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S. HRG. 114–191 

STRENGTHENING ALASKA NATIVE FAMILIES: 

EXAMINING RECIDIVISM, REENTRY AND 

TRIBAL COURTS IN ALASKA 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

AUGUST 20, 2015 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Chairman 

JON TESTER, Montana, Vice Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

T. MICHAEL ANDREWS, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

ANTHONY WALTERS, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Field hearing held on August 20, 2015 .................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Murkowski ........................................................................... 1 

WITNESSES

Coghill, Hon. John, State Senator, Alaska Senate ............................................... 6 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 9 

Jessee, Jeff, CEO, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority .................................. 30 

Morris, Denise, President/CEO, Alaska Native Justice Center ........................... 33 

Prepared statement of Chet Adkins ................................................................ 36 

Razo, Gregory, Vice President, Government Contracting, Cook Inlet Region, 

Inc. ......................................................................................................................... 17 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 21 

Singh, Natasha, General Counsel and Tribal Court Judge, Tanana Chiefs 

Conference ............................................................................................................ 12 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 

APPENDIX

Association of Village Council Presidents, prepared statement .......................... 48 

Hudson, Audrey M.L., Mayor/City Manager, Metlakatla Indian Community, 

prepared statement .............................................................................................. 50 

U.S. Department of Justice, prepared statement .................................................. 47 

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STRENGTHENING ALASKA NATIVE FAMILIES: 

EXAMINING RECIDIVISM, REENTRY AND 

TRIBAL COURTS IN ALASKA 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, 

Anchorage, AK. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11 a.m. in the Alaska 

Native Heritage Center, Hon. Lisa Murkowski, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Good morning, we will call to order this 

meeting of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. I want to welcome those of you who are joining us this morning. I hope you’ve 

got good sound in the back, is it working back there? Okay. All 

right. 

I want to thank the Alaska Native Heritage Center for allowing 

us to be here this morning in their beautiful, beautiful facilities 

and I think it’s somewhat notable that we are surrounded by not 

only Yupik culture as I look around, truly all of our Native cultures 

are reflected in these beautiful spaces here this morning, and so 

many friends from around the state, leaders in many, many ways. 

We’ve got a very significant panel of individuals who are prepared to provide testimony for us morning and before we begin, I 

would like to recognize the members of the staff on the Indian Affairs Committee that have joined by staff, Greg Bringhurst, who is 

working all of my Alaska Native and rural issues. Greg has been 

with me now for several months, but we also have Rhonda Harjo 

who is the Deputy Chief Counsel on the Indian Affairs Committee. 

I’ve worked with Rhonda for many years now when I was the ranking member on the Indian Affairs Committee. She does a great job 

for Indian country around the nation here. 

We have Emily Newman who is also counsel to the Committee. 

Jacqueline Bisille who is a legislative assistant again joined by 

Greg. They had an opportunity, I think, to go out to Bethel thus 

far, and hopefully, to gain better understanding of some of the 

challenges that we face here in Alaska, but even more so, the many 

opportunities that we have in front of us. 

We’ll begin the hearing this morning in, perhaps, a little less traditional manner than you would see in a hearing before the United 

States Senate back in Washington D.C. I would like to invite a 

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Yupik elder, Marge Nakak, to open the hearing this morning with 

an opening prayer and we’re honored to have you with us this 

morning. 

OPENING PRAYER 

Ms. NAKAK. Good morning to each one of you. In Alaska, my 

Inupiat Native ancestry originates from Big Diomede through my 

mother’s father and that gives me my Inupiat name, Olawanna and 

from my grandmother, who is Yupik, I was named after her, her 

name is Mongwanna, which means seamstress. 

We are all blessed to be on this land occupied for many years by 

the local Native cultural group of Dena’ina Athabascans. Their belief has been that every natural resource and all the animals and 

sea mammals and birds have a spirit, promoting mutual respect 

between nature and humanity. In honor and appreciation toward 

our Creator, for His benevolent provisions. There are still songs 

and dances and feasts and ceremonial potlatches, which are still 

enriching our lives as we express our appreciation and acknowledgment for these natural resources in our Alaskan regions. 

The land is our Native foundation for a cultural history and evidence still exists throughout the magnificent state in ancient settlements that are being unearthed today. 

In our prayer now, we are thankful and acknowledge these gifts 

of the land, the animals, the sea mammals, the birds, the fish, the 

lakes and rivers, the crisp air, the plants and berries, the valleys, 

the tundra and all the terrain in which humanity and wildlife, essential for our sustenance and for our health is still one of our subsistence ways of life today. Each of your presence is welcome, and 

with heartfelt gratitude, we participate in inspiring honor and respect to each one’s identity. In former times past, our ancestors, 

through extreme changes, established tried and true ways of life to 

guide us with continued focus toward preserving the abundant benefits that nature provides for us. 

Our ancestors intense diligence prompts us to carry forth these 

indigenous values while cooperatively enhancing our cultures 

through sharing and strengthening our peoples proven achievements throughout the centuries. 

Our implementation of these life ways promotes motivation toward harmony in our present, diverse communities. Strands of connections tie us together to be successfully in our future without endeavors and our blended societies of many origins. 

In radiance as the Northern Lights, each one of us is a ray of 

light and reflects the aurora borealis, which is always brilliant in 

the northern Alaskan skies. May our Creator and our benevolent 

God bless each one of you in all of your work for all of our people 

within this magnificent state. God bless you all. Thank you. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Quyana, Marge, thank you for that blessing, thank you for your words to begin this morning. 

One of the things that I respect and admire most is when a Native person, whether they be Inupiat from up north or Yupik or 

Athabascan or Tlingit, they always start by introducing who they 

are and they don’t say my name is Lisa Murkowski, they speak 

about their family, they speak about where their family is from and 

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I’ve always felt that that is the gracious and beautiful way to identify oneself. 

And so I am pleased this morning to identify myself as the 

daughter of Frank and Nancy, one who was born in Ketchikan and 

raised in communities around the state. While my name is Lisa 

Murkowski, the name that I have been given as an adopted daughter of the dey chiton is the name Anshawayak, which in Tlingit 

means Lady of the Land and it is an honor and a tribute, unlike 

anything that I have possibly ever been recognized with and it’s a 

responsibility that comes with a name that I take very, very seriously. 

So today, as we look at those issues, that I think bring sadness 

to us as Alaskans, sadness certainly to our Alaska Native people 

when they look at the grim statistics relating to what we see within our justice system here in this state and recognize that, in many 

ways, we are failing our people here in this state, we are failing 

our Native people with a system that is just not working right now. 

And as one who has that responsibility as Lady of the Land, it is 

also one who has great concern for the people of the land and ensuring that what we do every day is right by them. 

So we have an opportunity here as we take testimony for the 

Senate Indian Affairs Committee to lay out the issues, the problems, the statistics and hopefully the solutions or a path to the solutions to better our opportunities, for not only our Native people, 

but for all people within our state in ensuring that there is a fairness, there is justice and that there is a path of hope and opportunity because I think sometimes, our justice system is not viewed 

as a path of hope. If anything, it is viewed as just a revolving door 

of commitment to despair and that is not what a justice system 

should be about. 

There’s a great deal of discussion back in Washington, D.C. right 

now about our justice system and the effectiveness of what we are 

seeing within our corrections system, with how we deal with sentencing, with just ensuring that our systems are right. And it is 

something that is generating a level of concern, but interests from 

those who are on the far right of the political spectrum and those 

who are on the far left of the political system, to attempt to try to 

find some solutions because I think the recognition is, is just building more prisons is not the answer or us. It’s not the answer for 

us in Alaska, it’s not the answer for us in the country, so how can 

we move towards a level of meaningful reform? And that is some 

of what I would like as to attempt to discuss today. 

We know that here, in Alaska, we have some very significant 

challenges related to crime, justice and to recidivism. Recidivism is 

probably one of the more challenging issues that we are facing 

within our justice system right now. Whether it’s a misdemeanor 

or a felony offender, our recidivism rates here, in Alaska, are some 

of the highest in the nation, especially for our Alaska Native males 

and this is especially true for individuals with lengthy or more serious criminal histories. 

And we have good written testimony that is included as part of 

the record and we will hear from each of those we’ve invited to 

speak today. But I want to just cite briefly some of the statistics 

that are contained in Mr. Razo’s testimony here and this comes 

4 

from the Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force’s, the five-year prisoner reentry strategic plan for 2011 through 2016. And it notes 

that, in the lower 48, back in 2009 for the first time in 38 years, 

it says 26 states successfully reduced their prison populations, but 

Alaska was not one of those. Alaska was not one that is seeing the 

rates go down. In marked contrast, Alaska has the 11th fastest 

prison population growth in the entire country, the 11th fastest 

prison population growth in the country. 

From 1982 to 2007, Alaska had a 152 percent increase in its prison population. In 2009, one in 36 Alaskans were under the jurisdiction of the Alaska Department of Corrections. One in 36 Alaskans 

under the jurisdiction of the Alaska Department of Corrections and 

this is up from one in 90 Alaskans back in 1982, so we are on a 

trajectory that is exactly going the wrong way. 

And then of course, the disproportionate number of Alaska people that we see incarcerated, these are the statistics that we keep 

reading about that are deeply troubling. Alaska Native people 

make up 15 percent of our state’s population, 15 to 17 percent, but 

they constitute about 36 percent of all prisoners in custody. Again, 

statistics that we should find alarming and that sense of alarm 

should motivate us to work aggressively to address it. And I think 

the good news for us is that those that we have asked to be here 

today are doing exactly that, working aggressively to identify the 

problems, to identify then the solutions that come and what more 

can we be doing. 

We all have heard the concerns about those who have become 

part of this system, are imprisoned for whatever reason it may be 

and then they’re released and they go back into their communities 

and we see a repeat. It might not be the same crime, but we see 

a repeat situation where they fall back into the same habits that 

may have initially led them to their involvement within the criminal system and it is this revolving door that we know all too well 

about. We have to do all that we can to ensure that whether it’s 

a young man or young women, more and more young women and 

it’s my understanding that what we’re seeing in that population is 

more young African-American women are being involved in the bad 

end of the criminal system here in numbers that are generating a 

level of concern and interest and a focus that we have not seen yet. 

So what is happening, what is going on? 

So I would like to be today’s panel again by thanking you for 

what you have been doing around this state. We had hoped, greatly 

hoped that we would have a representative from the Department 

of Justice here with us this morning, someone who could be a witness to testify. They clearly have an incredibly important role in 

addressing these issues and I think a greater level of engagement 

from the department would be greatly appreciated and I know that, 

Natasha, in your testimony, you’re going to be highlighting a little 

bit of that. It is important that, as we work towards solutions, it 

is not just the State of Alaska and the legislature, it’s not just the 

Alaska Native Justice Commission that is doing it, it is not just the 

feds, it is everyone working together and so we need to ensure that 

just that is happening. 

What we will do this morning is we will hear from each of the 

witnesses. I urge you to try to keep within about five minutes or 

5 

so, but we’re not going to be cutting you off, this is important testimony to be delivered for the record. Know that you’re entire statement will be made part of the full Committee record. For those who 

are joining us in the audience, Senate hearings are a little bit different than what you might encounter in Juneau, there’s not going 

to be an open mic, an opportunity for you to ask your questions, 

but I will advise that there will be an opportunity for testimony to 

be submitted for the record, we’ll keep the record open for a couple 

weeks after this hearing is traditionally what we do. 

But after each of you at the table have given your comments, 

then I will proceed with a series of questions, and hopefully, it will 

be good dialogue back and forth, not me asking you each one and 

then we move on. I’d like to have a good constructive discussion 

going back and forth. 

So with that, we will start off, I’ll introduce each of the witnesses 

and then we will proceed. We’ll begin first with my friend and 

former colleague from the Alaska Legislature, State Senator John 

Coghill from Fairbanks in serving in the legislature now—I came 

in in 1998 and you came in the same year, didn’t you? 

Mr. COGHILL. Yes. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Okay, so it’s been a few years. He has been 

an able leader representing the interior in both the House and now 

in the State Senate. Senator Coghill has been a leader in moving 

the conversation on these very important issues. I understand you 

actually had a hearing just a couple days ago on the issue of tribal 

courts, recidivism and how we deal with the reentry issues, so be 

looking forward to hearing some of not only what the legislature 

is considering, but what you may have learned from other states 

and how we can move forward with that. 

After Senator Coghill, we’ll hear from Natasha Singh. Natasha 

has been also a leader when it comes to moving our state forward 

and our tribal courts forward in an aggressive and strong manner. 

She is the General Council and Tribal Court Justice for Tanana 

Chiefs Conference, is often an invited witness back to Washington, 

D.C. because of your very able and strong voice on these issues, so 

thank you for being with us this morning. 

Next to Natasha is Mr. Greg Razo. Greg and I also go back a few 

years. We were in law school together in Oregon at the same time 

and Greg has gone on to do many, many great things. His present 

role is as Vice President of Government Contracting for CIRI here 

in Anchorage, but you had been out on Kodiak for many years and 

truly a leader representing your people here back home. And again, 

your leadership within the Alaska Native Justice Commission and 

the very specific focus that you have given to these critical issues 

is greatly appreciated. 

And next to Greg, we have Mr. Jeff Jessee, also a long time leader, not only in issues relating to what we’re dealing with today 

with prisoner population and how to address some of our issues as 

they relate to recidivism and incarceration, but Jeff has been a 

leader for decades now as head of Mental Health Trust. He and I 

worked together years ago to increase the alcohol tax here in the 

State of Alaska because we saw that alcohol abuse and use, in so 

many ways, just killing Alaskans and how we could best deal with 

that, making sure that there’s appropriate funding going towards 

6 

treatment and prevention. We both know that there is still more 

that can be done there, we both know that there continue to be 

horrible issues as they relate to substance abuse around our country and we see that translate here in Alaska in ways that deliver 

many of the issues and the problems that we are speaking to today, 

so thank you for your leadership, Jeff. 

And rounding out the panel is Denise Morris and Denise has 

been an active and a visible leader regarding justice issues for so 

many years, is the head, the President and the CEO of the Alaska 

Native Justice Center. And when I think of those individuals that 

are leading in areas where we are making differences, Denise is always part of that conversation, so I welcome you to the panel this 

afternoon. 

So with that, Senator Coghill, we will begin with you and look 

forward to the comments from each of you this morning. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN COGHILL, STATE SENATOR, 

ALASKA SENATE 

Mr. COGHILL. Thank you, Senator. Senator, I also will probably 

have to say I live in the shadow of another man that bears the 

same name as me as John Coghill, he goes by the name of Jack 

and that was actually what got me into the political arena, so it’s 

great to walk in the shadow of Jack Coghill. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Great Alaskan. 

Mr. COGHILL. I’ve enjoyed it. A couple years ago, I was the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. At that point, many of the things 

that we had done in the legislature were meant to be tough on 

crime, but what became more and more clear, during my time as 

the Chairman, that a lot of what was happening was we were creating more felons and not changing anybody’s behavior. 

And so the tough on crime element was something that I began 

thinking long and hard about, what can we do, and it comes from 

probably a little bit of my background prior to being in the legislature as a pastoral worker and I began to see people in jail and 

some of the things that needed to happen for them to get their feet 

back under them, some of the things that just didn’t happen and 

some of the things that we could do better. 

So having that previous view and now looking at it from both an 

economic and law perspective, I began to think how do we hold people accountable, but actually turn those who can change their behavior and make a healthier society because that’s really the aim. 

In the process of doing that, I collaborated with some people to 

pass what became known as Senate Bill 64. It was Johnny Ellis, 

who’s a Democrat, I’d say probably a different philosophy than me, 

I’m a very conservative guy, and Hollis French, who was on the 

committee with me at the time and then a good friend of mine, an 

old salty named Dyson. I just turned mine off. 

So Senator Dyson, Senator French, Senator Ellis and I sat down 

and asked could we take the commission that had been previously 

in Alaska in the early 90s and put it together looking at the sentencing structure in Alaska, and from that conversation, we began 

looking at what would we put a commission together. In fact, the 

Chairman, one of our retired justices is sitting right behind me, 

and they’re doing a wonderful job. That actually came into law and 

7 

we’re looking at the sentencing structures and the various different 

things that have to happen in Alaska. 

From that conversation, we began to realize that we needed some 

technical support and the Pew Foundation had been doing wonderful work throughout the states because the first thing you do is you 

look at what other states have done and they have turned the corner on the prison population as you well stated. Our prison population is way higher than we would like and it’s not changing anybody’s behavior, so we’ve got to do something better. 

So the Pew Foundation, together with the legislature, the Governor and the court system all agreed that we would ask them for 

technical support and they’ve been helping with this commission by 

just getting stats from other states, best practices, things that are 

working. 

In that Senate Bill 64, we not only put the commission together, 

but we actually started looking at those immediate things that we 

could do for like the 24/7 program, and that is, for those who have 

been caught with DUI, could they do a breathalyser twice a day 

and still be at work, still be productive rather than sitting in a jail 

cell somewhere. And that started going forward and that’s a work 

in progress as we speak. Some better work of ankle monitoring and 

some of the structure that we put together there. 

So in the written testimony I gave you, I gave you the whole list 

of the Senate Bill 64 requirements. That generated another bill 

that, while this commission is in progress, we started looking at 

best practices from other states and we started assembling them in 

what is now called Senate Bill 91, which is in the legislative process as we speak. 

So while the Pew Foundation is helping us and the Justice Commission is working together with the Native Justice Center, and 

generally having a broader conversation on what can we do better, 

you’ll see recommendations coming out that will probably find their 

way into that Senate Bill 91. This is a work in progress, it’s just 

like you said, Senator, we’re at a place we don’t want to be and 

we’ve got to move forward and move out of there. 

During this conversation, one of the things that became clear to 

me is that, in the dynamic changing world that we live in, the 

State and the Tribal Courts have really not worked out—the best 

working relationship. There’s some MOUs that are working fairly 

well on the civil issues and most of those came from work that was 

happening in the Child in Need of Aid area and the Indian Child 

Welfare Act, things that I’ve been involved with probably from the 

day I got in the legislature because of trying to protect families. In 

fact, early on in my legislative career, I tried to get the Indian 

Child Welfare standards and the state Child in Need of Aid standards closer together because they were quite disrupt [sic] and families were languishing because of our laws not helping grandparents, parents and communities be involved. 

And so even though we can’t align them perfectly, they’re better 

aligned than probably they have been before, but we still went into 

court cases many, many times over how do we handle these things, 

and in the process of time, the Native groups and the tribal groups 

have begun what I’d call a pretty decent justice system that I 

would say is maturing and the State has had some struggles, 

8 

there’s no doubt about it, how to work with them legally, technically. 

And what I found out about this MOU working with them in civil 

areas, and so I drafted Senate Bill 117, which would create a way 

to have what we call a diversion program on some of the smaller 

criminal issues that would allow the courts to work with them in 

a little broader range. And the reason I think that’s important, 

Senator, is they can use restorative justice ways that the state just 

has a hard time getting to and I think that’s going to, at the front 

end, keep people from coming into prison while Senate Bill 91 will 

work with ways to reenter them into society in a better way. But 

it’s true that disproportionate share of people in our incarcerated 

facilities are not only Native, but they have behavioral health 

issues and those things just have to be addressed and I think the 

tribal courts is one way and other accountability methods is a better way than say sitting in a jail cell. 

One of the things the State has done well, and I’m hoping this 

Committee will take seriously, is we’ve had a good working relationship with the Village Police Safety Officers, VPSOs they call 

them. The State has put—I got a little sheet for your perusal. Over 

the last 20 years, we put about $200 million into it where we’ve 

had good working relationship between the State and the Native 

Corporations for these Village Public Safety Officers. They’re not 

just police, they’re search and rescue, they’re counselors, they’re 

people who will be there when an EMS is needed and these people 

do work with the State and for that community that is unparalleled. 

It’s a work in progress, we’ve had good days and bad days with 

the VPSOs, but I can tell you having somebody in the community 

has slowed down domestic violence, sexual assault, it’s demonstrable and we just haven’t done enough probably, there’s more 

that can be done. But that is one relationship that has worked good 

with our public safety officers and our Department of Corrections 

because they do a lot of the probation officer work right there in 

the community, right there where they know the people and see 

the people in the community. 

So as you said, we had two conferences here just recently. The 

National Conference of Sentencing Commissions was just here in 

Girdwood meeting just this weekend, so I got to do one of the opening addresses and got to listen to the benefits, successes and some 

of the trials that other States had implementing what they call a 

justice reinvestment and that is, what can we do to turn the corner 

on prison population and reinvest that into programs that give people opportunities for success and whether it’s a driving license or 

whatever it may be. So we learn from them and then we brought 

the Pew people to a join judiciary committee meeting the very next 

day and had the Pew people show us what they’ve seen statistically 

from other states and how that’s turned the prison population 

down and how actually crime rates go down and people actually become healthier and more productive in society. Many, many good 

things, some of them are incorporated in Senate Bill 91, some will 

come from the recommendations of the commission that we put together, the Justice Commission. 

9 

So I’d say even though I got to be the lead dog on some of these 

issues, it was a broad base support, it was bipartisan, we’re looking 

at building another jail or sending people out of State and for why? 

For a healthier society. So everything from driver’s licenses to 

keeping less victims being victimized is the things that we’re talking about, it’s a broad range of issues. 

I appreciate you bringing this to light in your Committee and I 

gave as clear as what we’re doing in those three Bills. It’s not the 

only thing that’s happening, some of the budgetary work that we’re 

doing in our budget, even though it’s austere as can be, our behavioral health world actually took a little extra this year because we 

know that is going to be part of the solution to turning the corner 

for many people. 

So I appreciate the time to testify and I’ll be here, available for 

questions on what the legislature’s doing and how we see the State 

interacting. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Coghill follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN COGHILL, STATE SENATOR, ALASKA SENATE


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Senator MURKOWSKI. Great, thank you, Senator Coghill, really 

appreciate your leadership on this. Natasha Singh, welcome. 

STATEMENT OF NATASHA SINGH, GENERAL COUNSEL AND 

TRIBAL COURT JUDGE, TANANA CHIEFS CONFERENCE 

Ms. SINGH. Thank you. 

Thank you for holding today’s hearing focused on strengthening 

Alaska Native families. In the past, unfounded fears surrounding 

tribal authority have prohibited discussion on how tribal courts can 

work with the State to reduce recidivism and make reentry more 

successful. 

Today, because of leaders like yourself, Senator Murkowski, Senator Coghill, Governor Walker, the discussion is able to move forward as tribes offer innovative ways in which tribal programs can 

work with State and Federal programs in order to improve the 

safety of our State and provide for strong Alaska Native families. 


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It is a privilege, an honor to testify on a topic, which has the potential to bring fundamental and desperately needed change across 

Alaska. 

My name is Natasha Singh, my parents are Karm and Renee 

Singh, my grandmother is Valerie Matthew and my grandfather is 

the late Steven Matthew. I’m from Stevens Village, I’m a Stevens 

Village Tribal Judge and I’m General Counsel for Tanana Chiefs 

Conference. 

This testimony will provide an overview of Alaska Native Tribal 

Court successes and how this Committee can improve those success 

stories and make for stronger communities and stronger families. 

There are 229 Alaska Native tribes and approximately a third of 

those tribes have formal tribal courts. Tribal courts currently handle child protection, adoption, domestic and family violence, substance abuse issues and juvenile cases. Tribes know that over 95 

percent of child neglect, sexual abuse violence and juvenile issues 

stem from substance abuse. Armed with this knowledge, tribal 

courts focus on addressing the underlying issues of substance 

abuse. 

Unfortunately, these underlying issues are often childhood traumatic events including child rape, child molestation, child abuse 

and the issues are so deeply rooted that what we have found in the 

tribal court system is that it’s an entire community that needs to 

focus on the healing and this is what you see tribal courts engaging 

in. Community or restorative justice, peace making, those are the 

terms that are often described on this tribal court approach. 

Tribal courts are not replicas of western court systems. While 

they’re required to follow the Indian Civil Rights Act, they also incorporate judicial practices from the tribal governments that existed before the federal and state judicial systems made an appearance on our land. Practices that seek to heal the individual, heal 

the family and address underlying issues have worked to restore 

tribal communities for centuries and they work today. 

Now in my written testimony, I get more detailed into exactly 

why tribal courts are working in rural Alaska, but I’d like to paint 

a picture for the audience and for you, Senator, of a circle system 

and it’s hard to do justice to and explain in words the circle system. 

But imagine a circle—a tribal court circle sentence in which we 

have two main individual participants to focus. A 30-year-old male 

who is a perpetrator of domestic violence and his father who’s a 60- 

year-old male who is also the perpetrator of domestic violence. 

They sit in the community in a circle, the entire community is invited including VPSO, Troopers, religious leaders, elders, youth. 

Sometimes if school’s in session, an entire high school will go to 

this circle to hear the lessons. 

And really, what comes out of these circles is the truth and it’s 

hard to get to the truth in other systems, but the way the circle 

works is everyone has an opportunity to talk about the impacts of 

what the individuals are doing to the community, to their families, 

to their children. Victims are able to address their assailants. Children are able to address their parents. In this instance that I’m 

thinking of, the 30-year-old who is also a father, was able to address his father who is the 60-year-old and tell him the impacts 

that he had from watching him beat up his mother his entire life. 

14 

And those lessons learned from those kind of the outskirts, in 

seeing the dynamic unfold, really provided accountability to all participants, but especially for the 30-year-old. The success there was 

that we haven’t seen the 30-year-old repeat a domestic violence offense. Now the 60-year-old has repeated, but what’s interesting is 

the 60-year-old’s wife has chose to disengage in that relationship. 

This is the practice that works for our people, these issues are 

deeply rooted. Oftentimes in the circle, we invite health aids, behavioral health aides, those experts who can get our people on 

track. Case plans are often suggested and individuals are asked to 

submit assessed behavioral health and mental health assessments 

and follow the recommendations. 

Now the tribal court model works for the limited cases our tribes 

are able to handle with purely volunteer courts. There is very little 

funding or confirmed authority for what has been described, yet 

tribal leaders are dedicated to improving their communities, and so 

they continued the healing practices that have been done for centuries. 

Tanana Chiefs Conference is one of the only entities that provides technical assistance for tribal code and ordinance drafting 

necessary to ensure tribal processes meet the standards of the Indian Civil Rights Act and traditional laws. 

Tribal courts need more in the form of confirmed authority and 

funding to have an impact necessary to change our communities for 

the better. Sixteen months ago, this Committee held an oversight 

hearing on the Indian Law and Order Commission Report, a road 

map for making Native America safer. Now I’m pretty sure the 

staff and yourself have read the report many times. The statistics 

submitted by my colleagues go over what the report entails, and 

basically, the report kind of summarizes what I experienced this 

weekend when I was visiting a village and just hearing the youth 

talk about violence and suicide like it was normal, it’s acceptable, 

there’s no shock value anymore in our communities, it’s accepted. 

The vision we have for rural Alaska is healthy communities or this 

is not acceptable. 

I want to contribute in Tanana Chiefs and the tribes and now 

the State will contribute to communities in which youth talk about 

healthy lifestyles. The status quo in our villages is unacceptable in 

any civilized country, is unacceptable in America and in Alaska. 

The State Judicial and Law Enforcement System does not serve 

rural Alaska well due to reasons of funding size, remoteness, hubs 

centralization and deep cultural divides. The system will never 

serve rural Alaska well. What is needed is a new world order in 

rural Alaska, but one that is an old world order in Indian policy 

and one that is very familiar to this Committee, enhanced tribal 

self-determination at the local level. 

Today we asked you add to the tools Alaska tribal governments 

need to strengthen our families to address the root causes of substance abuse. What is needed is federal legislation, which recognizes the authority of our tribal governments to deal in the first instance with issues of local domestic violence, sexual assault and 

substance abuse. 

I applaud this Committee for taking action on specific recommendations from the Law and Order Commission’s report. First, 

15 

thank you for the repeal of section 910 of VAWA. Next, thanks to 

you, Senator Murkowski, for including language in the consolidated 

and further continuing appropriations act of 2015, which mandates 

the BIA and the Department of Justice to report to the relevant 

committees on the budgetary needs of tribal courts PL280 states. 

I hope this Committee will continue to hold the BIA and the DOJ 

accountable for the report, which is now 60 days late and that it 

will be complete in September, but before the end of the fiscal year. 

In addition, the tribes of Alaska hope this Committee will continue on the progress made on the recommendations from the law 

and order report. 

In conclusion, the tribal court model has proven to heal and 

strengthen families. This model has sustained on very little funding or confirmed authority. Federal legislation to confirm tribal 

court authority over domestic violence and substance abuse matters coupled with additional funding for tribal courts would go a 

long way to see that individuals and families heal. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Singh follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF NATASHA SINGH, GENERAL COUNSEL AND TRIBAL COURT

JUDGE, TANANA CHIEFS CONFERENCE

Chairman Barrasso, Vice-Chairman Tester and distinguished Members of the 

Committee—including our very own Senator Murkowski—thank you for holding today’s hearing focused on strengthening Alaska Native families. In the past, unfounded fears surrounding tribal authority have prohibited discussion of how tribal 

courts can work with the state to reduce recidivism and make reentry more successful. In 2014, the status quo in Alaska marginalized and ignored the potential of tribally based justice systems and tribal consortiums to provide more cost-effective and 

responsive alternatives to prevent crime and keep all Alaskans safe. Today, because 

of leaders like Senator Murkowski, the discussion is able to move forward as tribes 

offer innovative ways in which tribal programs can work with state and federal programs in order to improve the safety of our state and provide for strong Alaska Native families. It is a privilege and honor to testify on a topic which has the potential 

to bring fundamental, lasting, profound and, most importantly, desperately needed 

change across Alaska. 

My name is Natasha Singh. I am a Stevens Village tribal member, a tribal court 

judge and serve as General Counsel for the Tanana Chiefs Conference. TCC is an 

intertribal health and social services consortium of 37 federally recognized Tribes 

located in the Interior of Alaska. We serve approximately 13,000 tribal members living in our villages or in Fairbanks. Our territory occupies a mostly roadless area 

that is nearly the size of Texas, stretching from Fairbanks clear up to the Brooks 

Range and over to the Canadian border. 

This testimony will provide an overview of current Alaska Native tribal court successes and ways this committee is able to improve tribal courts for safer communities and stronger families. 

There are 229 Alaska Native tribes in which approximately one-third have operating formal tribal courts. Tribal courts currently handle child protection, adoption, 

domestic and family violence, substance abuse issues, and juvenile cases. In the 

TCC region alone, we have over 150 on-going child protection cases. 

Tribes know that over 95 percent of child neglect, sexual abuse, violence and juvenile issues stem from substance abuse. Armed with this knowledge, tribal courts 

focus on addressing the underlying issues of substance abuse. Community or restorative justice, or peacemaking are terms sometimes used to describe this approach 

used by tribal courts. Tribal courts are not simply replicas of western court systems. 

While they are required to follow the Indian Civil Rights Act they also incorporate 

judicial practices from the tribal governments that existed before the federal and 

state judicial systems made an appearance in our lands. Practices that seek to heal 

the individual, heal the family, and address underlying issues have worked to restore tribal communities for centuries and they work today. Alaska Native tribal 

court practices are successful because: 

• The parties involved know the tribal court judges. In western courts this might 

be seen as possible judicial bias, but for tribal courts this is a proven strength. 

16 

First, the judges know the family history of an individual which provides insight to the underlying causes of the substance abuse. Second, parties to tribal 

courts often interact with the tribal court judges on a daily basis which provides 

for additional accountability. 

• The community is invited and involved. Circle courts provide a forum in which 

the community is invited to sit and discuss an issue in a circle format. The community is able to participate to ensure individuals and judges see the full picture of the history and impact of an individual’s unhealthy behavior. Finally, 

with the community involved, individuals are more accountable. Children may 

address their parents, victims may address their assailants, elders address the 

community, all in a safe, open and often religious circle in which the truth 

emerges and healing begins. 

• The focus is to heal rather than to punish. Formal procedure is set-aside to ensure outcomes are achieved. If a juvenile is drinking, it is often because there 

are issues with the parents. If a mother is cited for domestic violence, there are 

likely child protection issues. State courts address cases by isolated incidents 

whereas tribal courts address cases by families. The circle’s participants provide 

suggestions for an individual and a family. Sometimes, a case plan is worked 

out. Sometimes parents are paired with other parents that have successfully 

worked a case plan in the past. Individuals obtain the necessary mental health 

and behavioral health assessments and community support is identified. 

The tribal court model works for the limited cases our tribes are able to handle 

with purely volunteer courts. There is very little funding or confirmed authority for 

what has been described, yet tribal leaders are dedicated to improving their communities and so they’ve continued the healing practices that have been done for centuries. Tanana Chiefs Conference is one of the only entities that provides technical 

assistance for the tribal code and ordinances drafting necessary to ensure tribal 

processes meet the standards of the Indian Civil Rights Act and traditional laws. 

The funding TCC receives is often grant based and not guaranteed. Tribal courts 

need more in the form of confirmed authority and funding to have the impact necessary to change our communities for the better. 

Sixteen months ago this Committee held an oversight hearing on The Indian Law 

and Order Commission Report: A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer. That 

report was a mix of new research and a summary of many past studies, all of which 

have documented too well the severe crisis facing Alaska Native tribal communities. 

The interconnected scourges across rural Alaska of domestic violence, sexual assault 

and rape, child abuse and neglect, and substance abuse are undeniable, and the 

time for positive congressional reform is long overdue. 

The status quo in our villages is unacceptable in any civilized country. It is unacceptable in America. And, it is unacceptable in Alaska. The Law and Order Commission’s report repeats what has been amply documented for decades: that (1) the 

state judicial and law enforcement system does not serve rural Alaska well, and (2) 

due to reasons of funding, size, remoteness, hub centralization, and deep cultural 

divides, that system will never serve rural Alaska well. What is needed is a new 

world order in rural Alaska, but one that is an old world order in Indian policy, and 

one that is very familiar to this committee: enhanced tribal self-determination at the 

local level. 

Forty-four years ago President Nixon proclaimed an enlightened new federal policy of tribal self-determination, and Congress responded with scores of new initiatives designed to make self-determination a reality and a success for the Nation’s 

Indian tribes. In time, one small volume of the federal code grew to four, and in 

due course many tribes across the country made enormous strides toward greater 

self-determination. Yet some of the most important of these initiatives have missed 

Alaska villages. 

But fortunately, these legal errors can be corrected, and new legal rules established that will support and add to the tools Alaska tribal governments need to 

strengthen our families, and to address the root causes of substance abuse. What 

is needed is federal legislation which recognizes the authority of our tribal governments to deal in the first instance with issues of local domestic violence, sexual assault, and substance abuse. That is what is needed, that is what Commission after 

Commission has called for, and that is what Congress, alone, can accomplish. 

Such measures, taken on this limited and regulated basis, is an important—indeed vital—first step in securing Alaska tribes the tools necessary to realize greater 

local self-determination and to deal specifically with issues of domestic violence and 

substance abuse. Local control in these areas will assure that (1) actions are taken 

by the authorities having the greatest local knowledge; (2) actions can be taken locally to intervene in unstable conditions which, if unchecked, would otherwise lead 

17 

to criminal acts, assaults or worse; (3) actions can be taken by those who are in the 

best position to swiftly respond to developing situations. 

I applaud this Committee for taking action on specific recommendations from the 

Law and Order Commission’s report. First, thank you for the repeal of Section 910 

of Title IX of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. Next, 

thanks to Senator Lisa Murkowski for including language in the Consolidated and 

Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 which mandates that ‘‘within 180 

days of enactment of this Act, the Bureau [of Indian Affairs], in coordination with 

the Department of Justice, is directed to report to the House and Senate committees 

of jurisdiction on the budgetary needs of tribal courts in [Public Law 280] States.’’ 

See 160 Cong. Rec. H9764–5 (Dec. 11, 2014). The Law and Order commission has 

identified funding for tribal courts as an issue and our Senator has taken this recommendation seriously. 

We thank Senator Lisa Murkowski for her leadership in requiring this report 

under the Act because the report is absolutely fundamental to understanding the 

scope of the public safety epidemic facing tribal in Alaska. The report will allow 

Congress to identify the true need facing our tribal nations and quantify the amount 

of funds it will take to address this need. Obtaining this budgetary data is an obvious first step to addressing the public safety situation in our communities. 

Unfortunately, the joint BIA and DOJ report was due to Congress in June, but 

it has not yet been completed. The Tanana Chiefs Conference met with the BIA in 

February and July, and sent a letter in April, advocating for the completion of this 

report while also offering our technical assistance and expertise. The BIA and DOJ 

declined TCC’s offer and proceeded without our help, but they have yet to produce 

the report. It is now 60 days overdue. We appreciate that the BIA attended the 

Alaska Tribal Court Development Conference earlier this month but what we really 

need from the BIA at this point is the report. I hope that this Committee will continue to hold the BIA and DOJ accountable for the report and that it will be complete in September before the end of this fiscal year. 

In conclusion, the tribal court model has proven to heal and strengthen families. 

This model has sustained on very little funding or confirmed authority. Federal legislation to confirm tribal court authority of domestic violence and substance abuse 

matters would go a long way to see that individuals and families heal. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Natasha, I appreciate it a great 

deal and know that I too, am really irritated at BIA, DOJ for thus 

far ignoring us on that letter, so we’re going to get some action 

there. Welcome to the Committee, Greg. 

STATEMENT OF GREGORY RAZO, VICE PRESIDENT, 

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING, COOK INLET REGION, INC. 

Mr. RAZO. Thank you, Senator. For the record, my name is Gregory Peter Razo, I live here in Anchorage, Alaska, I work for Cook 

Inlet Region Incorporated and I welcome the Senator and the Committee to our region. 

I’ve been involved in justice since we finished law school together 

and that was back in—for me, it was in 1984. I come from Mountain View, Alaska. I’m an urban Alaska Native and that’s really a 

perspective that I bring to things because urban Alaska Natives 

comprise the largest sector of Alaska Native population in Alaska 

because people live here in the Mat-Su, the Kenai Peninsula and 

in Anchorage. 

My Yupik side of the family is from the lower Yukon, my grandmother was Matrona Kozevnikoff, she lived in Old Hamilton. My 

family moved to Anchorage in the 1940s. My father is Pete Razo 

and he was a first generation Mexican American from Colorado. 

I went to law school and then moved like you intended to move 

back home as fast as we could and get to work. And my first job 

was in Kodiak, Alaska and it was a job that changed my life and 

my perspective because I worked for Roy H. Madsen, the first and 

only Alaska Native judge in the Alaska Court System and Judge 

18 

Madsen, even though it was only for a year, stayed in my life to 

this day. He taught me a lot, and from there, I went on to become 

a prosecutor for 31⁄2 years for the State of Alaska and then I was 

in private practice, which in a small town, is really working on the 

entire communities of various problems from time to time because 

when you live in a small town in Alaska, you have to be involved, 

you—if you’re going to be successful and be happy, then you are 

involved and that’s just the way it is and I was very involved in 

Kodiak on numerous boards and commissions. 

But in the practice of law, it was going to court every day and 

that’s really what serves to inform the testimony that I provide to 

the Committee today. I was actually in court representing folks, 

prosecuting or doing arraignments every single day for almost 21 

years and then I went to work at CIRI and CIRI allows me to continue on trying to meet the needs of Alaska Natives. 

So these days, I was recently appointed to the Alaska Criminal 

Justice Commission along with Commissioner Jessee and Commissioner Coghill and it has been a fascinating experience for me because it has allowed me to focus on what these days we’re calling 

smart justice, that a driven justice and the ability to access the tremendous and research from Pew has been fascinating to me because I learned about the idea of justice reinvestment, the idea 

that we can no longer afford to just build prisons. We are not correcting people in our corrections system, so what do we do, what’s 

the answer, how do we avoid building prisons? 

Well, it takes a comprehensive examination of your criminal justice system and we’re presented with the shocking data that you 

read. Fifteen percent of the State’s population are Alaska Natives, 

36 percent of the prison population are Alaska Natives. In order to 

get into prison, more Alaska Natives per capita are being arrested 

and sentenced than any other segment of the population, so there’s 

a crime problem. 

And how do we deal with those? Those are really difficult questions. I will inform the Committee about some of my observations 

and conclusions after that practice, so we know what the data is 

and I’m glad you had a chance to look at my written testimony because I think it’s important that you bring that back to the Committee. The Pew research and especially the innovative approach 

that the Department of Corrections is beginning to take in Alaska 

to come up with a true plan and a plan from the street level all 

the way to the Commissioner’s Office about intervening in the lives 

of prisoners, allowing them a reentry plan and focusing them oneon-one as if they were human beings because they are. 

So I believe, Senator, that the best justice is community based 

justice, and whether that’s tribal communities or small communities in Alaska, a community based justice is going to be far more 

successful than a unified approach that Alaska uses. We have seen 

where a centralized justice system is simply unable to meet the 

needs of the widespread Alaskan populations and unable to understand the cultures and the history and the spirit of the people that 

live in rural Alaska. 

Sending people in by a plane to deal with problems that arise on 

a case-by-case basis, that doesn’t work, you don’t understand how 

those problems began in the first place when you do it that way. 

19 

So community based justice just makes sense to me. I can tell you, 

on an island, when you live on an island, it really tends to develop 

community based justice apart from what the formal rules say because having practiced in Kodiak, I can tell you there may have 

been an official ban on plea bargaining, but deals were made right 

and left every day and that’s the only way the justice system 

worked. You had a chance to make innovative sorts of plea bargains that would send a first-time offender, for example. Rather 

than have a conviction, you could talk to the District Attorney and 

go in and say hey, you know, my client is willing to go over and 

spend, you know, 30 hours at the alcohol treatment agency, and if 

he or she does that, you know, will that satisfy you, do you think 

that’s going to be sufficient? Oh, and we might need to throw in 

some community work service. 

But at the end of the day, you could come up with reasonable answers to people’s problems without throwing them in jail and that 

really—I think it still happens throughout Alaska in rural communities to some extent. But we need to realize that that can be a 

norm, that can be how we do business in Alaska. 

So what we’ve been working on in the commission is the idea of 

justice reinvestment, putting the money that we spend on prisons 

into the systems that will help educate and help all Alaska people, 

not just Alaska Natives, but particularly for Alaska Natives and 

particularly for people in rural Alaska, those needs are the greatest. 

So I think why not use the systems that we have in place 

throughout Alaska already? Over the years, since the passage of 

the Indian Self-Determination Act and the ability for tribal and 

nonprofit associations to perform healthcare, self determinative 

healthcare on their own, we’ve established amazing institutions 

that really work hard towards meeting the needs of our people. 

Here in Anchorage, the South Central Foundation has been one of 

the leaders in that area and they work with Tanana Chiefs and 

they work with SEARHC and they work with Yukon Kuskokwim 

and we work together in a consortium with health based companies. 

But the other thing I learned, I guess, when I practiced was that 

I never had a client who came to me with just a legal need, never 

did. They always brought other things, you know, and I got to the 

point where I would explain that I’m their legal counselor, but 

we’re going to need this counselor and this counselor and this counselor to get through this because we need to talk about some other 

issues I’m hearing from you. And at the end of the day, it always 

took this team of folks to really—if you’re going to make some 

meaningful change, it takes a team. And so that was an education 

and that’s what happens in the tribal court setting, it takes a team 

of people, it takes the elders, it takes the spiritual advisor, it takes 

the victims, it takes the whole people involved in what happened 

with this person to try and help them so that they won’t do it 

again. That’s recidivism, you won’t do it again. 

I think that works, I think historically, it has worked for Alaska 

people. I think it happens today and I think we need to formalize 

to that and invest in it. Justice reinvestment is about changing the 

laws so that they will allow for those sorts of treatment in jails and 

20 

for services once a person comes out of jail in funding those. But 

it’s not just changing the law that’s actually agreeing to spend the 

money that you’re going to save to help fund the systems that 

you’re building. I think—in the area of tribal courts, we’ve done an 

amazing job. I think Alaska has reawakened to the fact—and Alaska Natives, throughout the State, have reawakened to the fact that 

we can be self determinative people and develop justice systems 

that have existed for thousands of years and really use those, use 

those within parameters that make sense for our people. 

But what I worry about, I guess, is that in this time of declining 

oil revenue where the State has far less money than it’s used to 

spending, that as we cut the budgets of the agencies that are used 

to funding services for people, that we forget that we need to feed 

this other system if it’s going to be successful. It’s not just a Federal responsibility, it’s not just a State responsibility, but I do believe it’s the responsibility of government to foster community 

based systems of justice no matter what they are, whether they’re 

tribal or they’re cities or unincorporated areas. You know, I just 

think that’s the responsibility of government and I think it makes 

sense because it saves money at the end of the day because you 

don’t have to build more prisons, right? 

So partnership, we’re used to partnering with all kinds of folks 

here in Alaska. We do best when we partner. At CIRI, we don’t do 

deals unless we have a partner in with us. The partnership that 

can exist between the tribes and the State and the Federal government, I think, is a long way towards the answer to this problem 

of recidivism and reentry. 

So I appreciate the fact that the Committee has chosen to focus 

on strengthening Alaska Native families because it’s not just about 

justice, it’s not just about tribal courts, it really is a system. 

In the written testimony that I provided, I sent in some examples 

of the CIRI nonprofits that are involved in reentry services, that’s 

the Alaska Native Justice Center, which you’ll hear about from 

Denise Morris. The South Central Foundation, which is doing really innovative work, building Alaska Native Warriors to combat the 

issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, making sure that 

there’s accountability but treatment as well in a culturally appropriate way that people that are Alaska Natives will understand 

and use. I got frustrated when I was a daytime lawyer and it was 

because I would go to court over and over and over again with 

many of the same people over and over again and we’d do the same 

sentence over and over again and it just didn’t work. I mean, sure, 

we’re going to send them to treatment again and then they’re going 

to do this again, and a year later, I’m doing that case again, it’s 

just deja vu. There’s got to be a better way to do it. I think community based justice is a better way. 

I really appreciate the fact that you’ve taken the leadership role 

of directing some money to Alaska to form Tribal Justice systems. 

Our State is a public law 280 State, so we don’t have the benefit 

of all of the funding that is currently available, which isn’t a lot, 

but there is currently funding available for lower 48 tribes. But 

here in Alaska, you’re kind of on your own. California shares the 

same situation, but here in Alaska, our tribes don’t have land 

bases, they don’t have a way to earn income. They have access to 

21 

government contracting, but I will tell you that government contracting isn’t a great way to make quick money with high margins, 

it’s just not that easy for a tribe to enter into federal contracting. 

And they don’t have Indian gaming, which really is supportive of 

many, many tribal systems in the lower 48, so we’re truly at a disadvantage when it comes to tribal justice systems and the funding 

of tribal courts and I appreciate the difficulty that folks like 

Natasha and TCC who are leaders in tribal court development are 

taking. 

I guess the other thing, the other partnership I wanted to highlight was a partnership that the idea has just come forward here 

in Anchorage and it’s just this summer and it’s through Alaska 

Legal Services Corporation where I’ve worked for many years on 

their board. But the idea is medical/legal partnership and it’s more 

of the same thing, it’s the idea that when a customer/owner comes 

into a medical treatment facility that they come not just with a 

medical problem, but they also come with other issues that could 

immediately make them more well, that if we can deal with their 

housing issue, which is a legal problem, then we can make them 

more well and this idea of medical/legal partnership is something 

that is being explored with Alaska Legal Services and the Tribal 

Health Consortium and South Central Foundation. 

So I’m happy to be able to discuss a little bit with you today 

about all of this, and please, if you have any questions when we’re 

done, ask them. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF GREGORY RAZO, VICE PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT

CONTRACTING, COOK INLET REGION, INC. 

Introduction 

My name is Gregory Peter Razo and I live at 2939 Dartmouth Drive, Anchorage, 

Alaska. My e-mail address is: grazo@ciri.com. I work as a Vice President at Cook 

Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI), CIRI is the Alaska Native regional corporation created 

under the Alaska Native Settlement Claims Act of 1971 as the Regional Alaska Native Corporation for the geographic region of South-central Alaska. I am a descendant of my Yupik (Eskimo) mother and my Hispanic father. My Yupik grandmother 

who helped raise me in our home was Matrona Kozevnikoff . I grew up and was 

educated in the public school system here in Anchorage, Alaska. I graduated from 

Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington in 1980, and I received my law degree 

in 1984 from the Willamette University—College of Law. I was admitted to the 

Alaska Bar in 1984 and the Washington State Bar in 1985. I have remained an Active attorney with the Alaska Bar for 30 years. My first job was as the law clerk 

to the Honorable Roy H. Madsen (the only Alaska Native to have ever served on 

the Alaska bench.) I was then an Assistant District Attorney in Kodiak, Alaska for 

31⁄2 years and then started a general private practice of law in 1989 until I left to 

join CIRI in 2005. I have represented juvenile and adults in almost every conceivable situation. 

Currently, I serve on the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission, which began in 

2014. I am President of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation and Vice Chair of 

the Alaska Native Justice Center. I also serve on the Board of Directors of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) and Chair the AFN Executive Governance Committee and the Resolutions Committee as well as serving on the AFN Legislative 

and Litigation Committees. AFN is a state-wide member ship organization founded 

in 1966 and active in promoting the interests of all Alaska Natives. Finally, (for 

these purposes) I am a member of the Alaska Department of Corrections (ADOC), 

Alaska Prisoner Reentry Statewide Council, co-chaired by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor charged with steering the Department of Correction’s new ‘‘Alaska 

Prisoner Reentry Initiative.’’ (Please see Attachment Two, of my written testimony 

which is an ADOC summary of the The Alaska Department of Corrections, RecidiVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:46 Mar 02, 2016 Jkt 098880 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\98880.TXT JACK
22 

* The information referred to has been retained in the Committee files and can be found at 

http://www.correct.state.ak.us/doc/Recidivism%20Reduction%20Plan.pdf. 

vism Reduction Plan, January 15, 2015 (Revised May 1, 2015) containing the ADOC 

Alaska Prisoner Reentry Initiative.) * 

Over the past two years, my employer CIRI has allowed me to focus on issues 

concerning justice for Alaska Natives. I began by working on the Board of the Alaska Native Justice Center (ANJC.) ANJC was established in 1993 by CIRI as a tribal 

non-profit to address Alaska Natives’ unmet needs regarding the Alaska civil and 

criminal justice system in response to the increasing disproportionate rates of victimization, incarceration and other justice-related issues impacting Alaska Natives 

throughout Alaska. 

Under the Alaska Statute creating the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission 

(ACJC or the Commission), ANJC was asked to appoint one commissioner which I 

lobbied my fellow ANJC Board members to be me. I began my service with the Commission by meeting first with its Chair (former Alaska Supreme Court Justice Alex 

Bryner) who wished to impress upon me and receive a commitment that I would 

understand, utilize, and maximize my role as the only Alaska Native member of the 

Commission whose recommendations might effect a population of Alaska Natives 

disproportionately represented in Alaska’s prisons and substantially challenged by 

the Alaska Criminal Justice system, as a minority population. Since October of last 

year, the Commission has inundated each commissioner with information facts and 

figures to enable us to do our important work. 

I appreciate the opportunity to represent my Alaska Native people, in my own, 

way by sharing my thoughts before the Honorable members of the Committee, their 

staff and the public on the important issue of ‘‘Strengthening Alaska Native Families.’’ I hope to share some of what I know and have learned concerning ‘‘Recidivism, 

Reentry and Tribal Courts in our home of Alaska. I will also supplement my testimony with relevant attachments for the Committee concerning actions currently underway here in Alaska. 

Recidivism and Reentry 

In 2013, Alaska Native people comprise 15 percent of the total population of the 

entire State. Disproportionately, Alaska Native people comprise 36 percent of the 

Alaska prison population. Overall, racial minorities are disproportionately incarcerated in Alaska prisons. Consequently, in terms of the overall prison population, 

Alaska Native men and women reentering society from prison are a significant and 

disproportional population. We have great need. 

Alaska Native people may come from a community in remote rural Alaska, or 

their communities may be the urban communities of Alaska such as Anchorage, 

Fairbanks and Juneau. No matter, returning Alaska Native people coming out of 

prison are in need of ‘‘community and family support’’ if they hope to succeed and 

not reoffend. Likewise, the families and communities (the homes) of Alaska Native 

prisoners need support while their family members are in custody in order to be 

ready to receive this population and assist them in their reintegration into productive society. To achieve support towards these goals sufficient funding dollars must 

be budgeted for these purposes, however, the prospect of Alaska’s potential ‘‘Justice 

Reinvestment Initiative’’ gives hope for improvement. 

According to the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI) , ‘‘Over the past decade, Alaska’s 

unified jail and prison population has grown by 27%—nearly three times faster than 

the state’s resident population. Alaska currently spends more than $330 million annually on corrections, up 50 percent since 2005. Despite these expenditures, nearly 

two out of every three inmates who leave Alaska’s prisons return within three 

years.’’ 

To deal with this reality, in June 2015, Alaska’s state leaders, Governor Bill 

Walker, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Chenault, Senate President 

Kevin Meyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Dana Fabe, launched the Justice Reinvestment Initiative and enlisted the assistance of the Pew Charitable 

Trusts and the Crime and Justice Institute in an effort to develop fiscally sound, 

data-driven and evidence-based sentencing and corrections policies. Alaska with the 

help of the PEW–CJI team, is beginning a ‘‘comprehensive review of the Alaska 

criminal justice system, helping the state to develop a set of data-driven reforms to 

better protect public safety while controlling corrections costs. The team will work 

with Alaska criminal justice administrators and political leaders and leaders from 

various organizations over the next eight months as they examine the drivers of the 

state’s prison population, the policies and practices that are affecting the population 

and criminal justice outcomes and develop policy reforms to reduce unnecessary 

prison growth and improve public safety.’’ (Attachment One, of my written testiVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:46 Mar 02, 2016 Jkt 098880 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\98880.TXT JACK
23 

* The information referred to has been retained in the Committee files and can be found at 

http://www.ajc.state.ak.us/acjc/doc/part1.pdf. 

mony for the Committee’s review is a presentation given to the Alaska Criminal 

Justice Commission on ‘‘Prison Drivers’’ in Alaska.) * 

At this time in Alaska, due to the declining price of oil, our State is faced with 

a substantial fiscal problem based upon a lack of accustomed oil revenue. This resulting ‘‘budget crisis’’ for the State of Alaska is forcing all Alaskans to reevaluate 

how state government provides services. I believe that while it is the tendency of 

government to suffer from inertia when faced with the prospect of change, at this 

particular time in Alaska, the inertia is being overcome by many new efforts underway to change the way services are provided in both rural and urban Alaska to 

make them effective and affordable. 

The State of Alaska is coming to the realization that we imprison too many people 

in Alaska and we cannot afford to build new prisons to deal with the consequences 

of our criminal justice system and racial, social and economic challenges. In my 

opinion, what needs to occur and what seems to be happening is a focus on ‘‘community based justice.’’ Community based justice allows for the use of community organizations and structures to supplement or replace the current justice system centralized organization management of the State of Alaska. 

Community based healthcare and social service has been shown to work in Alaska. Alaska Natives have successfully used their ability to achieve self-determination 

supported by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, 

Public Law 638, to develop highly successful and functional systems of support and 

advancement for Alaska Native people around the State. Since the passage of PL– 

638, Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal Non-Profit Associations have shown that they 

can build, operate and maintain facilities to help meet the substantial health and 

social needs of Alaska Natives. The use of Federal Compacting and contracting, 

along with Federal grant opportunities have allowed development of competent systems across Alaska in both urban and rural communities. Why can’t this system be 

augmented to address the legal/justice needs of Alaska Natives? The answer is that 

it can. 

For thousands of years, Alaska Tribal nations and communities have recognized 

that there are no lines that exist between health/wellness, social, legal and spiritual 

needs. All of these needs comprise the whole person’s needs and they all intersect 

in a myriad of ways. In July of this year, a conference on ‘‘Medical-Legal Partnerships’’ was held by Alaska Legal Services Corporation. The presentation made the 

case that legal intervention early on in the case of a person seeking medical treatment can serve to resolve many of the problems affecting their wellness. Early legal 

intervention can help resolve homelessness and unfair eviction, denial of social security benefits and food assistance, employment discrimination, and the list goes on. 

Law/Justice, Health/Wellness and Social Services exist in a continuum of care for 

Alaska Native people and everyone. 

Examples of existing Alaska Native organizations partnering with Federal and State government on Reentry and Recidivism issues affecting 

Alaska Natives: 

Southcentral Foundation (SCF) 

SCF is an Alaska Native-owned, nonprofit health care organization, founded by 

CIRI, serving 65,000 Alaska Native and American Indian customer/owners in Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and the 55 rural villages that make up 

the Anchorage Service Unit. SCF’s mission is: Working together with the Native 

Community to achieve wellness through health and related services. 

Southcentral Foundation surveyed its community and identified three top needs; 

domestic violence, child abuse, and child neglect. SCF created the following corporate objective to reduce the rate of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect. 

This objective has been incorporated in work initiatives throughout SCF’s 80 programs. 

SCF’s Family Wellness Warriors Initiative (FWWI) is one of the programs developed as a response to these serious threats to the health and wellness: 

• the increasing prevalence of family violence threatening the essential core of 

Alaska Native cultures, and 

• the usual way of responding by increasing law enforcement and child protection 

efforts ex post facto was aggravating, not helping, the problem by further disrupting families when parents were sent to prison and children to foster care— 

often with non-Native families. 

24 

The FWWI is addressing the statewide challenges of domestic violence, sexual violence, child maltreatment and trauma faced by Alaska Native people in communities throughout the state. It is founded on evidence-based and promising culturally appropriate practices and incorporates many aspects of cutting-edge, trauma-focused therapeutic practices. The approach used includes intensive education 

and training, leadership development, parent education, offender rehabilitation, and 

family and community support. 

A Case for Reentry Support 

According to the Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force’s The Five-year Prisoner Reentry Strategic Plan, 2011–2016, Alaska experienced considerable growth in its prison populations during the last decade. In 2009, for the first time in 38 years, 26 

states successfully reduced their prison populations. Alaska was not among them. 

In marked contrast, Alaska has the 11th fastest prison population growth rate in 

the United States. From 1982–2007, Alaska experienced a 152 percent increase in 

its prison population. In 2009, 1 in 36 Alaskans were under the jurisdiction of the 

Alaska Department of Corrections, up from 1 in 90 Alaskans in 1982. 

The disproportionate number of Alaska Native people incarcerated in Alaska’s 

prisons is deeply disturbing. While Alaska Native people make up about 15 percent 

of the state’s population, they constitute about 36 percent of all prisoners in custody. 

Moreover, Alaska Native people comprise 50.8 percent of all prisoners in custody for 

sex offenses. 

In a 2007 Alaska Judicial Council Study, Criminal Recidivism in Alaska reported 

that 66 percent of released prisoners are back in custody within three years of release. Most of them, according to the study, return in the first six months. The fact 

that the recidivism rate is as high as it is clearly demonstrates that additional efforts and approaches must be made to cause a reduction in this rate. 

Given the disparate number of Alaska Native individuals in custody, it seems 

clear that a culturally appropriate model of reentry care using Alaska Native 

strengths and focusing on the family and community is needed. Data supports both 

the need for an increase in culturally appropriate interventions and the adoption of 

more effective reentry services. The Alaska Natives Commission 1992 Annual Report found, ‘‘There is a prevalent misunderstanding or misconception on the part of 

many non-Natives that only by administering ‘‘western justice’’ can there be justice, 

and this perspective is ultimately harmful to the pursuit of alternative dispute resolution strategies at the village level.’’ One need only remember that Alaska Native 

people had systems in place for millennia before introduction of the western system. 

Challenges. Alaska has a unified prison system in which all facilities are funded 

by the Alaska Department of Corrections (ADOC). Its Anchorage facility, the Anchorage Correctional Complex (ACC), combines a jail and pre-trial facility for the 

Municipality of Anchorage (MOA)—a combined city—county government. Thus, 

there are three major constituencies with significant stakes in this project—the 

State of Alaska, MOA, and the Alaska Native community. Each has a unique perception and stake in this issue. 

The State of Alaska is concerned about the budget aspects because it bears the 

costs of all people in the corrections system including those incarcerated for any reason. It also pays for the court system and the cost of prosecuting felonies in Anchorage. Since most of the state’s revenues come from oil, the precipitous plunge in oil 

prices has created one of the worst budget deficits in the nation and the legislature 

is desperate to save any money it can. Since the ADOC budget and number of people incarcerated has been increasing faster than major crime and the population, 

the legislature created a commissioner level task force to examine the issues and 

make recommendations. The fact that the number of people incarcerated was predicted to continue growing by 3%/year and, in spite of just opening a new $250 million correctional center, ADOC was at 101 percent of its capacity. Among the findings and recommendations of that group were 

• Finding—recidivism at 63.54 percent was highest among youthful offenders, 

Alaska Natives, and misdemeanants 

• Finding—unsentenced individuals account for 40 percent of ADOC’s population 

at any time 

• Finding—felony convictions for non-violent crimes and parole violations were 

among the top 4 factors driving prison population growth 

• Recommendation—partner with Alaska Native entities 

• Recommendation—improve and expand collaborations among stakeholders 

For its part, MOA’s motivation is focused on public safety. A slew of headline 

making news about recent violence and homicides has created public perception that 

25 

the city is not safe. This has become a major issue in the upcoming election and 

a public forum was held recently. As a result, every candidate pledged to address 

it. While perception does not equate to fact, the widespread perception and revelations that the Anchorage Police Department had a huge number of vacancies has 

made the topic one the public is demanding be addressed. In a tight budget as well, 

MOA is motivated because it pays for prosecution of all non-felony crimes within 

the jurisdiction including DUI and domestic violence. 

Finally, SCF is motivated because it, as a major Native organization, wants to 

eliminate the disparate impact crime and incarceration is having on wellness in the 

Native community. It recognizes that the high proportion of Alaska Natives at ACC 

is 2.43 times higher compared to the general population—a disparity even worse 

than the 1.89 times higher for all ADOC prisons. Given that incarceration appears 

to have no positive and lots of negative impacts the Native community, SCF is willing to assume a leadership role, as it did against family violence, to find better ways 

to address these issues. 

A Model for Reentry 

Through FWWI, a more culturally resonant reentry support is being provided to 

the inmates of the Transformational Living Community (TLC) at both the Palmer 

Correctional Facility and the Hiland Mountain Correctional Facility. Although 

FWWI’s target population is Alaska Native/American Indian inmates, all TLC program participants are encouraged to take part, regardless of ethnicity. 

This model was developed over decades of working through Alaska Native people. 

The primary focus of this approach is to provide a safe place for offenders, regardless of their crime, to heal from their own past trauma and enable them to explore 

strategies in order to change their thinking patterns and future behavior. Its aim 

is to reduce recidivism rates among participants in the reentry program, thus making our communities safer. 

The reentry component of FWWI addresses the mental, emotional and spiritual 

health needs of high-risk offenders in the process of reentry with the goal to provide 

them with tools for developing safe, healthy relationships and reducing recidivism. 

Reentry support services are designed for those who are exhibiting mental health 

problems, most associated with trauma, that include depression or other mood disorders, relationship problems, PTSD, anxiety disorders and substance-use disorders. 

Components of the model include: 

• An SCF employee working full time in the prison with TLC inmates, providing 

monthly reports. 

• SCF employees attending TLC graduations and tracking TLC graduates whereabouts and contact activity. 

• Pre-release meetings (and a flyer) to go over post-release support options and 

to prepare for reentry orientation. 

• Same-day release orientation providing information and resource opportunities 

including services and support materials. During the orientation, TLC graduates meet with FWWI’s clinical team to discuss learning circle support services 

(more than 65 weekly groups available) as part of their relapse prevention plan. 

Graduates who attend the orientation within two weeks post-release receive a 

generous care package. 

Key Concepts of the Reentry Model 

Key concepts of this Reentry Model focus on connecting Alaska Native people to 

their culture and using methods they can relate to through the following trainings: 

1) Providing a five-day Arrigah House (AH), pre-release, intensive rehabilitation 

experience to address the effects of trauma both in harm caused and harm received; 

2) Providing transitional services that will follow inmates pre-release and post-release; 

3) Providing a five-day intensive Beauty for Ashes (BFA) training for reentry participants and family, as appropriate; 

4) Providing advanced leadership opportunities through a five-day intensive Advanced Leader Education and Training (ALET) for reentry participants who desire 

to continue their positive growth pattern through opportunities to give back to their 

community and become part of the solution; and 

5) Providing follow-up learning circles skill building groups to reentry participants 

and their families. 

Arrigah House (AH): This 40-hour training has been offered at the Palmer Correctional TLC program since 2004 and the Hiland Mountain’s TLC program since 2012. 

26 

This five-day intensive cultural model of care addresses cross generational trauma 

due to domestic violence, sexual abuse and child neglect. AH will offer training and 

healing opportunities to TLC inmates, ideally within six months prior to their release. Providing this training addresses environmental issues that may have been 

instrumental in the development of maladaptive behaviors. In essence, this will aim 

to improve the level of support and ultimately minimize the chance of relapse or 

a return to unhealthy coping techniques. 

Beauty for Ashes (BFA): This five-day, 50-hour intensive cultural model of care addresses cross generational trauma stemming from family violence, sexual abuse and 

child maltreatment. BFA will offer post-release training for TLC graduates who 

have been identified as being at-risk for reoffending. The goal of this training is to 

reduce the rate of recurring incidents, to equip participants with the skills and tools 

they need to successfully address and reverse unhealthy coping, thinking and behavior, restore their families, reunite with their children, and to end the cycle of harm. 

This training opportunity will be open to family members of program participants 

who qualify through the screening process. 

Advanced Leader Education and Training (ALET): FWWI adheres to a service 

versus responsibility model in its reentry efforts. There is an expectation that those 

who have successfully completed the reentry process must be part of helping others 

who may have similar struggles or may be at-risk for causing harm. This effort is 

vital and encourages both accountability and sustainability. ALET is a five-day, 40- 

hour workshop for those who wish to become a group facilitator and presenter. This 

workshop provides the necessary tools and techniques to facilitate small groups in 

alignment with FWWI’s established practices. It also provides an introduction to 

public speaking strategies designed to break the silence of violence and abuse 

through teaching topics and sharing personal stories. 

Additional SCF resources and provisions 

Other support from SCF includes a full range of behavioral and primary care 

services to include Health Education classes. Key highlights of those services include: 

Learning circle follow-ups: Learning circles offer a variety of weekly educational 

and supportive small groups through the SCF Behavioral Services Division, Medical 

Services Health Education Department as well as FWWI that address a range of 

issues including anger, anxiety, healthy boundaries, marital dynamics in healthy relationships, parenting issues, conflict resolution, role playing, modeling, reentry support, veteran support, family wellness principles and other identified and relatable 

needs. 

The Four Directions outpatient program provides substance abuse and dual diagnosis assessments, substance abuse and mental health counseling, group counseling 

for men, women and children. The program addresses a range of topics including: 

parenting, domestic violence, anger, relationships, symptom management, anxiety 

and depression, relapse prevention, community recovery skills, life skills and health 

and wellness. Additional services offered at Four Directions include: early recovery 

skills, relapse prevention, family education, seeking safety, healthy relationships, 

social support/aftercare, urinalysis testing and 12-step traditional values. 

Quyana Clubhouse is a safe, welcoming place for Alaska Native adults with severe 

and persistent mental illness. The day program blends medical services with Alaska 

Native tradition and structure in a nurturing environment. The Quyana Clubhouse 

program offers case management, medication management, primary care services, 

tobacco cessation programs and more. 

Outcome measures and program evaluation 

SCF conducts regular extensive evaluations of all inmates at the Palmer Correctional and Hiland Mountain Transitional Living Community (TLC) program who attend an Arrigah House while in the prison system as well as any former inmate 

who attends one of FWWI’s trainings. TLC has a 28 percent recidivism rate. Without TLC inmates show 63.5 percent recidivism. 

To obtain quantitative data, a multi-dimensional evaluation survey is utilized 

which aligns with identified program goals and objectives. The instrument incorporates standardized scales and subscales which specifically evaluate identified domains of personal effect, protective factors and participant skills development. Statistically significant positive change has been evidenced among participants with reductions in substance abuse, difficulty controlling anger and the risk of purposeful 

harm or threat to harm. Men report a stronger degree of positive change in depression, substance abuse, anger control and self-esteem, maintained over time. Of program participants, 74.98 percent report positive change in trauma symptomology. 

27 

Gender comparisons indicate that positive change is significant among both men 

and women (p<0.01 and p=0.01, respectively). 

Summary 

Alaska’s statistics continue to reflect the extent to which additional culturally appropriate reentry services are needed. A supportive and cooperative network that 

offers rehabilitation and reentry services pre-, mid- and post-release is critical to the 

success of each program participant and ultimately the reduction of recidivism rates 

for those who participate. Southcentral Foundation’s 80 programs are part of the solution. 

Contact Information 

Southcentral Foundation 

Katherine Gottlieb, MBA, DPS 

President/CEO 

Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) 

Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) stands for people, partnership and potential. 

CITIC is a tribal nonprofit organization established by CIRI in 1983 designed for 

helping Alaska Native and American Indian people residing in the Cook Inlet Region of south-central Alaska reach their full potential. CITC believes that when we 

work together, we can help each other develop our strengths and talents, and become successful and self-sufficient individuals, families and communities. 

Since its inception in 1983, CITC has grown from a fledgling, grass-roots operation with only three employees, to one of the nation’s preeminent culturally responsive social-service organizations serving more than 12,000 people annually, and employing nearly 250 passionate and caring individuals. 

CITC offers its Participants an array of support services includes education, employment and training services, workforce development, family preservation, and 

support for individuals recovering from addiction and substance abuse. 

Chanlyut 

Administered by Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Chanlyut is a two-year residential rehabilitation program that offers a new beginning for men who want to become productive members of society and turn around self-destructive patterns in their lives. 

Chanlyut provides a structured, yet self-governed path for participants to overcome 

addiction, homelessness, and/or reentering society after incarceration. 

Chanlyut residents pay no fees to enter the program, and receive food, clothing, 

education and all other services at no cost. Chanlyut operates several resident-run 

small businesses that serve as vocational training schools and provide participants 

with marketable skills upon graduation from the program. Chanlyut residents receive no pay for their work, and all revenues go directly back into Chanlyut’s programs and services, with more than 43 percent of Chanlyut operating costs generated through Chanlyut enterprises. 

Chanlyut was founded in Anchorage in 2007, and is replication of the successful 

Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco. Chanlyut is the only program of its 

kind in the State of Alaska, and provides an important alternative to more conventional services that have not been successful for a certain segment of the population. 

In a community with insufficient options for men returning from incarceration, 

substance abuse treatment, or the streets, Chanlyut fills a critical gap in job-skills 

development that lead to self-sufficiency. 

Chanlyut’s Core Values 

Chanlyut, is a program of Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. (CITC) , it is a two-year 

residential rehabilitation program where the residents live, work and learn together 

with the ultimate goal of returning to society as productive citizens. CITC offers its 

services to Chanlyut participants at no cost to them, their families or the state. All 

revenue generated through the program’s business-training ventures is used to support the program and help keep its doors open to serve others in the future. 

Chanlyut is a replica of the Delancey Street Foundation, and has no professional 

staff of psychologists, psychiatrists or counselors, as therapy depends upon a rigorous peer-to-peer mentoring structure. Chanlyut has an ‘‘each one, teach one’’ philosophy similar to what happens in families, where the members are dependent 

upon one another as they grow to develop an identity and independence. In turn, 

this allows participants to ease into society on their own, while still maintaining a 

sense of continuity and connection with the family. 

Chanlyut’s self-empowerment process of growth, change and interdependence 

teaches residents to rely on their own strengths, and help one another develop. The 

program stresses that: Individuals must take responsibility for their own actions to 

28 

create viable options for their future. Chanlyut prepares its residents to live and 

work effectively as leaders, while having a positive influence in the community. 

Chanlyut focuses on traditional values, including: 

1. integrity, self-esteem, and a purpose and direction in life 

2. work ethic, the importance of self-reliance, and the dignity of earning one’s 

own 

3. helping others as a central means to improve self-esteem 

Participants gain vocational, educational and social skills through a consistent 

training and education, which begins as soon as a participant enters the program. 

Chanlyut’s current vocational/training-enterprises include a neighborhood diner, 

wholesale foods and janitorial services. 

Participants who faced previous challenges of gaining or keeping steady employment, are now individuals who have successfully launched and managed these business ventures that have become an important source of working revenue for the program. 

Chanlyut’s educational training begins on a participant’s first day as they become 

involved in a variety of daily workgroups that are designed to improve their work 

habits, reading skills, vocabulary, comprehension and public speaking abilities. During these sessions, each resident speaks for a few minutes on a specific subject being 

discussed by the group. This way, participants are exposed to the subject matter 

being discussed, as well as the experience of group speaking, and connecting an idea 

or theory to a personal experience. 

If not already a high school graduate, each resident is expected to have earned 

a GED before graduating from the program. 

Chanlyut Program Phases 

Chanlyut’s vocational training is accomplished in three phases: 

The first is in-house training, where residents are assigned duties within the residential facility, with the focus being learning basic skills, developing good work habits and establishing self-discipline. When residents have mastered this first level, 

they begin testing these skills in a variety of jobs with Chanlyut businesses. 

Depending on program progress, residents are eligible for Academy at 14 months, 

during which they may engage in vocational training outside of Chanlyut social enterprises. After a participant has achieved a desired level of competence, and has 

at least 20 months in the program, they are eligible to move on to the third vocational phase of getting a job with a commercial business in the community, where 

they must work successfully during the last four months prior to graduation. Learning how to manage one’s own personal finances is a key component of this phase, 

as residents begin to earn their first pay since entering the program. 

Chanlyut residents are taught to work for everything they get, so they appreciate 

what they have even more. Every incentive-from moving from a crowded bunk-bed 

style dorm into a semi-private room; or earning a promotion in one’s job; or accepting responsibility one’s decisions—must be earned through self-discipline, hard work 

and caring for others as well as one’s self. Experience shows the more privileges 

residents earn, the more responsibilities they are willing to receive, and the harder 

they work. 

The final area of education in Chanlyut is social training where residents are 

taught to give something back through community service. Chanlyut residents volunteer for Boys & Girls Club, shoveling snow, setting up for events, caring for a 

city park they have adopted, helping with fundraisers and helping with neighborhood cleanup. 

Participants are encouraged to vote if they are so eligible. 

One of the central areas of education in program is interpersonal relationships, 

as the majority of residents have a very difficult time interacting with others. This 

learning happens constantly through communal living and formal program structure. Because residents live and work together, they must learn diplomacy skills, 

and how to accept authority and dispense it to others. 

Through a group dynamic called ‘‘Groups and Games,’’ emphasis is not on an individual’s problems, but on his style of relating to others. During these group sessions, 

residents explore their feelings for one another, and their actions and behaviors toward one another in two-hour sessions twice a week. They learn how the impact 

of what they say can be brought into greater harmony with what they hope to communicate to others. 

These groups also allow residents the opportunity to vent their tensions productively and in a supportive environment. The games also help to instill a sense of 

humor about one’s self, one’s life, and one’s problems. 

29 

While Chanlyut residents make a minimum two-year commitment to the program, 

Chanlyut does encourage some residents to stay longer to serve as role models for 

other participants, thereby strengthening each resident’s resolve to succeed. 

Residents are taught to demand of themselves that they make restitution to society. As a result, society may offer them another chance to be productive citizens in 

the community, enabling them to foster their own self-sufficiency, while living the 

values Chanlyut teaches and that hold our society together. 

Alaska Native Justice Center (ANJC) 

ANJC’s Mission is to promote justice through culturally based advocacy, prevention and intervention initiatives to restore dignity, respect and humanity to all Alaska Natives. ANJC work to integrate Alaskan Native culturally based advocacy programs and intervention initiatives necessary to assist in the resolution of legal circumstances such as divorce, child custody, domestic violence/sexual assault, minor 

in consuming violations and adult prisoner reentry. 

The Adult Reentry Program involves the use of services targeted at promoting the 

effective reintegration of offenders back to communities upon release. Reentry programming, which involves a comprehensive case management approach, is intended 

to assist offenders in acquiring positive life skills necessary to succeed in the community. The Alaska Native Justice Center offers both pre- and post-release services 

for participants enrolled in six-month program. 

Pre-Release Services Include: Participant Orientation, Individualized Case Management, Individualized Transition Planning, Employment and Workforce Assistance, Housing Assistance, and Transportation Vouchers. 

The Adult Re-entry Program currently works in the Palmer Correctional Center 

& Hiland Mountain Correctional Center providing pre-release services. 

Post-Release Services Include: Participant Orientation, Individualized Case Management, Moral Recognition Therapyr, Transitional Mentor & Peer-to-Peer Support 

Group(s), Resources for alcohol and other drug rehabilitation, Vocational Training 

and Work Program Assistance, Housing Assistance, Transportation & Bus Vouchers, 

and Community Service Participation. 

The Adult Reentry Program assists participants in developing greater self-esteem, 

responsible attitudes, positive new habits and conditioning to successfully transition 

into the community and reduce the rate of re-offending. This program is intended 

for individuals who are 180 days pre- and post-release in the Municipality of Anchorage service area. 

The ANJC’s Adult Reentry Program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, 

Second Chance Act (SCA) grant works in collaboration with the State of Alaska Department of Corrections (SOA DOC) to guide participants in proactively addressing 

the barriers they may face during the transition from prison back into the community. 

Partners for Progress (PFP) 

PFP operates a Walk In Reentry Center in downtown Anchorage. PFP sees 40– 

60 people per day and provides Employment and Job Readiness assistance, housing 

and other support services PFP also refers to ANJC and other providers for more 

specialized treatment and support services. PFP sees a high number of Alaska Natives who are stuck in Anchorage because they cannot go home due to probation/ 

parole treatment requirements. Many of these Alaska Natives are from rural Alaska 

and they have never lived in an urban setting or held an urban job. They are used 

to fishing and subsisting, but due to legal requirements, they are now forced to ’Reenter’, in Anchorage. PFP has responded to some of these needs by developing a Native Men’s Group that meets weekly at the Reentry Center. A successful Native 

Elder leads this group. His job is to help other Native men get around Anchorage, 

apply for social security and other assistance and use our computer lab. 

PFP wants to see Telemedicine used to provide Treatment for those on Parole and 

Probation so people can go home to their villages. The infrastructure is in place for 

Telemedicine/telehealth, why not use it for Mental Health and treatment services 

such as support meetings and sex offender treatment? Let’s utilize currently existing services and structures to meet the complementary needs of the justice system. 

Partners For Progress continues to collaborate with many other organizations in 

Anchorage and around the state to improve reentry services, reduce recidivism and 

increase restorative justice programs for our most disadvantaged. 

For more information about Partners For Progress Adult Reentry Program, please 

contact: 

Doreen Schenkenberger 

Executive Director 

Partners For Progress 

30 

Conclusion 

Investment and Justice reinvestment in community based justice will result in a 

more successful outcome for Alaska Natives and their communities as incarcerated 

Alaska Natives reenter their communities, be they urban and commercial, or rural 

and traditional communities. The use of partnership with Alaska Native Tribes and 

Tribal non-profit associations can achieve self-determination and success in meeting 

Alaska Native Justice need. Justice needs are part of a continuum that also includes 

health/wellness and social services. 

After a career of 21 years of practicing law in Kodiak, Alaska, both prosecuting 

and defending every manner of human difficulty, I testify that each person the justice system brought to court had more than just a ‘‘legal’’ need. A team of services 

was always necessary to address any given situation and the problem presented to 

the Alaska Justice system was never addressed solely by incarceration. 

Alaska Natives have used Federal statutory authority to increase their self-determination, improve the provision of health and wellness services and begun to address the social needs of our people. Reentry and recidivism programs, Justice programs and Tribal courts require sustainable funding and they work best when compacted or contracted for by government to allow self determination by the Alaska 

Native People. 

Community based justice in Alaska can succeed. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you. Jeff, welcome. 

STATEMENT OF JEFF JESSEE, CEO, ALASKA MENTAL HEALTH 

TRUST AUTHORITY 

Mr. JESSEE. Well, thank you, Senator, and thank you for this opportunity. While I’m not sure it was necessary to emphasize the 

decades that I’ve been working in this area—— 

Senator MURKOWSKI. I’m with you. 

Mr. JESSEE.—I happen to have had this for a while. I came to 

Alaska in 1980 as a Vista volunteer out of law school working for 

legal services and what now is Disability Law Center for 15 years 

and then went on to work at the Mental Health Trust for the last 

20. In addition to being a member of the Criminal Justice Commission, which was set up under the leadership of Senator Coghill, I’m 

also the co-chair of the Recidivism Reduction Plan Workgroup. Now 

my co-chair in that endeavor is Commissioner Ron Taylor from the 

State Department of Corrections and I want to really briefly talk 

about Commissioner Taylor. 

You can’t underestimate how important it is to have, in this effort, the support of a Commissioner of the Department of Corrections with vision about how to solve these problems, not only a vision about what needs to be done within the Department, but a vision about what other partners in the community have to do for his 

agency to be successful at returning people into the community as 

productive citizens. 

This Reduction Plan Workgroup came as a result of some legislative intent language two years ago. Now this legislative intent language was really important because historically, when people talk 

about recidivism, they talk about the usual suspects, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Corrections, the Court 

System, the Department of Law and the conversation started to get 

developed where it’s like you know what, those are the guys that 

catch them and put them in prison and keep them in there. 

You know who are the agencies that really have a huge impact 

on keeping them out when they leave, it’s Alaska Housing Finance 

Corporation, it’s the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, it’s the Department of Health and Social Services, it’s our 

31 

tribal partners because what we know is to keep people productive 

in the community, they need housing, employment and support for 

recovery. 

I know you’re very familiar with trust beneficiaries, they range 

from people with developmental disabilities to Alzheimer’s disease, 

related dementia, traumatic brain injury, mental health and substance abuse. Sixty percent of Department of Corrections inmates 

are trust beneficiaries. They serve longer sentences and they 

recidivate at a higher rate. 

‘‘ So these are critical issues to the mental health trust, which 

is why we’ve worked so hard with Senator Coghill, with Commissioner Taylor and others to address these issues. 

I want to talk about a couple things. You know, yeah, we’re doing 

great things, but I tend to see these hearings as well, what can you 

do for us and so there’s a couple things I think that you might be 

able to do for us and some of them aren’t immediately intuitively 

obvious. Well, why would the Committee on Indian Affairs in dealing with strengthening families, Native families want to deal with 

some of these things. Well, one, which is absolutely critical is housing. If we don’t have housing for people when they come out of Corrections, supported housing for those people with behavioral health 

needs, sober housing for those people that are trying to maintain 

sobriety, then their chances of being successful in the community 

are very, very low. So when you look at your congressional agenda 

and you see things like the NAHASDA funding for Native Housing 

Authorities, the Home Program, the Housing Trust, those may not 

immediately jump out, except maybe NAHASDA, as things that 

would relate directly to this issue, but they do. And even small 

amounts of money in the Housing Trust and Alaska being a minimum allotment State, that money can be put to very productive 

use. 

Housing first, which I think you’re a little familiar with, taking 

people with chronic substance abuse conditions and saying, you 

know what, we’re no long going to wait until you get sober to offer 

you housing, that wasn’t working. So let’s house you first and then 

see if we can deal with some of these other issues. 

We’ve opened successful housing first projects here in Anchorage, 

Tanana Chiefs Conference has a very successful housing first 

project in Fairbanks and Juneau is about to follow along. So housing is absolutely incredible and incredibly important. 

And support for recovery. Particularly in rural Alaska, there’s a 

lot of really good things happening. I know you’re familiar with the 

Denali Commission and their efforts to put clinics into many villages across the State. While the Trust worked with the Denali 

Commission, and you know, those first few years, you couldn’t even 

really talk about behavioral health being part of those clinics, but 

we kept working with them and eventually now behavioral health 

space is a part of each of those clinic designs and the Mental 

Health Trust continues to provide the local cost share match for behavioral health space, so it’s a no cost addition in those rural community clinics, which is huge. 

But space isn’t very valuable if you don’t have somebody in those 

spaces to do the work and that’s where the Behavioral Health Aide 

Program is absolutely critical to getting help in these communities 

32 

for people not only coming out of Corrections, but people are struggling in the community with sobriety, with mental health issues 

and heading off many of these issues before they end up getting 

caught up in the criminal justice system. 

And here’s a little bit of a rabbit trail, so okay, so we want to 

provide these services in villages. We have some behavioral health 

aides, but they need support, they need clinical support. And so 

what we did is, a few years ago, the State did a broadband plan 

and I looked at the State’s plan and it had one or two tribal people 

on it and surprise, surprise, the State plan for broadband in rural 

Alaska was to create a new broadband system at a cost of millions 

of dollars to enable us to use broadband to reach out and deliver 

services in rural Alaska. And I sat there and I went, I thought we 

did this, I thought we had the AFHCAN project and we had 

broadband in clinics and I thought we put broadband in the schools 

and I thought we put broadband in the libraries. Why in the heck 

would we create another broadband system? 

So I started talking to Stuart Ferguson at the ANTHC and 

talked to the CIOs of the health corporations and well guess what? 

The Federal government, which subsidizes many of those systems 

puts a lot of restrictions on what you can use those systems for. 

Now that doesn’t mean we can’t be creative. An Anchorage agency, 

Alaska Child and Family wanted to do some support for children 

and family in rural Alaska. They went out, developed relationships 

in Upper and Lower Kalskag. Well, how are they going to get access to broadband? Well, what they did is they worked with the 

schools and they put these services in the child’s individualized 

educational program, and once it was in the IEP, they could get access to broadband in the school. 

I tell you, if you want to help us, see if we can’t get some flexibility, especially in frontier and rural areas, around access to these 

broadband capacities. We could do a lot more to support families 

and communities if we could just use the tools that we have. And 

maybe one of the silver linings about the fiscal problems in the 

State of Alaska is we can’t afford to build another stupid system 

that we don’t need, so we’re going to have to find a better way to 

do this and I think you could help us to accomplish that as well. 

Looking at tribal courts, I’ll tell you how we look at tribal courts. 

We have a lot of experience with therapeutic courts and it’s been 

a long slog. Mental health courts, wellness courts and when we 

first started with those courts, it was interesting to hear the court 

systems as a systems response to it. For a while, they call them 

the boutique courts and it was not a term of endearment. They 

didn’t see how spending more time in hearings, spending more time 

with these repeat low level offenders that were there because of 

mental health and substance abuse problems could possibly be 

worth their while when they need more judges here and more 

judges there. But you know, the more results we got, the more they 

saw how less frequently people were coming back into the system, 

and yes, they might have to spend four, five more hearings for this 

particular case, but gee, half the cases weren’t coming back. 

Now the court system is a big supporter of therapeutic courts 

and I’ll tell you one of the similarities I see with tribal courts and 

I’ll just give you an example. I went to a mental health court hearVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:46 Mar 02, 2016 Jkt 098880 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\98880.TXT JACK
33 

ing and one of the aspects of it is the judge talks right to the person, not through the lawyers. And the judge is talking to this 

woman and talking to her about her treatment and staying on her 

meds and she’s got a job and she’s doing great in her apartment 

and they get all done and this woman’s all excited about it. And 

the judge says, you know, you’ve been coming here every month 

and you’re doing so well, I don’t think you need to come back for 

three months and this woman’s face fell. She was crestfallen and 

she said well, Your Honor, are you sure I can’t come back again 

next month? That’s how you turn the justice system around, from 

being an adversary of the people to a helper of the people, and to 

me, that’s what the tribal courts are, they’re taking that approach 

of how do we help, how do we be partners with these people and 

help them get healthy and back into the community. 

And so I understand why there’s resistance to the tribal courts. 

We get into all these jurisdictional issues and tribal sovereignty 

and all of that sort of rhetoric. But to me, what it comes down to 

is needing people where they are and rallying their communities 

around them. And so I think, with some base funding and framing 

for us at least, the tribal courts as therapeutic courts, that they can 

also expand and take an extremely valuable role in rural Alaska. 

And again, I’m appreciative that Greg mentioned the medical/ 

legal partnership, that’s one of the things the trust is doing now. 

We’re actually going to fund some of those social workers and so 

we’re going to collect data and be able to establish that by meeting 

the holistic needs of many of these defendants, that we can keep 

them out of prison and productive members in the community. 

Thank you. 

The supplementary information titled 2015 Recidivism Reduction Plan: Cost-Effective Solutions to Slow Prison Population 

Growth and Reduce Recidivism has been retained in the Committee files and can be found at http://www.ajc.state.ak.us/ 

acjc/recidivism/HB266-2015.pdf 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Jeff, greatly appreciate it. 

Denise, welcome. 

STATEMENT OF DENISE MORRIS, PRESIDENT/CEO, ALASKA 

NATIVE JUSTICE CENTER 

Ms. MORRIS. Thank you. I’ve got some written statements here 

that I’m going to try to stay to a little bit so I don’t forget everything that I want to say. So I’m Denise Morris and I’m Aleut and 

my mom’s family hails from the Pribilof Islands in St. George and 

St. Paul. We have a tribal court at home and my father’s family 

hails from Nebraska. 

I appreciate the opportunity to represent, on behalf of my fellow 

Alaska Native people, by sharing my thoughts before the Committee, staff and the public on the important issues of strengthening Alaska Native families. I hope to share some of what I know 

and have learned concerning recidivism, reentry and tribal courts 

and also really supporting what truly matters most, which is our 

families, our relationships, our culture and meeting people where 

they are and truly listening respectfully to their story. 

34 

As I indicated, I currently have the privilege of serving as the 

President and CEO of the Alaska Native Justice Center. I’ve been 

at the Alaska Native Justice Center approximately now 17 years. 

I can’t believe when we’re sitting here aging ourselves, it’s gone 17 

years, and not only that, me and Greg went to Mountain View Elementary together, we were in the fourth grade. So as I’m listening 

to people talk, I’m going we have a lot of history together. 

So at any rate, as it relates to the Alaska Native Justice Center, 

the Alaska Native Justice Center was created or established in 

1993 to address the unmet needs of the Alaska Native community 

and Alaska’s criminal and civil justice system. And in 1993 when 

the Alaska Native Justice Center was formed, Alaska Natives represented between 42 and 47 percent of the State’s incarcerated population, so that was one of the founding reasons that the Alaska 

Native Justice Center was created. When those statistics were actually reported, I mean, everybody was just astounded that the 

number of Alaska Natives that were incarcerated, it was probably 

one in 25, at that time, that were incarcerated within the Department of Corrections. 

And the Alaska Native Justice Center truly wanted to be a solution. What can we do to address this particular issue? And that basically is where our mission came from is that the Alaska Native 

Justice Center promotes justice through culturally based advocacy 

prevention and intervention initiatives to restore dignity, respect 

and humanity to all Alaska Natives. 

And as I indicated, the statistics then, and unfortunately now, 

show a disproportionate representation of Alaska Native men in 

our prison population, and unfortunately, Alaska Native women as 

victims of violent crime, most particularly domestic violence and 

sexual assault and Alaska Native children in out of home placement with the State of Alaska, Department of Health and Social 

Services and that number changes. But right now, I would say between 40 and 45 percent of the children that are in the custody of 

the State of Alaska are Alaska Native children. 

Since 2009, the Alaska Native Justice Center has worked closely 

with the Department of Corrections to improve the quality, access 

and transitional support services to individuals pre and post 

lease—post release. And I do want to echo what was said about 

Commissioner Ron Taylor. He has been very, very supportive, I 

think that he has the ability and really wants to change these statistics and is working really hard. And I do want to add that the 

Division of Juvenile Justice has reduced the number of Alaska Natives that are detained, so there’s another model to look at. 

However, as I indicated, in 2009, ANJC was actually awarded a 

grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance through the Second Chance Act. We were an advocate for 

the passage of the Second Chance Act, which was specifically funds 

to support programs for individuals that were transitioning from 

incarceration and I think that’s the first federal legislation that actually had funding associated with it. 

In 2010, ANJC’s Board of Directors developed a five-year reentry 

strategic plan, and as a key component of that, we established the 

first Alaska Native Advisory Committee, which was dedicated to 

implementing successful reentry services. 

35 

Statistically, since 2010 and 2014, ANJC has provided reentry 

services to some 2,500 people and there’s a lot more people seeking 

support, we just can’t help everybody and there’s other partners 

now that are also doing this work. In 2014 alone, we had 1,175 individuals that we helped or assisted who were transitioning from 

incarceration, so ANJC’s program participant recidivism rate averaged 19 percent. That’s low for recidivism rate in the State of Alaska, 19 percent. 

I believe now, as compared to the State of Alaska, Department 

of Corrections, statewide recidivism rate, which is 63 percent, so 

our programs are culturally based programs, we work one-on-one 

with the individuals, we develop individual intensive case management plans pre-release, when the individual is post release, we 

work with them and actually implementing the case management 

plan that was designed with them to meet their specific needs. 

We have the support of the Department of Corrections. Everybody that is participating in our reentry program is assigned to one 

probation officer. So if we have a particular issue that arises, we’re 

able to meet with and talk with that particular probation officer. 

Individuals that are in our programs meet weekly and more often 

if they need to. And when we’re developing their case management 

plan, we’re looking at the gamut of everything that we’re talking 

about, housing, you know, if there’s a condition of probation that 

they need to be enrolled in an alcohol substance abuse treatment 

program, how are we going to do that; if they’re currently on meds 

as a result of mental health issue, how are we going to continue 

that, employment is a biggie. 

And I just want to also barrier crimes, I know that the Commission is looking at barrier crimes, but I can’t tell you the number 

of doors that are closed as a result of the restriction of barrier 

crimes. Housing, employment. Another key component that we do 

at the Alaska Native Justice Center in partnership with a lot of 

people, we don’t do this alone, is educating the public of the value 

of giving people a second chance. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. 

Ms. MORRIS. These individuals have a lot of skills that they bring 

to the table, we educate employers about the opportunities of hiring these individuals, we educate landlord/tenants about renting to 

individuals to really try to dispel the myth associated with being 

incarcerated. 

Some of the other issues that I want to talk about as well is tribal courts and I can say that the Alaska Native Justice Center has 

been an advocate of tribal courts for a long time. And as Natasha 

had indicated, there’s 229 tribes in Alaska and a third of them actually have tribal courts, but there’s also elders panels, there’s community panels, there’s diversion programs, there’s a lot of other 

ways that we can utilize our resources to address alternatives to 

incarceration. 

And I also want to talk a little bit about prevention. We know 

if an individual graduates from high school, the likelihood of that 

individual being incarcerated is reduced by 50 percent. And we 

know if children have their parents in the home, and you know, 

when we’re talking about the number of individuals that are incarcerated in the Alaska Native community, we have children of AlasVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:46 Mar 02, 2016 Jkt 098880 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\98880.TXT JACK
36 

ka Native heritage that are being raised by their grandparents or 

their aunties or their uncles because sometimes both of their parents are incarcerated. So I mean, the factor that this has on our 

families is tremendous, so I really think that there’s a lot of things 

that we can do and I have to say that right now, that even though 

the numbers of the individuals that are incarcerated is devastating, 

I’m encouraged now that because I think that people are coming 

together with open minds to truly look at what it is that we can 

do to reduce these numbers. And we don’t want to be number one 

in the nation for the number of people that we have incarcerated, 

we do not want to be number one in the nation for domestic violence and sexual assault and I know there was a report that was 

done by the Alaska Judicial Council and they were talking about 

recidivism. Other than being Alaska Native, the only other mitigating factor is being indigent, so when we’re thinking about factors, about how people end up in the justice system, I think that 

we need to look at all of the resources, utilize all of the tools that 

are available to us to really address this issue. And I think addressing it at the local level by utilizing tribal courts, utilizing elders panels, whatever tools are available to us, I think really will 

go a long ways. 

And we do know through the Indian Self Determination Act that 

culturally relevant programs based on the cultural needs of the individuals utilizing those programs make a significant difference. 

We’ve done it with the healthcare model, so there’s a tribal set 

aside so that culturally relevant programs can be developed. We’ve 

done it with NAHASDA, so there’s all kinds of opportunities and 

there’s proven evidence that demonstrates that culturally relevant 

programs do make a difference. 

So in closing, I would just like to say that I really appreciate you 

being here, appreciate your support over the years. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Adkins follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHET ADKINS, PARTICIPANT OF ALASKA NATIVE JUSTICE

CENTER’S REENTRY PROGRAM, SOUTHCENTRAL FOUNDATION’S MEN’S WELLNESS

PROGRAM, AND THE SOUTHCENTRAL FOUNDATION’S FAMILY WELLNESS WARRIORS

INITIATIVE

I am 55 year old, Yupik, Aleut, and white. I spent my first five years in the village of Oscarville with my maternal grandparents. My first language was Yupik and 

I identify myself as Yupik because that is the culture I know and love. At five I 

moved to Fairbanks with my parents to go to school. 

The education that stuck was the one I got at home; how to be a criminal. My 

father was a steel contractor and when I was not in school I was on job sites with 

dad. My favorite times were lunch and coffee breaks, listening to the stories and 

believing them; which gave me a very skewed and unrealistic view of relationships 

and a man’s role in life. I learned that a man’s only duty was to provide, not to 

nurture and that woman should subservient and take care of her children and her 

husband’s home. I also learned that a man had to fight when challenged or when 

his word was questioned and that he had the right to do as he pleased when away 

from his family. 

From age 14 to 17 I worked on the pipeline making an iron-worker’s apprentice 

wage. I worked most of the camps from Sheep Creek to Franklin Buff. This period 

validated everything I learned during lunch and coffee breaks; I received an up close 

education on how to get things done. Where the crew went after work, is where I 

went. This exposed me to the application of many of the values I had assimilated 

on the job. The most damaging subconscious value I developed was how I categorized women. There were family members and friends who were to be protected 

under any circumstance. There were the nice girls who you could date and marry, 

37 

and there was the misguided belief that women could be taken advantage of because 

of the situations they found themselves in. 

By the time I was 10, I had split myself in 3 completely different people with different values and behaviors to match my different environments. When I visited the 

village I became the Eskimo boy who reflected the traditional, cultural, and community values I was taught as a child. In school I was a student and an athlete. When 

I was at work, I was a good iron worker and a criminal. These persons coexisted 

and allowed me to function until I was 17. At 17 I quit school and my family moved 

from Fairbanks back to Bethel. I no longer needed the student in me, and I no 

longer had the geographic space that had protected the Native me from the criminal 

me. Within a short period my criminal values won out I became a bootlegger, making me toxic to the culture I claim to love. 

By the time I was 20, everything I did, from commercial fishing to driving cab 

to operating a village store, had some element of criminal activity. When I was 25 

my father committed suicide and left an insolvent estate bleeding money. My solution was to graduate from selling whisky to selling cocaine. I made my first trip to 

Florida in early March of 1986. Things went as planned for about 6 months, then 

one day I woke-up, and if I had cocaine, I used, and I always had it. By December, 

when I got down to a pound of uncut, I quit selling so I wouldn’t run out. On March 

23rd 1987, I committed the murder of a woman behind cocaine. 

When I got to prison, I became a bigger criminal than I ever was on the street. 

I created drama and chaos to give my life purpose. It took me 12 to 14 years of 

my sentence to begin to take responsibility for the things I had done in my life. It 

took me another 8 years or so to completely accept responsibility for what I had 

done and realize that my actions from 30 years ago and longer continue to have consequences to others. I believe the most significant part of this process was a spiritual awaking; strengthened and facilitated by the Kairos Prison Ministry and the 

Transitional Living Community Program in Arizona. My spiritual awakening gave 

me the tools to accept responsibility for what I had done without condemning myself. 

Early in my sentence, with the support of Orutsaramiut Native Council in Bethel, 

I began to educate myself. I began primarily because it mitigated the consequences 

of my behavior in prison. Within a short time I began to build a sense of accomplishment from my studies. I now have over 200 quarter credits and I earned an AA in 

liberal arts from Ohio University. At the same time I shifted my focus from the yard 

to ivory carving and jewelry making in the hobby shop. The hobby shop provided 

me with a way to help support my children and through making wood toys, a means 

to begin making amends to the community; the hobby shop also gave me a cultural 

connection I hadn’t experienced since childhood. 

The last part of my incarceration was spent in Colorado in the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program. I completed the program in September of 2010 

and then worked as an office assistant and group facilitator until September of 

2013. I had the privilege of working for a lady, who through both word and deed 

showed me that her primary interest and goal was to help people. She taught me 

that goal of treatment was not to stop using; it was to understand how we became 

who we are so that we can become who we are meant to be. Losing the desire to 

use or act out was an ancillary benefit of that growth process. It was at this point 

that I was able to let go of the last of my criminal values and ties. As stupid as 

it may seem, I had been subconsciously hanging on to them as a backup plan. At 

this point I was comfortable putting the program before my old values and earnestly 

began to confront behaviors and challenge beliefs within the Residential Substance 

Abuse Treatment program. As a result I developed a reputation of rat or snitch and 

I was ostracized by my old cohorts, both of which I am OK with if not proud of. 

In the last 3 years of my incarceration I experienced pain, cramping, weakness, 

and loss of function in my legs. It wasn’t until just before I was released on parole 

that the Department of Correction acknowledged that my spinal nerve bundle was 

compressed to 20 percent of its normal area, that I had probable motor nerve damage, possible sensory nerve damage, and impaired function in my legs. At first I was 

told that I wouldn’t be released until I had back surgery because the half-way house 

wouldn’t accept me. I was later told that medical had cleared me to go to the halfway house. I was transferred to the halfway house on October 10, 2014. 

It was clear to me from the beginning that I had been set up to fail. I couldn’t 

get a job because of the impaired function of my legs and the liability that the condition created; the halfway house refused to give me permission to get the surgery 

because of the medication given with surgery and wound care required after surgery, my parole officer refused to press the issue stating he had no control over the 

halfway house, and the Department of Corrections refused to give me a path to resolution. At 3 months into my stay at the halfway house after I had written a letter 

38 

to the parole board, I was given a perceived path to getting my surgery. However, 

alternate housing was not approved until I had completed all but 10 days of my 6 

month stay at the halfway house. Up to that point, I had been mentally preparing 

myself to have surgery at the Alaska Native Medical Center and then turning myself in to recover in prison, hoping that my parole would be reinstated when I had 

recuperated from surgery. 

While in the halfway house I found myself caught between a rock and a hard 

place. One consisting of the halfway house, my parole officer, Job Service, and even 

Cook Inlet Tribal Council, all of whom told me what they couldn’t do for me or what 

I couldn’t do for myself until I had my back surgery, while not giving me the option 

of having the surgery; and my parole requirement to have employment. 

I owe the success I have had and my continued freedom to the Alaska Native Justice Center, the Southcentral Foundation’s Men’s Wellness Program, and the 

Southcentral Foundation’s Family Wellness Warriors Initiative. By networking at 

the Alaska Native Justice Center (ANJC) weekly support meetings I learned about 

the Men’s Wellness Program Internships. The Men’s Wellness Programs was willing 

to meet me where I was and help me from there, rather than expect me to change 

or improve things outside of my control before helping me. Men’s Wellness gave me 

a 6 month paid internship and placed me with the Family Wellness Warriors Initiative. Family Wellness Warriors Initiative gave me a job with both meaning and purpose. Together these 3 organizations gave the one thing I had been asking for—a 

chance to prove myself. Three and a half months into my 6 month internship I was 

hired as a permanent full time employee at Family Wellness Warriors Initiative. 

I firmly believe that if these organizations and the people in them hadn’t seen 

me rather than a convict, if they hadn’t given me the acceptance and support that 

they have, I would have been just another failure who went back to prison; not because I did anything wrong, but because I would have been unable to get and keep 

a job without them, which was a requirement of my parole. I know that I owe my 

current and future success to the women and men in ANJC, the Southcentral Foundation’s Men’s Wellness, and the Southcentral Foundation’s Family Wellness Warriors Initiative (FWWI). 

While I know that I don’t have all the answers, based on having spent over 29 

years incarcerated, I do have some suggestions. First, reentry begins in prison. In 

my experience and observation, most prison programs are for show, they tend to 

lack the depth, value, and duration to develop and maintain real jobs skills, and 

this must change. As part of that change, those with experience and skill, who are 

incarcerated, must be better utilized to teach and mentor the young and unskilled. 

The value of hobby craft programs, which are being eliminated by the Department 

of Corrections, cannot be over stated. Hobby craft is a means to create cultural 

connectivity for Native prisoners. Hobby craft is the only activity beside visitation 

that fosters family ties, family interaction, and positive communication between 

prisoners and their families. Hobby crafters must interact with vendors to purchase 

supplies and sell their crafts. Crafters must learn how to prioritize their needs and 

activities as well as saving and budgeting to buy their tools and supplies. Hobby 

craft provides a unique opportunity for prisoners to give back to society through 

community service. Hobby craft teaches marketable skills, a work ethic and responsibility. Hobby craft also stimulates change in values. With a 2 to 3 year waiting 

list to get into the shops and a significant investment in tools and materials, participants are rarely involved in physical conflicts or willing to risk a dirty urinalysis, 

both of which are grounds for immediate expulsion from the shops. In short, hobby 

craft is the most complete rehabilitative program the Department of Corrections 

provides, but fails to recognize it as such. 

In my experience faith based programs offer hope through the promise of forgiveness and salvation; which can be achieved only through repentance and right living. 

Faith has given me and many others the only real hope for the future we have ever 

known. My observations, even before my own spiritual awakening, showed me that 

few who did not find and build some sort of spiritual foundation, rarely had lasting 

success. Therefore, all spiritual journeys, even those different than our own, must 

be supported. 

The largest problem that I see confronting all released felons, is that Alaska is 

number 1 for state-created legislative and regulatory barriers to successful reentry. 

There are no less than 533 state statutes and regulations obstructing reentry in one 

way or another. I would make a great substance abuse counselor; but I am barred 

by state statue from ever being one. How does that serve the greater good? If you 

want to reduce recidivism, you have to give us the same opportunity to prove ourselves that ANJC, Men’s Wellness, and FWWI gave me. 

39 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Denise. Thank you to each of 

you for, I think, very insightful comments and we’ve spent a lot 

more time hearing from you than what we typically might in a regular hearing. I felt that what you were providing us was way too 

important to cut it off at five minutes, so we won’t have as much 

time for the back and forth, but I think what you have put before 

the Committee through this public record has been exceptionally 

important and I thank you for that. 

I’m struck that we have a conflict, an approach almost because 

of our geography, because of where our people are situated around 

an enormous state that is challenged by distance and cost. 

And as we talk about how we deal with the issues of recidivism, 

of reentry, of rehabilitation, what I’ve heard from all of you, whether it’s the state approach or tribal or here in Anchorage, it’s this 

community based justice, making sure that you’ve got programs 

that are culturally relevant, making sure that when an individual 

comes out of that system, that there’s a better alternative than just 

going back to what got you into this in the first place. 

And as I review the very strong benefits that we see from the 

tribal courts structure and out in our villages and the different approaches to sentencing, to healing, to rehabilitation, the description 

that you had, Natasha, about the circles and the fact that you have 

an entire community literally that is weighing in, in discussion, 

and in a way that not only helps the victim, helps the perpetrator. 

But also the whole community and I’m struck at how that can 

work, but I also recognize that when you’re coming from Mountain 

View, when you’re coming from Anchorage, which is our state’s 

largest population base for our Native peoples, we don’t necessarily 

think about it that way, but we have more Alaska Natives here, 

how can you take that true community based justice system that 

would be effective in Stevens Village or effective even out in Kodiak, which is a bigger city and might work in Old Harbor, but a 

little bit more difficult to translate to Kodiak, but you can make 

it work because there’s a closeness and people know one another. 

But you come to Anchorage and we’re a big city here, this is— 

there’s a level of anonymity, you can get lost in Mountain View, 

you can get lost in the system here. How can we do a better job 

of this community based justice to provide for the needs of so many 

here who are falling through those cracks. And Denis, you mentioned some of the programs, but it’s almost like it’s case by case. 

Is it translatable what we’re doing with our smaller villages and 

through our tribal courts, is it translatable into the urban centers, 

and if so, how do we do it? Go ahead, Greg. 

Mr. RAZO. Sure. I think it’s absolutely translatable into an urban 

setting and first, I’ll talk about the courts that Jeff talked about, 

the wellness courts and the drug courts and supporting that system 

that has the time and takes the time to deal with individual needs 

because it is individual needs, but we shouldn’t mistake the fact 

that there’s more than one tribe here in Anchorage, Alaska. There 

are many tribes here in Anchorage, Alaska. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Well, we have all of them right here, so—— 

Mr. RAZO. All of them, yes. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. 

40 

Mr. RAZO. So I think you recognize that you don’t have to be in 

a village to form a partnership and we know that there’s community coalitions like AFACT, and you know, faith based coalitions, 

there’s folks that are hungry for partnership and want to become 

part of the system that they find themselves living in. Whether 

they’re from a Polynesian background or a Laotian background, 

you begin to reach out, include those sorts of cultures into a system 

and then you’re able to form justice systems that are relevant to 

those people because they must find themselves in even a more foreign situation than an Alaska Native does here in Anchorage. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Senator Coghill? 

Mr. COGHILL. Sure. Thank you, Senator, and I think that’s a 

good question for the whole population. For example, cultural 

issues, we have so much military in Alaska, that’s a different culture than many things we have to deal with. We have the Polynesian, in Barrow, we have a population of Filipinos, it’s significant 

and it does need to be culturally relevant. 

One of the things that we’re encouraging the State to do is to 

look at our pretrial population and look at diversion programs, 

things that we can do that are relevant to that situation. So that 

would be able to get them into treatment programs if they will 

agree to it. It’s going to have to be permissive because when you’re 

in pretrial and you don’t want to assume guilt necessarily, but 

there are things that we’re looking at that can help that circumstance, especially for people who have been incarcerated before, 

things that we might be able to get them into, maybe ankle monitoring with the requirement of a program, things like that. 

I think it’s going to be important. It can’t be understated that 

prevention issue if a big deal. I think it’s not just education though, 

you have to have everything from working partnerships, I think 

some of the things that we do in interns is significant in high 

school, but it is true though that the things that kick the feet up 

[sic] from under us are drug and alcohol issues. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. 

Mr. COGHILL. Those people who are involved in that are going to 

be awful hard to get into internship programs. You have to go looking for them and that is unfortunate, so as soon as they engage in 

the system, whether they get charged for an offense, what we can 

do on risk assessment issues and needs assessment issues is going 

to be very important, so I’d say that that has become more apparent to us than ever before that, on the front end, we can do things 

as well as the recidivism reentry, there’s many things we can do 

on the front end. And this justice commission that we’re all working on is looking at some of those things and there are practices 

that other states are doing that I think we can benefit from, so I 

think it will be cross cultural, but beneficial and it brings kind of 

a community approach to it. 

Unfortunately, it’s not going to be as good as a small community, 

but it’ll be those affected in that community will be a part of it. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Other comments to that? Natasha? 

Ms. SINGH. Thank you, Senator, for that question. Greg 

Bringhurst and I are also urban Southside Natives from Fairbanks, 

Hunter Hornets. So I think this question is very interesting. Currently, Alaska Native tribes have sovereign authority over the doVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:46 Mar 02, 2016 Jkt 098880 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\98880.TXT JACK
41 

mestic relations of their tribal members and that authority extends 

outside of the village communities, extends to the urban centers. 

I see the tribal court system can work for urban residents, urban 

tribal members. I think it would take some agreements between 

tribes—but we could replicate it and I could see getting the community involved in those circles for the Native people of Fairbanks 

and Anchorage. I think we do have that authority, I think with additional confirmed authority and funding, it could be replicated 

definitely. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Let me ask about the preventive piece because when you talk about justice reinvestment, the best way to invest is to not have to have this level of system, an expensive system that sometimes works, but unfortunately, we see the model repeat itself too often that it’s not working and it’s extraordinarily 

costly. 

One of the things that we’ve been discussing within the Indian 

Affairs Committee really the past six months or so has been the 

impact of trauma. The impact of historical trauma, trauma in an 

individual’s life that leads to this lifetime, quite often, of just a pattern of behavior that is not healthy, not healthy for the individual, 

not healthy for the others around it and very, very destructive. 

And I’ve been working with Senator Heitkamp from North Dakota, we have co-sponsored this legislation that moved through the 

Senate regarding the Native Children’s Commission and a part of 

what we are looking at is the trauma that comes to children, 

whether it is through observing acts of violence within the home 

or being the victim of assault or violence or sexual assault and then 

the impact then on the individual. 

The statistic that we have here in Alaska, 40 to 45 percent of the 

children that are in custody in our State’s juvenile system are Alaska Native children, is really a staggering figure. And so you think 

about that population and what they have been exposed to as 

young children and then how that will play out as they grow older 

and the impacts that will be on them and their health and those 

around them. 

What, if anything, and I’m probably looking to you, Mr. Jessee, 

for this one, what are we doing to try to better understand the impacts of early childhood trauma or it doesn’t have to be early childhood, the impacts of trauma and then what that leads to as part 

of the involvement in a system, most notably the Corrections system, the Juvenile Justice system. What are we doing to examine 

this? 

Mr. JESSEE. Well, the good news is that we do have a lot of data 

now through the adverse childhood experience research that’s been 

done. We know exactly what you’re saying, the higher the incidents 

of adverse childhood experiences, the worse outcomes that we have. 

And not just the ones you normally expect, which is criminal behavior or addiction, those sorts of things, but increased heart disease, increased hypertension, increased depression. So we now 

know that there’s that link, so what are we doing, what can we do 

to change that trajectory? Well, a lot of it’s going towards a trauma 

informed system of care at every single level. 

A good example is the Anchorage School District still expels and 

suspends kids over and over and over for behavior that can be 

42 

traced back to trauma experiences. Now in other places like Washington, for example, in Walla Walla, an alternative high school sort 

of got the message and went well, wait a minute, if this ASIS (ph) 

stuff is true, then when a kid acts out and all we do is suspend 

them or expel them, we’re just re-traumatizing them, we’re just 

adding another ace onto the list. 

And so they’ve gone to a trauma informed system in this alternative high school where when Greg comes in in the morning and 

sits down and his teacher says open your book and Greg says hey, 

F you, well, we’re not going to suspend him, what we’re going to 

do is sit down and say Greg, what’s going on, you know, you sure 

came in this morning with an attitude, is there something going 

on? And what they found out is kids would say well, yeah, my mom 

got drunk last night and beat the crap out of my brother. And so 

they start to work with these kids. That school went from graduating six to seven kids a year to graduating 50 kids a year just 

by changing the approach that they used. 

Even in Division of Juvenile Justice in Anchorage at McLaughlin 

Youth Center, which I know you’re familiar with, they went to 

trauma informed care on their detention and security units and 

even long-time juvenile officers, the most jaded if you will, having 

spent years with these kids that were very negative about oh, we’re 

just going to cottle these kids, you know, what they need is a firm 

hand. After watching their incidents of restraint and seclusion and 

physical violence go through the floor, even they, when you take a 

tour there, will tell you boy, this works. 

So we’re learning, we’re learning that we need to approach these 

kids and it’s not just kids. Adults are just kids with trauma that 

grew up and got older, and you know, they’re still going through 

all of those post-traumatic stress systems, so if we start treating 

people like they’re victims of violence and victims of trauma and 

using trauma informed strategies, we can turn the curve, we can 

make a difference. And the tribal courts are doing it, therapeutic 

courts are doing it, the Juvenile Justice System’s doing it, we can 

turn the curve. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Okay, that’s encouraging. Let me ask about 

some of the reentry programs. I’ve had an opportunity to see some 

of what we’re doing here and see some of the successes. Are we— 

recognizing that you’ve got, again, the geographic diversity, you 

have some places that have more programs that are more adept, 

more capable, perhaps a little bit more mature in terms of what 

they have been able to do, are we seeing some examples outside of 

the Anchorage area, say for instance, in Fairbanks, Barrow, Kotz, 

Nome, are bigger communities maybe down in Southeast where 

we’re seeing some real successes with making a difference with the 

reentry, the support that is there. You mentioned—and I appreciate the very specific areas that you’ve given us from the federal 

perspective that we can look to. Let’s help with housing, let’s help 

with some of the—there’s support for recovery programs, let’s help 

with the tribal courts. But are we seeing some areas that are just 

doing much, much better than others and so we’ve got some models 

that we should be looking to as we’re trying to build this out? 

Ms. MORRIS. I’ll speak to that—— 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. 

43 

Ms. MORRIS.—I do know that Bristol Bay also has a reentry program they’re developing and I also want to add that, when we’re 

talking about reentry services where we’re talking about tribal 

courts and we’re talking about elders panels and we’re talking 

about community diversion programs. In small, rural communities, 

they are the ones that have and are acting as the reentry programs, they’re the ones that are the parties providing the supportive services to the individuals when they’re returning to the 

communities. 

And I would give an example with our reentry program, a lot of 

times when the individual is able to go back to their home community or their home village, we, a lot of times, work with either the 

healthcare organization, the tribal court, the tribal council to make 

sure that there are those support services. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. So you will contact them? 

Ms. MORRIS. Yes, we’ll reach out to, yes. We’ll reach out to the 

individuals in the community to make sure that there is a support 

system and an individual, as part of that, has to be able to reenter 

their community in a good way. You know, how are they going to 

go before their tribal court or their tribal elders and apologize for 

their deeds, hold themselves accountable and ask for permission to 

be a member of that community. That’s very important within our 

culture that that takes place, so I would say that they do act as 

in support those reentry services. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. So then as part of, again, community based 

justice, in order to successfully reenter, so you’ve got to have a 

place to live, you have to have some value there and that typically 

comes through a job, but now you’ve come back and you got a felony record and nobody wants to hire you and the comment was 

made, but you know, you can’t get your driver’s license, if you will, 

you’ve got all of these limitations. What are we doing to bring the 

community in to say it is okay to rent a home to this individual, 

it is okay to take a chance, give this individual a second chance by 

hiring him and at a time when, you know, I don’t want to take the 

risk. This guy has a record, I don’t want to do that. What are we 

doing to bring the community in to allow for this second chance? 

Because you may have an individual that’s got really great intentions and he’s going to turn his life around and he gets into a place 

where everyone is afraid. I’m afraid to have you as a tenant, I’m 

afraid to have you as an employee, I’m afraid to have you as a 

neighbor because now you’re on the sexual offender registry. How 

do we do that part of our community based restorative justice, are 

we working on that? 

Ms. MORRIS. I would like to respond to that and say one of the 

models that we’re looking at and have been utilizing is reentry coalition, so we have a statewide reentry coalition, we have an Anchorage reentry, Fairbanks, Mat-Su, Juneau. I’m not going to list them 

all, but there is reentry coalitions that are pretty active across the 

State of Alaska and those members that serve on those reentry coalitions are doing just exactly what you’re talking about. 

In addition, at the State level, we do partner with the Department of Labor, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Alaska Mental Health Trust, et cetera, et cetera, in trying to make sure that 

44 

they’re aware of the barriers and to partner with them in creating 

opportunities. 

And then the other thing is walking the walk and I would say, 

by way of example, at the Alaska Native Justice Center, we have 

two individual employees that graduated from a reentry program 

and now lead and manage our reentry program, so there’s that 

peer to peer continuity and support there. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Good. Mr. Jessee? 

Mr. JESSEE. Well, there’s also Cook Inlet Tribal Council, has the 

ChanLyut program—— 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Right. 

Mr. JESSEE.—which works with local businessmen. We’ve, in our 

Bridge Home Program, we’ve looked at indemnifying landlords so 

that, if they bring somebody into one of their apartments and 

there’s damages, we say hey, we’ll cover the damages so you don’t 

have to take that risk. 

There’s a movement in the Commission around Ban the Box—— 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. 

Mr. JESSEE.—so that when you first make your application for 

employment, the first thing they see is a box that says yes, I’m a 

felon. Well, let’s get you a little farther into the process, so they 

get to talk to you, know you a little bit. Yes, at some point, you’re 

probably going to have to own up to what you’ve done, but at least 

you’ve got your foot in the door and they’ve got some relationship 

with you and now maybe they’ll take a chance on you instead of 

just washing you out at the front end. 

So there are things that are happening that they need to be institutionalized and become more prevalent and well and widely distributed. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. I was on an airplane yesterday and a gentleman came up and introduced himself to me and he says I’m so 

excited, I’m going down, I’m opening up a restaurant, it’s part of 

a franchise and I said well, congratulations. He says yes, I’m the 

first person to be able to buy into this franchise in decades and he 

says I started literally washing dishes and that’s the American 

Dream, and he said—he says yeah, I am also a convicted felon, had 

a drug offense some years back and he got a job washing dishes. 

And he worked his way up through the company and it was just 

one of those really strong reminders that there are these very good 

success stories out there. We wish that there could be more of them 

because I looked at that guy thinking to myself, he’s going to be 

a leader in the community because he’s been given that opportunity. You wanted to weigh in, John? 

Mr. COGHILL. One of the reasons why Commissioner Taylor gets 

so many good remarks is because he’s begun working with people 

weeks, months before they get out and had brought to us in the— 

I think the Commission’s going to deal with it, but as something 

that I put into the Senate Bill 91, which was with job training, 

which the Department of Labor’s working with us—— 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. 

Mr. COGHILL.—schooling, things like that. You can actually earn 

good time to show initiative that is preparatory for you getting out, 

looking at housing, looking at opportunities. 

45 

The other thing that we have to look at though is the driver’s license, the ability to get a limited driver’s license is going to be a 

big deal in Alaska. Anywhere where there’s a road system, the ability in Fairbanks, you can take a bus, but you’re talking about a 16- 

hour day minimum, right? 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. 

Mr. COGHILL. It’s just slow and it’s tedious. So ways we can do 

that under degrees of accountability is going to be important. And 

then the barrier crimes, we will be looking at in very earnest in 

ways that people can be given some relief from that and some of 

the ways that we can get the community to help us understand 

what their barrier is, if for some reason, they can get a sanction 

that covers that barrier, how would they see that? The vulnerable—those areas are probably the trickiest, but there’s so many 

areas. I think we found over 400 areas where we have barriers to 

entry of work that are just probably not appropriate and they were 

all done for probably some good reason, but they just stacked up 

in ways that now we’ve made it very difficult for people to work, 

so those are some of the things we’ll be looking at, trying to bust 

through some of these real roadblocks to let people be productive. 

Probably the other thing is restoration of families is a big deal, 

whether it’s a Native or non-Native families, ways that we can get 

them into some focus group, family counseling, some restorative 

methods there because they’re going to be related and they’re going 

to be interacting and I think those are ways that we have to help 

them. 

And so I think there are some people that are stepping forward 

on that, we’ll look forward to see if we can institutionalize that 

somehow. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Well, I’m really glad that you brought up 

that piece of it because, again, you know, the hearing today is 

strengthening our Alaska Native families, but you made the comment earlier, when we were talking about culturally appropriate 

and recognizing that we’ve got a military population that has its 

own culture. One of the things that I have had an opportunity to 

look at are some of the programs that are out there for our military 

families when the spouse has been deployed for a year and everybody thinks okay, we’re happy he or she is home and comes back 

in and families are—can be in a very rocky situation for a period 

of time because of the stress and everyone just thinks that well, 

now you’re all home and you’re unified, the world is good. And the 

same is true, you’re home from prison, we’re all together now, we’re 

all one big happy family, not so much, so what level of support is 

there for the families, I think, is hugely important and I know that 

that’s an area that we don’t think about that part of them. 

Natasha? 

Ms. SINGH. For many of our rural communities, the Alaska Native Health Consortiums are the biggest employers, yet we are subject to the Indian Child Protection Act, which includes a list of 

other barriers and we have seen—we haven’t been able to, let’s say, 

hire a construction worker out in one of our communities because 

of a barrier crime. The person might be sober, is likely building a 

house, isn’t willing to be in control over Indian children or vulnerable adults, but because of the implementing regulations and the 

46 

statute itself, it creates issues for us. I really look forward to Senator Coghill’s work at looking at those State barrier crimes because, as you know, the Alaska Native Health Consortiums are 

subject to the State barrier crimes as well for employment because 

we accept Medicaid reimbursement. 

And as the largest employers in rural Alaska, we understand 

those barrier laws are intended to keep the creeps out and we want 

to keep the creeps out, but we want to employ those who have been 

restored. 

Senator MURKOWSKI. Yes. Thank you. We have gone over the allotted time, but again, very, very interesting and constructive discussion. What you have provided for the Committee, I think, is 

very, very helpful. 

I think it’s also important and instructive that we’re talking 

about the different partnerships and the different ways to collaborate because Senator Coghill and I don’t need to let you know that, 

from the State’s perspective, budget dollars are skinny and they’re 

going to get skinnier and it’s hard at the Federal level too. 

Where I think we’re making a little bit of incremental progress, I do think that the funding, the $10 million, it’s not a lot, but it’s 

a start and encouraging funding to help our tribal courts with our 

PL280 states, that’s going to help Alaska, it will help other states, 

but I kind of view it as getting our foot in the door to provide for 

that level of support and training. 

And again, Natasha, what you have been doing at TCC and so 

many of those providing this technical support is so huge, but we 

have funding challenges that face us and so how we make wise use 

of the available dollars that are out there is going to be key and 

it’s going to require a level of, again, coordination and a partnership using best practices, really trying to find those economies that 

will benefit the individuals that have been through the system, the 

individuals that we want to keep through the system, but ultimately, trying to ensure that Alaska’s families and Alaska’s Native 

families particularly are strong and healthy. 

So thank you for what you have contributed to the conversation 

today. Again, I’ll remind you that we will keep the Committee 

record open for probably a couple weeks now, and if you would like 

to supplement your comments, more than happy to receive that. 

And to those of you who have joined us for the hearing, know that 

you too are welcome to weigh in. 

And with that, again, we thank the staffs that have been working on these issues and that we know will work forward beyond 

just this hearing. Thank you and the Committee stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, the Committee was adjourned.] 

(47) 

A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Chairman Barrasso, Vice-Chairman Tester and distinguished Members of the 

Committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit a statement for the record on 

behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice regarding ‘‘Strengthening Alaska Native 

Families: Examining Recidivism, Reentry, and Tribal Courts in Alaska.’’ 

The Department of Justice (‘‘the Department’’) is committed to working with our 

state, local, and tribal partners to remove barriers to successful reentry and reduce 

the collateral consequences of incarceration. In 2011, the Attorney General established an interagency council to coordinate reentry efforts across the executive 

branch. The Attorney General continues to chair the Reentry Council, which involves cabinet-level leaders and heads of more than 20 federal agencies. 

The Council was formed to remove federal obstacles to reentry and promote approaches designed to improve reintegration. The mission of the Council is threefold: 

make communities safer by reducing recidivism and victimization, assist those who 

return from prison and jail in becoming productive citizens, and save taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration. Due to the broad 

authorities of Council members, the group is able to take on the full range of reentry challenges, from employment and healthcare to substance abuse treatment, 

education, and housing. 

The Department views reentry as a public safety issue. Accordingly, the Department has also prioritized this issue as part of a Department-wide initiative, 

launched in 2009, to enhance public safety in Indian Country. The Department’s reentry efforts support work at the State and tribal level to provide better services 

and opportunities to Alaska Natives returning to their Villages post-detention. 

Under the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Second Chance Act 

grant programs, there have also been investments in state and local reentry programs. Since 2009, OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) have made nearly 700 awards under 

the Second Chance Act, totaling more than $350 million. These resources are being 

used to address a wide range of reentry-related issues, including substance abuse 

treatment, job training, obtaining driver’s licenses, modifying child support orders, 

and expunging criminal and juvenile records. Tribes can use both Second Chance 

Act funds and funding available under the Department’s Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) to establish or enhance reentry programming. 

The Department’s Office of Justice Programs also provides reentry training and 

technical assistance. With OJP funding, the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) delivered on-site assistance to the Bristol Bay Native Association’s Prisoner Reentry Coalition. The APPA provided information on effective reentry strategies and worked with the Coalition on modifying those strategies to best fit the 

Alaska Native population. In addition, the APPA delivered motivational interviewing training to Village Public Safety Officers. 

This year the APPA hosted a webinar, also through OJP funding, on ‘‘Reentry in 

Alaska: A Grassroots Approach to Reducing Recidivism through Community-Based, 

Collaborative Reentry Programs.’’ The webinar educated Alaska Native tribes and 

other participants about the reentry process and key components to successful reentry programing, including: 

• The creation, organization and sustainability of a grassroots, community-based 

re-entry program that serves native and non-native reentrants; 

• The importance of collaboration among the courts, the Department of Corrections, state agencies, non-profits, and community organizations with community-based re-entry programs; 

• The unique challenges a community-based reentry program faces when serving 

Native Alaskans, especially those who must live in an urban setting for postrelease treatment; and 

48 

• How to measure success. 

Another OJP grantee, the Council of State Governments, provides online resources (http://csgjusticecenter.org/reentry/issue-areas/tribal-affairs) and other resources to tribal communities on reentry issues. 

The Department understands that, in order to achieve positive outcomes for tribal 

youth and adults who come into contact with the justice system, there must be 

strong tribal justice systems, which often means a good tribal court system. Funding 

for tribal courts has always been an important part of the Department’s Consolidated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, and we have supported a number of tribal court 

projects for Alaska Natives. 

For example, the Tanana Chiefs Conference is using CTAS funds to support the 

development of new tribal codes, enhance communication among tribal courts in 

their region, and implement Circle peacemaking and tribal-state court sentencing 

collaboration. The Kenaitze Indian Tribe is using CTAS funds to build the capacity 

of their Court Appointed Special Advocate program and enable native foster homes 

to serve families referred by tribal and State Courts. OJP has also provided technical assistance to help the tribe and the City of Kenai set up a joint jurisdiction 

court to address non-violent substance abusing adult offenders in the Kenai area. 

Through OJP’s Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance Program, the Alaska 

Legal Services Corporation, partnering with the Association of Village Presidents, 

assists tribes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta through a tribal court support group 

with code development or enhancements, training on various topic areas and tribal 

court capacity development. 

Currently, OJP is also working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to update the 

Model Indian Juvenile Code, which assists federally recognized tribes in creating individual codes focused on juvenile matters. The Code specifically addresses issues 

affecting tribal youth arrested for alcohol and/or drug-related offenses in Indian 

Country. It will also provide guidance for tribes interested in developing specialized 

court dockets such as juvenile wellness courts, peacemaking courts, and teen courts. 

The model Code and related guidance will be available to any interested tribe or 

Alaska Native Village. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to discuss some of the efforts of the Department of Justice to address these important public safety issues. We will continue 

to look for ways to provide meaningful support to Alaska Natives and Alaska Native 

Villages and to collaborate on these issues with the State. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF VILLAGE COUNCIL PRESIDENTS

Thank you Honorable Senator and Chair, Lisa Murkowski, and distinguished 

members of the Unites States Senate Commission on Indian Affairs for the opportunity to present this testimony on behalf of the 56 tribes and villages served by 

the Association for Village Council Presidents in Bethel, Alaska. 

Tribal Court development for Alaska Native Tribes is necessary now more than 

ever. Alaska Natives are more likely to have high recidivism and reentry rates than 

any other race because the data shows us this. According to the Alaska Judicial 

Council, Alaska Natives make up about 37 percent of felony offenders in comparison 

to making up 14.7 percent of the entire Alaskan population and 1.2 percent of the 

U.S. population. More alarming is the fact that Alaska Natives represent 48 percent 

of reoffenders within two years of their first offense and 37 percent of those convictions are upheld. Alaska Native males are the highest in the state to reoffend and 

to be reconvicted. 

Tribal Courts in Alaska make up very small numbers in comparison to the 229 

tribes. The Yukon-Kuskokvvim Delta Region tribes has 56 tribes and villages in its 

region and, according to a recent survey of those tribes, only 8 tribes responded that 

they have tribal courts. Data involving tribal courts is difficult to obtain because 

most tribal courts are developed with one-time grant funding and many judges serve 

as volunteers in some villages. For some tribes, the Tribal Council serves as the 

tribal court in matters concerning child custody and protective orders in order to 

retain their judicial authority in ICWA and VAWA cases. Once the funding for tribal courts is gone, however, it appears that the tribal court becomes defunct due to 

sporadic funding. 

While alcohol and substance abuse remain overbearing issues in our communities, 

we realize that we have the tools to combat these social ills that often lead to instances of criminal activity and neglect or abuse of children. The trickle-down effect 

costs the Federal Government dollars through COPs grants that are awarded to 

states and tribes as well as emptying the state funding sources. The average cost 

of flying an alleged perpetrator into Bethel Alaska from any village in its area is 

49 

$400.00. This is on top of paying for the Alaska State Trooper’s time to escort the 

individual to Bethel, house the alleged perpetrator, use of state or municipal judge’s 

time, court staff time, as well as the cost of returning the person back to the village 

is insurmountable. 

Eradication of alcohol abuse is another issue that we have researched at AVCP 

and have found that, without use of the culture and the help of the villages themselves, it is nearly impossible to address the real issues for self-medication by use 

of alcohol or other substance abuse. AVCP’s Healthy Families initiative has created 

a treatment program incorporating healing methods for various social issues. Alcohol abuse and suicide rates are deeply rooted to the cultural and historical trauma 

experienced by today’s Yup’ik people. This is why circle sentencing, restorative justice or peacemaking circles are a solution to this issue. Somehow tribes in Alaska 

need to be empowered to use their own resources, which are the people, the culture, 

the way of life, to address the abuse of substances and, without funding for those 

court related programs, it is going to continue to be an issue that is dealt with inappropriately by state agencies. Criminal misdemeanors that take place within Alaska 

Native Villages are local issues that need to be treated on a local level by people, 

families and community resources. 

How do we empower tribes, given the bureaucratic procedures of intertwining the 

Office of Self-Governance, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Interior, Department of Justice and other federal and state agencies to begin funding tribal 

courts in Alaska? 

The Indian Law and Order Commission (ILOC) has an answer to the dilemma. 

The Roadmap for Alaska includes these suggestions from ILOC: 

1. Amending ANCSA to Overturn Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal 

Government, 522 U.S. 520 (1998), whereby the Supreme Court decided that the 

Native Village of Venetie was unable to collect taxes because the tribe was unable to own its own land. 

2. Clarifying that Native Allotments and Townsites in Alaska are Indian Country, which is a long-standing argument and basically would fix the ANCSA 

problems that occurred after Alaska was purchased. 

3. Allow ANCSA Corporation Lands to be Transferred to Tribal Government 

and put into Trust. 

4. Revising VAWA to Eliminate the Alaska Exclusion, which was done in December 2014. 

5. Congressional Affirmation of Inherent Criminal Jurisdiction of Alaska Tribes. 

Reaffirmation of the sovereignty of Alaska Native tribes is a huge issue for the 

advancement and empowerment of these tribes. Even though remote villages range 

in size from small numbers to large populations, the right to be self-governed is a 

right shared by all Native Americans. This right has unraveled throughout legislative and historically intrusive law throughout the history of Alaska and its Native 

tribes. Alaska Native tribes have the right to be self-governed. The only way that 

the 56 tribes and villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region are able to continue is through their strength in their culture, the subsistence traditions and the 

will of the people. Little has been done throughout history to preserve the strong 

culture of Alaska Native people on the part of the state and Federal Governments. 

Now is the time to make changes that empower the tribes of Alaska Natives. Now 

is the time to make history right. AVCP is in support of enacting all five of the Indian Law and Order Act Commission’s recommendations to move toward self-sufficiency for Alaska Native tribes. 

Lastly, to ignore the needs of Alaska Native tribes is to ignore our own citizens 

who are also constitutionally and congressionally protected people. The continued 

support of the U.S. Commission on Indian Affairs of allowing Alaska Native tribes 

to fully exercise their sovereign immunity, jurisdictional empowerment, and assisting these tribes in creating tribal restorative justice programs to address recidivism, 

reentry and especially tribal courts is a step in that very direction. We realize that 

we often compete with other Public Law 83–280 states for funding, but Alaska, now 

more than ever, needs to be recognized as a state of emergency when it comes to 

judicial equality. We have no market for Indian gaming in Alaska, as is the case 

for other tribes and many of our remote villages has little to no businesses to leverage economic opportunities. For the tribes of Alaska to develop tribal courts where 

there are none and to enhance those court systems in existence, we urge Congress 

to look to allocate funding for the Alaska Native Tribes in order to create more opportunities to exercise sovereign immunity for tribal courts and supportive programs 

that will address recidivism and reentry. 

50 

1Written and prepared by Monique Vondall-Rieke, J.D., Director of Tribal Justice Center and 

Liz Pederson, General Counsel for the Association of Village Council Presidents. AVCP, P.O. Box 

219, Bethel, AK. 

Again, AVCP thanks Senator Murkowski for supporting H.B. 2822 and we urge 

this commission to recommend that the Alaska Native Tribes receive a majority of 

the proposed funding through that bill. In the most conservative and centralized 

way of developing tribal courts in Alaska, AVCP estimates that $7 million would 

create up to 30 tribal courts for our 56 tribes and villages. Without this option, we 

are concerned that state legislation will continue to set aside tribes as viable options 

for solving the disparate numbers of Alaska Natives entering the state court system 

and infringing upon the rights of Alaska Native tribes to be self-governed. 

Thank you, Quyana, Honorable U.S. Senate Commission on Indian Affairs members for taking the time to visit with the stakeholders of the Alaska Native Tribes 

and Villages and to hear our testimony on this very important issue. 1

PREPARED STATEMENT OF AUDREY M.L. HUDSON, MAYOR/CITY MANAGER, METLAKATLA INDIAN COMMUNITY

Chairman Barrasso, Vice-Chairman Tester, and distinguished Members of the 

Committee, including our friend from Alaska, Senator Murkowski, I submit this 

written testimony to supplement the testimony you received in person during your 

August 20, 20 1 5 field hearing in Alaska, which I was not able to attend. 

First, we thank you for holding this important field hearing focused on strengthening Alaska Native families through tribal court systems. The central unit, and 

foundation of all communities, whether Alaska Native or not, is the family. Without 

strong and healthy families, no community can develop in a way that improves social, economic, and environmental conditions simultaneously. Resilient families create resilient communities. 

We also thank you and want you to know of our support for the following pending 

legislation: 

• Thank you to Senator Murkowski for her hard work and leadership in including 

$10 million in the Senate version of the FY 2016 Interior Appropriations bill 

for training and technical assistance for tribal courts (including those in Public 

Law 280 states). We sincerely hope that the final FY 2016 appropriations legislation includes this increase. We support your Committee’s efforts to work with 

the House and Administration to get that done. 

• We thank you, Senators Barrasso and Tester, for your work in developing S. 

1704 last month, which would allow tribes to finally directly access the Crime 

Victims Fund, which would, if enacted, be an important source of financial support for families and children exposed to violence and crime. 

Our statement also urges the Committee to play a lead role in the following efforts that we believe will contribute significantly to Alaska Native systems of justice 

and thereby strengthen Alaska Native families: 

• Recurring and base funding for tribal law enforcement, public safety and tribal 

court systems; 

• Improved coordination between the Departments of Interior and Justice for necessary training and funding of tribal justice systems; 

• Provide funding for the recently announced Departments of Justice and Interior 

plans to increase tribal access to federal criminal databases. 

• Increased funding for the broad array of services and training needs that impact foster youth who come through our court systems, including therapeutic 

foster homes, training for magistrates, and the Court Appointed Special Advocates program. We would like to pilot an Alaska-specific CASA program. 

The Metlakatla Indian Community (Tribe) is a strong and resilient community, 

notwithstanding our difficult history overcoming adversity and multiple challenges, 

even to this day. I am Audrey Hudson, Mayor of the Metlakatla Indian Community 

located on the Annette Island Reserve in far southeast Alaska. I have been Mayor 

since 20 1 3 and am the first woman elected to this position. I am proud to serve 

in that capacity, and as Mayor, I oversee the affairs, programs, services, and staff 

of a wide range of tribal governmental, natural resource, health, and tribal justice 

professionals. 

The Tribe is located on the Annette Island Reserve in southeast Alaska, a land 

base of 87,000 acres, plus adjacent marine waters. The Tribe has the only reservaVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:46 Mar 02, 2016 Jkt 098880 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\98880.TXT JACK
51 

tion in Alaska as we opted out of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

(ANCSA), thus preserving our trust land and waters. 

Our written testimony comes from the experience of having tribal trust lands in 

Alaska, tribal jurisdiction over those trust lands, and our long history of implementing tribal justice systems over those lands, our membership, and the people 

who live on the Island. What is unfortunate, and all too common, in the conversation about tribal justice systems in Alaska, is the framework that non-Alaska Natives use when discussing the situation, in which they decry the absence of tribal 

justice systems. 

It is important, at the outset of these comments, to make clear: Alaska Natives 

across the entire State have implemented local, tribal specific justices systems since 

time immemorial. Notwithstanding settlement, Public Law 280, Alaska Native 

Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), and the lack of federal funding for tribal justice 

systems, Alaska Native cultures are intact, and have a continuous connection to customs, traditions, and tribal- and village-specific justice systems that have worked in 

the past, and continue to work. Metlakatla is one of these cultures, and I want to 

acknowledge all of the other cultures in our State and region who are administering 

traditions, customs, and other forms of justice systems. 

Metlakatla is, admittedly, a unique example. With our reservation, we have governed through the development and implementation of a wide range of civil and 

criminal codes. As our reservation extends into the marine water 3,000 feet from 

our shorelines, we regulate our natural resources from everything to land use and 

fisheries. We have developed, and adapt and revise as needed: juvenile justice systems, domestic violence prevention programs, Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) programs, and family law codes that reflect our tribal history and customs. We have 

long experience in protecting our families, and we are prepared to meet the new 

challenges and opportunities ahead, such as those afforded by the reauthorization 

of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 2013. 

However, our successes at Metlakatla are more attributable to our internal tribal 

stability and the visionary nature of our tribal leaders, past and present, than those 

successes are attributable to the support of the Federal Government. If the purpose 

of the field hearing is to take in information from Alaska tribes on how to support 

local, tribal efforts to further develop tribal courts and justice systems, then our experience is important for the Committee members to appreciate. 

Funding: The federal approach to tribal justice systems and courts is a system 

that lacks accountability, steady funding, and inter-departmental cooperation. Given 

the size of our reservation and the complex issues we regulate, the public safety, 

justice, and courts, the funding we receive through the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA) self-governance is dangerously low. Last year, we reprogrammed $150,000 

from other self-governance funds into our tribal courts systems to supplement the 

mere $20,000 we received in that line item. On that $170,000 of BIA self-governance 

funds ($150,000 of which is reprogrammed from other needs) we maintain the court 

administration, three magistrates, and two appeals court judges. I challenge the 

Committee members to find even one local government, be it municipal, regional, 

or county, that maintains a trial court, appeals court, judges, administration, and 

court-related staff on such a shoe-string budget. 

The Tribe regulates and provides public safety and community justice programs 

over its 87,000 acres, plus marine waters, for under $800,000 total in BIA self-governance funding, inclusive of courts. Again, I challenge this Committee to find another government with that land base and jurisdictional reach to provide public 

safety and courts for that amount of funding. That government does not exist in the 

United States, other than at Metlakatla. 

The BIA is not in the business of running tribal courts and does its best to advocate on behalf of tribal justice systems, but the BIA has never been able to move 

tribal court systems and needs to anywhere but the bottom of the funding ladder. 

At the same time, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken on some increasing 

role in coordinating and supporting tribal justice systems and courts, but there is 

no base funding for tribes within DOJ. In 2010, the DOJ developed the Coordinated 

Tribal Assistance Solicitation following input from tribes with the goal of streamlining how tribes and Alaska Native communities apply for funding opportunities 

such as: the Community Oriented Policing Services; the Office of Justice Programs; 

and, the Office on Violence Against Women. However, funding is highly competitive 

and resources to develop proposals necessary to compete for those funds are scarce. 

BIA and DOJ programs come and go, and competitive grant and funding programs are not a match for already over-burdened tribal planners and grant writers. 

Even the recent joint effort of DOJ and DOI to provide tribal access to federal criminal databases—which is an important opportunity and positive collaboration—came 

with the proviso by the DOJ that Congressional appropriations will be necessary in 

52 

order for tribes to make full use of the opportunity. Until DOI and DOJ funding 

is fully coordinated, provides stable recurring base funding, and until both Departments fully understand the challenges facing tribal courts and justice systems, the 

Federal Government will continue to lack accountability for Alaska Native families. 

These families pay the price for the lack of tribal justice systems. The State of Alaska has one Alaska State Trooper for approximately every 1 million acres, so again— 

no accountability, no funding, and no service delivery for Alaska Native families. 

The Committee needs to understand that, even with our trust land at Metlakatla, 

there is no tax base to pay for law enforcement, public safety, and tribal court systems. Economic development opportunities and capital investment in the reservation economy already substantially lags the surrounding region. The Committee 

should understand that there is no silver bullet or immediate way for Alaska’s 

tribes to create a tax base to meet program and service needs, including the social 

and justice programs necessary for safe families. The Committee must explore how 

to create a recurring federal funding base for tribal courts and justice systems, and 

not just by creating a budget category in the DOI Green Book and then underfunding that program or that Department. Funding is needed across all Departments, but particularly with coordination between DOI and DOJ for juvenile justice 

systems, funding to meet the historic gap in domestic violence intervention strategies, funding for tribal code development and tribal court trainings, such as the addition that Senator Murkowski has included in the Senate 2016 Interior Appropriations bill. That is a starting place. This Committee has the capacity to create opportunities for the interDepartmental cooperation and coordination that is necessary, 

and again, do so with an eye towards a recurring funding base that tribes can count 

on to staff up tribal courts and justice systems. 

Family and Juvenile Justice Issues: With respect to Metlakatla families and 

jurisdiction, we see the gaps that exist for the children who come through our court 

system. The confusion over State and tribal jurisdiction too often creates gaps in 

funding for foster care, particularly children in need of therapeutic foster care. The 

question arises as to who will seek and administer those funds, and funding for that 

type of care is already too low. We need funding to train and support additional 

therapeutic foster families so that when children come through our courts in need 

of help, our magistrates know that support and help is there. More funding is needed for wrap-around care for vulnerable and special needs foster children, who are 

the most likely to come through our court system. Our magistrates need training 

on what services are available as well, since the landscape is constantly changing. 

We see the benefit of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program 

with special advocates for our children, but again, funding is lacking to roll that program out in the Metlakatla Tribal Court at the level needed to meet needs. We encourage the Committee to examine ways to fund CASA programs, and Metlakatla 

offers its assistance in participating in a Pilot Program to create a model for tribespecific CASA advocates in Alaska, should Congress support such an effort. 

We encourage the Committee to come, with all members present, back to Alaska 

and visit Metlakatla. We have built systems and tribal programs that can provide 

examples for the rest of Alaska. At the same time, when you visit you will see the 

challenges we face, with uncertain funding, little federal coordination, and substantial unmet needs in the face of families struggling in a weak local and tribal economy. 

We appreciate the opportunity to provide this written testimony, and encourage 

you to think of yourself as a part of the larger family, the extended family, of Alaska 

Natives. Like all families, in times of need, the rest of the family is there for support. We need your support, now more than ever. 

Æ