Native Children Exposed To Violence More Than Any Other Race
American Indian and Alaska Native children suffer exposure to violence at rates higher than any other race in the United States, according to a 2013 federal report. A task force made recommendations to the U.S. Attorney General on Tuesday regarding how to help tribes.
Over the last year the work group, which included members of various agencies and experts in American Indian Studies and child welfare, held several listening sessions. More than 600 people attended, raising concerns about domestic violence, gangs, child sex trafficking and the path from victimization to the juvenile justice system.
Recommendations include a White House Native American Affairs Office that would hire a person to specialize in children exposed to violence. Task force member and retired Sen. Byron Dorgan told reporters this would help agencies communicate and collaborate.
“You’ve got a lot of different agencies and seldom do they consult with each other or have conversations,” Dorgan said. “I’ve been in meetings where two agencies were doing exactly the same thing on the same Indian reservation and neither knew the other was there.”
Other recommendations include providing funding to train judges and police, restoring tribes’ authority to assert full criminal jurisdiction over all who commit crimes in Indian Country, helping tribes create a juvenile justice program that focuses on prevention, treatment and healing, and streamlining funding allocation.
