness Court
Mark Panasiewicz

Indian Country Legal Issues
Carrie Garrow and Charlene Jackson
Resource: Constitutional and Other Legal Issues in Drug Court: A Webliography
Hon. William G. Meyer, National Drug Court Institute (Dec. 2015).

Keeping the Family Together in Healing to Wellness Court
Carrie Garrow and Nicole Homer

Healing to Wellness Courts in Action: The Ho Chunk Family Healing to Wellness Court
Nicole Homer and Hon. Mary Jo Hunter

Wisconsin Association of Treatment Court Professionals 2016 Training
March 21-23, 2016
Madison, WI

Healing to Wellness Courts: The Tribal 10 Key Components
Mark Panasiewicz

Historical Trauma and Its Effects
Mark Panasiewicz

Indian Country Legal Issues
Mark Panasiewicz

Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals 2016 Training
March 15-17, 2016
Grand Rapids, MI

Enablement Prevention Program
Mark Panasiewicz

Confidentiality and HIPAA in Healing to Wellness Courts
Carrie Garrow


Webinar: BJA and SAMHSA Drug Court Funding Opportunities
Webinar Slides
March 10, 2016



This webinar provides a brief overview of Tribal Healing to Wellness Court funding opportunities available within the FY 2016 Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Drug Court Discretionary Grant Solicitation, and the FY 2016 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Adult Treatment Courts and Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts Solicitation. This webinar focuses upon the application requirements of each grant. In addition, this webinar provides grant writing tips, and other potential federal sources of funding.
FY 2016 BJA Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Solicitation
FY 2016 SAMHSA Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity in Adult Treatment Courts and Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts Solicitation

2015 Trainings and Events


Webinar: CTAS FY 2016: Funding Opportunities for Healing to Wellness Courts
Webinar Slides
December 8, 2015



This webinar provides a brief overview of Healing to Wellness Court funding opportunities available within the FY 2016 Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS). This webinar focuses primarily on purpose areas 3 and 8, which can include funding for adult, family, and juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts. The webinar details the CTAS application process, important considerations, grant writing tips, and available technical assistance providers. Representatives from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention were available to answer questions.

4th Annual Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training
September 8-10, 2015
Albuquerque, NM

The Tribal 10 Key Components
Joseph T. Flies-Away and Carrie Garrow

Entry: Mapping the Process
Joseph T. Flies-Away and Charlene Jackson

Screening and Assessment
Mark Panasiewicz

Sanctions and Incentives
Charlene Jackson and Mark Panasiewicz

Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
Jessica Pearce

Joint Jurisdiction: From Shingle Springs to Kenaitze
Shingle Springs/El Dorado County Family Wellness Court
Kenaitze/Kenai Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Suzanne Kingsbury, Hon. Anna Moran, Hon. Kim Sweet, and Hon. Christine Williams

Healing to Wellness Courts Contributing to Peace: The Role of Wellness Courts in Tribal Justice Systems
Joseph T. Flies-Away and Carrie Garrow

Pharmacology and Medically-Assisted Treatment
Mark Panasiewicz

Confidentiality and HIPAA
Carrie Garrow and Charlene Jackson

Tele-Services in Rural Setting
Precious Benally and Annie Schachar

Enablement Prevention Program
Mark Panasiewicz

Wellness Court Judicial Bench Book
Joseph T. Flies-Away and Carrie Garrow

Marijuana, Peyote, Adderall and Other Ambiguous Substances
Charlene Jackson

Tribal Responses to Underage Drinking
Precious Benally and Adelle Fontanet

Intersection of the Indian Child Welfare Act and Veterans Treatment Courts
Veterans Courts
Veterans and ICWA
Kate Fort and Peter Vicaire

Healing the Healers and Team Building
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Mark Panasiewicz

21st Annual National Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference
July 27-30, 2015
National Harbor, MD

Tribal Nations Forum — Our Successes and Challenges
Attendees of the Tribal Nations Forum shared a success from this past year of which they are most proud, and a challenge they would like to address. Attendees then brainstormed possible solutions for each identified challenge.

Working Effectively with Native Populations in State Drug Court and Tribal Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Lawrence Lujan and Mark Panasiewicz

Indian Country Legal Implications
Hon. Joseph T. Flies-Away and Hon. Carrie Garrow

Na Peujam Chibel Court — The Ysleta del Sur Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
Hon. Lawrence Lujan

Enablement Prevention Program
Mark Panasiewicz

Juvenile and Family Healing to Wellness Courts
Hon. Joseph T. Flies-Away and Hon. Carrie Garrow

Upper Peninsula Regional Training: Drug Courts: Meeting the Challenge and Improving Outcomes
May 5-6, 2015
Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Veterans Courts, Tracks, and VJO Services
Michael Matwyuk, Veterans Justice Outreach, Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center

Tribal-State Collaboration
Carrie Garrow, Consultant, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Healing to Wellness Court Presentation: Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians–Waabshki-Miigwan
Matthew Lesky, Defense Attorney, Little Traverse Bay Bands Waabshki-Miigwan
Heather Boening, Coordinator and Probation Officer, Little Traverse Bay Bands Waabshki-Miigwan

Working with Native Participants
Carrie Garrow, Consultant, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Mark Panasiewicz, Consultant, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Enablement Prevention Program, Part One and Part Two
Mark Panasiewicz, Consultant, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

2014 Trainings and Events

OVC Indian Nations Conference
Therapeutic Justice: Lesson Learned from the Shingle Springs El Dorado County Healing to Wellness Court
December 11-13, 2014 ~ Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, CA
Suzanne Kingsbury
John Smith
Korey Wahwassuck
Christine Williams
This workshop explored the planning and development of the joint-jurisdiction Healing to Wellness Court by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and their neighboring El Dorado County. The court offers youth and transitional youth an alternative to incarceration with zero gaps in jurisdiction and services by having two sovereign dually occupy the bench. The team was guided by Judges Wahwassuck and Smith, who co-founded the first joint-jurisdiction court at Leech Lake-Cass County in Minnesota.

2014 Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training
September 8-10, 2014
Albuquerque, NM

Healing to Wellness Court as Good Governance
Joseph T. Flies-Away ~ 9:00 – 10:15am ~ Franciscan Room
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts are a healing and restorative justice response to the criminal justice system’s failure to adequately treat persons and families suffering with substance abuse. However, Healing to Wellness Courts, like the rest of the criminal justice system, are also iterations of governance. Their careful planning, participation by diverse groups, written memorialization, and accountability are all crucial components because Healing to Wellness Courts serve not only participants but the entire community. This workshop will set the foundation for the training under the Tribal 10 Key Components, and frame Healing to Wellness Courts as important aspects of the larger tribal government. Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts are a healing and restorative justice response to the criminal justice system’s failure to adequately treat persons and families suffering with substance abuse. However, Healing to Wellness Courts, like the rest of the criminal justice system, are also iterations of governance. Their careful planning, participation by diverse groups, written memorialization, and accountability are all crucial components because Healing to Wellness Courts serve not only participants but the entire community. This workshop will set the foundation for the training under the Tribal 10 Key Components, and frame Healing to Wellness Courts as important aspects of the larger tribal government.

What Drug Court Judges and Other Court Personnel Should Know About Treatment
Jeff Kushner ~10: 30am – 11:45am ~ Franciscan Room; and 1:15 pm – 2:30pm ~ Potters Room
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts are the coming together of otherwise distinct service providers, all for the betterment of the participant. Because the criminal justice system is joining forces with treatment providers to better assist the participant, it is therefore crucial that the entire team understands treatment concepts and how they work best with the justice system. This workshop will provide a summary overview of the criminal topics relating to drug court treatment. The goals of workshop are to better understand treatment both as a consumer of treatment services, as well as to ensure that drug court participants are receiving the evidence-based services that they need.

Planning a Healing to Wellness Court: The 10 Key Components
Joseph T. Flies-Away ~ 10:30am – 11:45am ~ Potters Room
Drug courts are identified by ten operational characteristics of the drug court process. However, because tribal communities have unique government systems and cultural contexts, the standard state components may not always be appropriate. The Tribal 10 Key Components have been reoriented and generalized from the NADCP state drug court key components as relevant to the tribal setting and to allow for tailoring in different geographic, demographic, jurisdictional, and cultural tribal contexts. This workshop will provide an introductory overview the tribal 10 key components, including specific examples of how the components have been realized in operational Tribal Wellness Courts. In addition, this workshop will explore other important considerations for planning and implementing a Healing to Wellness Court.

Legal Issues
Charlene Jackson ~ 1:15 – 2:30pm ~ Franciscan Room
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts function under a different legal framework than their State Drug Court counterparts. This workshop will explore that legal framework, including the Indian Civil Rights Act, the newly enacted Tribal Law and Order Act and the Violence Against Women Act, as well as potentially applicable tribal law. In addition, this workshop will explore state drug court case law, which while not authoritative, nevertheless might offer insights into legal issues facing Healing to Wellness Courts.

Sanctions and Incentives
Charlene Jackson ~ 2:45 – 4:00pm ~ Franciscan Room
Tribal key component six calls for the use of progressive rewards (or incentives) and consequences (or sanctions) to encourage participant compliance with the Wellness Court requirements. This workshop will detail the research and evidenced-based principles behind effectively utilizing this strategy, and creative ways that Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts have been realizing this component in sustainable and culturally appropriate ways.

Screening and Assessment Tools
Mark Panasiewicz ~ 2:45 – 4:00pm ~ Potters
Tribal Key Component 3 calls for eligible parents, guardians, juveniles, and adults to be identified early through legal and clinical screening. This workshop will explore the strategies and tools available for this clinical identification, including tools for the initial screening, and tools for the subsequent, more in-depth assessment. This workshop touch upon the many available resources, and walk through a screening, pointing out important considerations for producing a reliable determination that will best serve the participant, as well as best utilize the Healing to Wellness Court resources.

Navajo Alamo To’hajiilee Healing to Wellness Court
Navajo Alamo To’hajiilee Healing to Wellness Court and the Southern Ute Adult Healing to Wellness Court Team ~ 4:15 – 5:30pm ~ Franciscan Room
The best lessons come from our brothers and sisters practicing in the field. This workshop will offer the history and experiences of two Healing to Wellness Court teams in their journeys to serve their communities.

Tribal-State Collaborations
Shingle Springs Tribal-State Collaborations
Charlene Jackson and the Shingle Springs Healing to Wellness Court Team ~ 9:00 – 10:15am ~ Franciscan Room
State and tribal courts stem from separate sovereigns and different histories, enforce different laws, and serve different, yet often overlapping populations. Recognition of these differences can strengthen rather than diminish the services that we provide. This plenary will explore the history that informs Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts, potential benefits to Tribal Wellness Courts and State Drug Courts from collaboration, strategies for collaboration, and specific examples of successful collaboration that include written referral agreements, joint team members, cultural consultants, and joint courts. In addition, this plenary will hear from the Shingle Springs of Miwok Indians Healing to Wellness Court, which is currently engaged in collaboration with its neighbor, El Dorado County.

Unique Role of Judges in Healing to Wellness Court
Joseph T. Flies-Away ~ 10:30 -11:45am ~ Franciscan Room
As a leader of that team, the Healing to Wellness Court Judge provides a unique role of both accountability and mentorship that is markedly different that the role of a Trial Court Judge. The Wellness Court Judge is not only the leader of the Tribal Wellness Court team, but is also the guide to the participant, as well as the protector of the participants civil rights and other procedural processes. This workshop will explore these distinct new roles and responsibilities. The workshop will utilize Tribal Wellness Court Bench Cards, to provide quick access while on the bench.

Case Management
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Raphael Wahwassuck ~ 10:30 – 11:45am ~ Alvarado A-C Room
The demands of a Healing to Wellness Court can be trying even for the most organized and best intentioned. Successful progression often necessitates guidance. This workshop will explore the important role of a case manager for every Healing to Wellness Court team, which includes providing services beyond substance abuse treatment. The case manager enhances coordination of the Wellness Court team’s efforts, including by providing case planning, referrals, tracking of progress, and collaborating with other agencies. This workshop will include poignant case examples, and real-world applications, as well as some moderate audience interaction.

Guess What? You’re a Family Court Too (If Your Clients Have Children) Practice Considerations When Working with Families in Drug Courts
Russ Bermejo ~ 1:15 – 2:30pm ~ Franciscan Room
Addiction is a disease that impacts the entire family and its relationships. Therefore, all collaborative courts are family courts if their clients include parents and children. This workshop will explore the importance of a family-centered approach and key elements of family engagement and supporting the parent-child relationship. Participants will gain a greater understanding and awareness of how addiction and drug court interventions impact the child and family unit and why collaboration and partnerships are critical for achieving family recovery and well-being. This workshop will preview and briefly highlight some of the lessons learned from the Family Drug Court model. Training and technical assistance resources will also be provided to facilitate further understanding of family-centered practice and approach in all drug courts.
Handout: Accounting for the Role in Families in Drug Court Evaluations. Includes:
– Process and outcome evaluation questions concerning the role of participants’ children and family members
– Components of basic, intermediate, and intensive evaluation strategies to account for activities including children and families

Data Collection: Management Information Systems
Jose Ferrer ~ 1:15 – 2:30pm ~ Alvarado A-C Room
Tribal key component eight calls for the collection of relevant data in order to monitor and evaluate the achievement of the program goals, to identify needed improvements, determine participant progress, and provide information to governing bodies, interested community groups, and funding sources. This workshop will detail the important data points that should be collected by every Healing to Wellness Court. In addition, this workshop will go over the Buffalo Management Information System (MIS), a software developed, used, and donated by the Buffalo, NY Drug Court. The Buffalo MIS is a simple, menu-driven system, used to record information on drug court clients from intake through to their termination or graduation. Each attendee will receive a copy of the Buffalo MIS, capable for modifying to your court’s particular needs.

Enablement Prevention Program
Enablement Part I
Enablement Part II
Mark Panasiewicz ~ 2:45 – 4:00pm ~ Franciscan Room
Developed by Hope Works Counseling, the treatment providers for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Adult Healing to Wellness Court, the Enablement Prevention Program is an interactive program that involves education of family members to help create a united team between service providers and loved ones. The Enablement Prevention Program is based on existing programs such as Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), Dialectic Cognitive behavioral therapy and on evidence based research of the damaging effect that enablement has on recovery. Enablement Prevention has been in practice and an element of recovery for at least the last 20 years. It originated out of Group Guided Interaction and the 12 step program. EPP is a form of peer-group treatment similar to group interventions where individuals experiencing similar problems can come together in a safe environment to share and receive experiences and get support. Furthermore, it is a cost-effective form of mental health treatment when compared to individual-based therapy. The goal of the group is to develop interactions with the client and to prevent the further enablement of the client and the client’s criminal behavior. EPP also utilizes value-based and process-oriented treatment model. The freedom from enablement will encourage clients into maturity, pro-social behavior and attitudes, and manages to make the client answerable for their own negative, delinquent behaviors and attitudes.

National Perspectives – Family Drug Court
Russ Bermejo ~ 2:45 – 4:00pm ~ Alvarado A-C Room
Built from a common vision and extraordinary collaboration effort among child welfare, substance abuse treatment providers and the Court system, Family Drug Courts (FDCs) have emerged as a promising model for improving outcomes for children and families affected by substance use disorders in the child welfare system.- The model is impacting the lives and futures of children and families through timely decisions, coordinated services, provisions of substance abuse treatment and safe and permanent placements.- This workshop will explore key elements and practice strategies of the FDC model, outcome findings from local site and cross-site evaluations, the challenges and opportunities ahead to expand or institutionalize the innovations of FDCs into the larger child welfare system.- Training and technical assistance resources will also be provided to facilitate further understanding of the FDC model.-

Assessing Healing to Wellness Courts
Melissa Riley ~ 4:15 – 5:30pm ~ Franciscan Room
Tribal key component eight states that evaluation is an important aspect of a healthy, continually evolving Tribal Healing to Wellness Court. This workshop will overview the key considerations for what an evaluation should include, what data should be collected in order conduct an evaluation, what stakeholders should be involved, and how evaluations can best be utilized to facilitate the growth of the Wellness Courts. Additionally, this workshop will overview the key considerations for evaluations of Wellness Courts that operate with federal funding. Finally, this workshop will briefly overview available resources to obtain an evaluation.

Developing Phased Treatment
Mark Panasiewicz ~ 4:15 – 5:30pm ~ Alvarado A-C Room
Phased treatment is the structuring of a participant’s progress through Healing to Wellness Court by the marked passage from distinct phases, most often numbering in four. Tribal key component number four notes that phased treatment is a crucial aspect of the services provided to Wellness Court participants. Each Tribal Healing to Wellness Court will have a slightly different take upon what these phases represent, what is required to pass from one phase to another, and how, if at all, culture and tradition interplay. This workshop will detail the important considerations for what should be included in the different phases, what materials should be provided to participants and their families concerning the phases, how best to design your own phases that match with your strategic goals for your Wellness Court, and finally, how several different Wellness Courts have realized their own phased treatment. 

Honoring our Children by Honoring our Traditions: Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Leah Lopez and Mary Sue Soto ~ 9:00 – 10:15am ~ Alvarado F-H Room
This presentation will focus on how the National Indian Child Welfare Association’s Positive Indian Parenting training model was used at Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (YDSP). Participants will learn about this unique curriculum that focuses on traditional ways of parenting, how it was tailored to fit YDSP’s community and how it can be used in their own community.

Incorporating Culture and Tradition
Donna Humetewa Kaye ~ 10:30 – 11:45am ~ Alvarado F-H Room
A participant’s healing often includes re-integration into the community and re-integration with one’s self. Cultural resources can be used to ground the self, reconnect with lost custom, and develop spiritual and cultural meaning that may have been lost or disregarded. Incorporation of culture into Drug Court or Healing to Wellness Court programming can take a variety of forms, from including cultural activities into the sanctions and incentives, to having a Wellness Court tribal name, to embedding treatment phases with cultural significance. Incorporation of custom and tradition can be especially important for Native participants, who often stem from a different worldview than that offered in standard drug court settings. This workshop will explore this different worldview, and strategies for incorporating custom and tradition into both Tribal Healing to Wellness Court and into State Drug Court programs.

Peer Positivity Group
Mark Panasiewicz ~ 10:30 – 11:45am ~ Potters Room
Developed by Hope Works Counseling, the treatment providers for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Adult Healing to Wellness Court, Positive Peer Group (PPG) provides the peer support and moral reconation that is missing in conventional talk and group therapy. The peer participants’ primary role is to learn to accept responsibility and in turn, hold their peers accountable. The group’s foundational approach is built on Harry Vorath’s and Larry Brendtro’s Positive Peer Culture modality. The PPG approach helps participants gain self-worth, accept responsibility, develop dignity and honesty with themselves and others. PPG also teaches the participants to help each other versus enable each other. The participants are taught exactly how to challenge their own dysfunctional thinking that leads to detrimental behavior. The participants learn how to change that thinking to a functional healthy thought process ultimately leading to identifying behaviors before they cause problems. PPG integrates the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approaches to teach daily living skills, healthy communication skills, healthy relationship development, anger management , and trauma informed psycho-education, volunteer work, community outreach/ support, and positive parenting techniques.

Team Building
Donna Humetewa Kaye ~ 12:00 – 1:30pm ~ Alvarado F-H Room
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts break the western adversarial mold by focusing on the participant’s healing journey through team-based collaboration. The success of the Wellness Courts depends on the well-being of the team. However, despite all the best intentions and focus, all teams are prone to temporary bouts of dysfunction, miscommunication, turnover, and vicarious trauma. This workshop seeks to send teams off in a good way, by turning the attention inwards and reflecting upon what makes a team work, and strategies that we can all use to better serve our participants.

American Indian Justice Conference
Diversionary Courts: Providing Sentencing Alternatives to Tribal Courts (Healing to Wellness Courts)
June 10-12, 2014 ~ Seattle, WA

National Association of Drug Court Professionals 20th Annual Training Conference
May 28-31, 2014 ~ Anaheim, CA

Tribal Nations Forum
Gila River Indian Community Court – Juvenile Drug Court “Sap Hihim Hekth A’Alga”
Pueblo of Laguna – Community Wellness Court

Incorporating Native Culture and Tradition
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Korey Wahwassuck

How to Effectively Work with Native Participants
Donna Humetewa Kaye and Korey Wahwassuck

Native American Treatment and Clinical Strategies for Traveling the Wellness Road
Dr. Steven Dakai

Separate Tracks in Healing to Wellness Court
Joseph T. Flies-Away and Charlene Jackson

Indian Country Legal Implications
Charlene Jackson and Korey Wahwassuck

University of Alaska – Bristol Bay Campus: Tribal Code Development and Tribal Community & Restorative Justice
May 6-9, 2014 ~ Dillingham, AK

Other Intertribal Courts
This PowerPoint explore other Inter-Tribal Court models, including those used by the Intertribal Court of Southern California, the Northern California Tribal Court Coalition, the Northwest Intertribal Court System, and the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals.

Therapeutic Justice and Healing to Wellness Courts
This PowerPoint examines the Indigenous worldview and Indigenous justice systems, westernized notions of restorative justice, the Indian Law and Order Commission report as it implicates Alaska Natives, drug courts, the process of Healing to Wellness Courts, including the 10 key components, different types of Healing to Wellness Courts, and finally, sanctions and incentives.

The Healing to Wellness Court Team
This PowerPoint briefly overviews the different team member roles and important planning considerations.

Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Waabshki Miigwan (White Feather Program)
This website features the program components, workbooks, planners, policies and procedures manual, forms, and a PowerPoint overviewing the Waabshki Miigwan Healing to Wellness Court program.

UND Tribal Judicial Institute’s 2014 Tribal Court Conference: Tribal Law and Order Act Enhanced Sentencing Prosecuting DUI Offenders in Tribal Court
January 30-31, 2013
San Diego, CA

Alternative Sentencing: Healing to Wellness Courts
Lauren van Schilfgaarde and Raphael Wahwassuck

Intersections between TLOA and VAWA Special Domestic Violence Jurisdiction
Lauren van Schilfgaarde

2013 Trainings and Events

2013 Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training
September 11-13, 2013
Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, CA

Healing to Wellness Courts as Matters of Good Governance
Joseph T. Flies-Away

Best Practices for Drug Courts – Healing to Wellness Court Research Feud
Carrie Garrow
Materials:
Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards Vol. I NADCP (2013).
What Works? The Ten Key Components of Drug Court: Research-Based Best Practices, Shannon M. Carey, Juliette R. Mackin, and Michael W. Finigan, Drug Court Review Volume VIII, Issue 1, 6 (2012).
Summary Checklist of Evidence-Based Drug Court Treatment Practices, Roger H. Peters, NADCP Research into Practice.

Treatment, Strength Assessment and Motivational Interviewing in Healing to Wellness Court
Kristina Pacheco
Materials:
“Native American Motivational Interviewing: Weaving Native American and Western Practices. A Manual for Counselors in Native American Communities.” Kamilla L. Venner and Nadine Tafoya. 2006

The Role of Ethics in Healing to Wellness Court
Carrie Garrow and Charlene Jackson
Materials:
Participation of Defense Attorneys in Drug Courts, Michael Tobin. Drug Court Review Volume VIII, Issue 1, 96 (2012).
Ethical Considerations for Judges and Attorneys in Drug Court, National Drug Court Institute. Doc. No. 197080 (2002).

Looking through the Fishbowl: Sanctions and Incentives
Charlene Jackson and Nancy OldElk
Materials:
NADCP List of Sanctions and Incentives. (2009).

Tackling Methamphetamine in Healing to Wellness Court
Sarah Reckess

Judicial Interaction
Joseph T. Flies-Away, Carrie Garrow, and Charlene Jackson

Assessing Mental Health in Indian Country
Kristina Pacheco

Juvenile Wellness Court and Veterans Wellness Court
Gregg Roth and Sarah Reckess

Family Wellness Court
Aaron Arnold

Wellness Courts in Action: Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Healing to Wellness Court
B.J. Jones
Materials:
Final Report: Participatory Evaluation of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate IASAP Demonstration Project. Jennie R. Joe, Jenny Chong, Robert Young, Darlene Lopez, B.J. Jones, Gary Gaikowski (2008).

Team Conflict and Problem-Solving
Donna Humetewa Kaye

Tracking Success: Data Collection Strategies for Healing to Wellness Court
Aaron Arnold
Materials:
Action Research: Using Information to Improve Your Drug Court, Center for Court Innovation (2010).

Gang-Involved, At Risk Youth
Aaron Arnold and Gregg Roth

Case Management
Donna Humetewa Kaye

NADCP 2013 Annual Drug Court Training Conference

July 14-17, 2013

Tribal Nations Forum
Agenda

Tribal 10 Key Components
Carrie Garrow, Charlene Jackson, and Donna Humetewa

The Judge’s Role in Tribal Healing to Wellness Court

Carrie Garrow, Charlene Jackson, and Lawrence Lujan
Materials:
Bench Card 11 – Process – Referral
Bench Card 12 – Process – Transfer & Acceptance
Bench Card 13 – Process – Entry Eligibility
Bench Card 14 – Process – Initial Hearing
Bench Card 15 – Process – Staffing Meeting

The Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Policies and Procedures
Chia Halpern-Beetso, Lauren Frinkman, Donna Humetewa, and Korey Wahwassuck

Enhanced Sovereignty: The Tribal Law and Order Act and the Violence Against Women Act
Chia Halpern-Beetso, Lauren Frinkman, and Jerry Gardner
See TLPI’s VAWA webpage on the Tribal Court Clearinghouse for more information

Tribal-State Collaboration
Carrie Garrow, Charlene Jackson, and Korey Wahwassuck

2012 Trainings and Events

2012 Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training
December 5, 2012
Agua Caliente Indian Reservation

Why We Do What We Do
Joseph T. Flies-Away

Promising Practices of Drug Courts: An Update on Drug Court Research and Resources
Donna Humetewa and Patricia Sekaquaptewa

Being Confident about Confidentiality and other Privacy Concerns
Carrie Garrow and Charlene Jackson

Building Your Judicial Bench Cards
Bench Card 11 – Process – Referral
Bench Card 12 – Process – Transfer & Acceptance
Bench Card 13 – Process – Entry Eligibility
Bench Card 14 – Process – Initial Hearing
Bench Card 15 – Process – Staffing Meeting

Importance of Law Enforcement to the Law Enforcement Team
Lawrence Lujan

Team Challenge – Hypotheticals to spot common Tribal Healing to Court Issues

Healing the Healers
Donna Humetewa

Other Resources:
BJA Drug Court Grant Program PMT FAQ
BJA Adult Discretionary Drug Court Program Enhancement Performance Measures
BJA Adult Discretionary Drug Court Program Implementation Performance Measures
Center for Court Innovation’s www.DrugCourtOnline.org
American University’s Research to Practice Initiative

National American Indian Court Judges Association 43rd Annual Meeting and National Tribal Judicial Conference
October 17-18, 2012 ~ Mystic Lake Resort and Casino
Plenary Presentation – Tribal Law and Policy Institute

Judge’s Role in Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
Joseph T. Flies-Away and Carrie Garrow

Tribal Court Funding and Technical Assistance Opportunities
Jerry Gardner

Oklahoma Specialty Court Conference 2012

September 27-28, 2012

Plenary: Tribal State Collaboration: How Tribes and States Can Collaborate to Better Improve the Effectiveness of Both State Drug Court and Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
Materials:
List of Oklahoma Tribal Courts Contacts
Walking on Common Ground

Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: The Tribal 10 Key Components

Incorporating Custom and Tradition into State Drug Courts and Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts

Tribal State Collaborations: The Leech Lake/ Cass County Joint Powers Agreement and Its Application to Oklahoma

Working Effectively with Tribal Populations in State Drug Courts and Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts

Accessing Drug Court Training, Technical Assistance, and Resources

NADCP 2012 Annual Drug Court Training Conference

May 30 – June 2, 2012

Tackling Methamphetamine in Indian Country with Healing to Wellness Courts
Sarah Reckess

Waabshki-Miigwan Adult Drug Court Program: From Program Development to Implementation
Bernadece Kiogima and Joseph Lucier
Materials:
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians: Maawshki-Miigwan Tribal Drug Court Website

Update on the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) Implementation: Continuing Opportunities and Challenges for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
Lauren Frinkman, Carrie Garrow and Charlene Jackson
Materials:
The Tribal Law and Order Act, PL 111-211
DOJ Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) Long Term Plan to Build and Enhance Tribal Justice Systems, 2011–(mentioning support for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts as an alternative to detention)
GAO May 30, 2012 Tribal Law and Order Act: None of the Surveyed Tribes Reported Exercising the New Sentencing Authority, and the Department of Justice Could Clarify Tribal Eligibility for Certain Grant Funds
Proposed VAWA Reauthorization granting Tribal courts criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians with particular ties to the Tribe for domestic violence charges:
House Version
Senate Substitute

Legal and Policy Issues Impacting Wellness Courts
Joseph T. Flies-Away, Carrie Garrow, and Charlene Jackson
Materials:
Sample Tribal Code of Judicial Conduct-Provided by the National Tribal Judicial Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance
Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct– Arizona Supreme Court (2009)

How Tribes and States Can Collaborate Better to Improve the Effectiveness of both State Drug Courts and Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts 
Joseph T. Flies-Away, Carrie Garrow, Donna Humetewa, and Charlene Jackson
Materials:
Walking On Common Ground– Features resources for promoting and facilitating tribal-state-federal collaborations

Incorporating Custom and Tradition into State Drug Courts and Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
Donna Humetewa
Materials:
Listen to the Grandmothers Video Guide and Resource–Incorporating Tradition into Contemporary Responses to Violence Against Native Women

2011 Trainings and Events

NADCP 2011 Annual Drug Court Training Conference
Monday, July 18th, 2011

National Treatment Research & Implications for Tribal Wellness Court
Donna Humetewa and Patricia Sekaquaptewa

Tribal Law & Order Act: Implementation
Trish Tingle

Tribal Law and Order Act: Opportunities and Challenges for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
John Harte

Tribal Law and Order Act: Opportunities and Challenges for Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
Jerry Gardner

Overview of Tribal Healing to Wellness Family Courts
Donna Humetewa and Patricia Sekaquaptewa

Tribal Law and Courts 101
Joseph T. Flies-Away, Jerry Gardner, and Charlene Jackson

Tribal 10 Key Components with Lessons Learned: The Role of Self-Assessment in Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts Success
Joseph T. Flies-Away and Carrie Garrow

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