NIWL Resource HubSubstance Abuse Prevention Programming examines the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge, culture, and traditions in health interventions for Native youth. Culture-centric programs promote holistic healing, connection to community, and beneficial, lasting change.
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This tool for Facilitators can be used to support community engagement and respect for local norms in evaluation planning and theory of change development. Click the resource to access the full tool.
Art as Medicine: Art-Based Programming examines the benefits of art as an avenue for emotional expression and healing for justice-involved youth. Art-based programs can help youth process emotions, manage behavioral issues, and develop healthier responses to stress, in addition to building their interpersonal, problem-solving, and emotional regulation skills.
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Mentoring and peer programs rooted in cultural values are proving to be powerful tools for supporting American Indian and Alaska Native youth. These initiatives, ranging from drumming-based mentoring and equine therapy to youth-led courts and peer recovery support, build on trusted relationships and shared lived experience to foster resilience, reduce justice involvement, and promote mental wellness. This issue brief highlights promising, community-driven approaches that center Native voices and traditions, offering professionals practical insights into culturally responsive, strengths-based strategies that work.
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FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) provides support to education providers, workforce trainers, and their local partners to improve education and employment outcomes for youth aged 18-24 involved with the criminal legal system. Using a statistical lens, this document details the impact of NIWL’s five U.S. Department of Labor-funded Compass Rose Collaborative re-entry programs operating between 2017 and 2024.
Breaking Cycles of Adversity explores how school-based prevention strategies foster educational success, strengthen social connections, and reduce interactions with the justice system. Culturally relevant approaches that promote positive decision-making can support healthy relationships, strengthen identity, and improve mental and physical health, which are critical protective factors against justice system involvement.
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Honoring the Past to Empower the Future reviews the landscape of holistic and inclusive approaches to trauma-informed and healing-centered care for youth as implemented by tribal governments and organizations. Approaches that incorporate medicinal practices and cultural values, focus on the healing power of empathy, draw on the wisdom of elders and spiritual leaders, and embrace the rehabilitative potential of community engagement help to promote an environment of healing, recovery, and growth. Read the article to learn more.
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts have emerged as a promising community-based, culturally competent solution to disproportionate Native incarceration in the United States, drawing on the community to appropriately address the needs of justice-involved Native Americans. This review examines the disparities in Native incarceration in federal and state systems, as well as how these disparities can be addressed, including the role of Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts in effectively improving outcomes for participants.
The National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) at FHI 360 conducts high-quality research and evaluation to inform policies, practices and program models in education, employment, social services, and community systems. Our expertise is cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary. Our approach combines methodological rigor with deep content knowledge and a commitment to collaboration.
Going the extra mile: A case study of rural reentry in Arkansas provides an exploration of a rural community in southeast Arkansas that takes a unique, individualized approach to reentering young adults ages 18-24. The received wisdom on rural reentry is that it is generally more difficult than reentry in an urban setting. Phoenix Youth and Family Services, which serves a rural part of Arkansas, has excelled on key outcomes as part of FHI 360’s Compass Rose Collaborative (CRC)1, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Labor to improve the education and employment outcomes of young adults,
ages 18 through 24, after involvement in the U.S. criminal justice system.
Phoenix Youth and Family Services provides wraparound support services to its participants to help juveniles, young adults, and families secure a safe, healthy, and strong life
