Ending the Truancy to Prison Pipeline for Native Youth

Incarcerated youth on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota, too often find themselves back in the juvenile detention system only weeks after they return home. But a new Young Ambassadors Program gives them an opportunity to break that cycle and become leaders in their community.

“The majority of our incarcerated Native youth start out with truancy problems. They get the books thrown at them, and their life after that is pretty much done,” said Dustina Gill, Sisseton-Wahpeton, project manager at ALIIVE, a state accredited prevention program in Roberts County, South Dakota. Gill recently returned from the White House where she met with then Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs Jodi Gillette, of the Standing Rock Reservation, and several youth advocates. There she presented her thoughts on youth suicide, alcoholism and incarceration.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/05/21/ending-truancy-prison-pipeline-native-youth-160412