School of Social Work assistant professors Katie Johnston-Goodstar, Ph.D., and Ross VeLure Roholt, Ph.D., have been awarded a two-year, $437,261 Tribal FIRE grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. They will work with a local tribe to assess, identify, and understand risk and protective factors for tribal youth in a community perceiving increased gang involvement.

Using a community-based participatory research approach, the project’s short-term goals will be to: (1) assess needs of tribal youth, (2) examine risk and protective factors for tribal youth, (3) determine the feasibility of conducting longitudinal research with tribal youth, and (4) conceptualize and investigate new research questions to inform program and policy development in juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and victimization for tribal youth. Intermediate and long-term outcomes include developing recommendations for culturally appropriate and effective policies, and intervention and prevention strategies.

Oliviah Walker and Clarissa Siedl, students in the Youth Development Leadership master’s in education program, will assist on the project.