Source: COLLEGE OF MENOMINEE NATION submitted to NRP
BUILDING MENOMINEE TEEN RESILIENCE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
3D GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030904
Grant No.
2023-41520-40723
Cumulative Award Amt.
$233,500.00
Proposal No.
2023-03734
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2023
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2025
Grant Year
2024
Program Code
[MC]- Youth at Risk
Recipient Organization
COLLEGE OF MENOMINEE NATION
PO BOX 179, N172 HWY 47/55
KESHENA,WI 54135
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The long-term goal of this project is to address the drug abuse epidemic on the Menominee Indian Reservation as it pertains to teenagers and their mental health. The Menominee Tribal Legislature declared a public health emergency on April 13, 2022, as a result of the opioid addiction crisis. Young people on the Reservation are being taken away because of this, and there is a direct need for collaboration and resources. This project aims to provide resources directly to teens. The most noticeable impact will be the increase in teenagers having a voice and the strengthening of social and emotional skill sets to overcome personal challenges. This program is designed to serve the communities of Keshena and Neopit. Curriculum to be utilized will be Teen Mental Health First Aide, Discovery Dating, and Trauma Informed Care.This project aligns with the CYFAR program goals by giving teens the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavior necessary for fulfilling and contributing lives. The project will assist in providing a safe non-judgmental place for teens to share with their peers and work on their mental health and decision-making skills.The project will provide tools and vital resources to teens that can be shared in the community with family and friends. By the end of the project we propose to have at least 100 young people trained in mental health with the ability to incorporate it into the communities they are looking to serve.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
80660993020100%
Knowledge Area
806 - Youth Development;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
At the end of the five-year project, teens living in these underserved, high-poverty communities will be empowered to take action and have the resources to help their friends, family, and community by being able to take the problems they are seeing on a daily basis and with help from community partners make a difference. Activities will include training in evidence-based programs that will incorporate the tools to get those that are struggling to open up and receive help. An annual youth summit will be conducted to bring awareness of teen mental health, drug addiction, historical trauma, and healthy relationships. The Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter at the local high school came up with this idea in a recent drug addiction forum. They have presented to the Community Engagement Workgroup and are interested in planning it for 2024, inviting other teens from Tribes throughout the State of Wisconsin. Short and medium-term results will be the development and implementation of the training programs to ensure all involved are able to increase their confidence in assisting others in need.
Project Methods
The long-term goal of this project is to address the drug abuse epidemic on the Menominee Indian Reservation as it pertains to teenagers and their mental health. The Menominee Tribal Legislature declared a public health emergency on April 13, 2022, as a result of the opioid addiction crisis. Young people on the Reservation are being taken away because of this, and there is a direct need for collaboration and resources. This project aims to provide resources directly to teens. The most noticeable impact will be the increase in teenagers having a voice and the strengthening of social and emotional skill sets to overcome personal challenges. This program is designed to serve the communities of Keshena and Neopit. Curriculum to be utilized will be Teen Mental Health First Aide, Discovery Dating, and Trauma Informed Care.This project aligns with the CYFAR program goals by giving teens the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavior necessary for fulfilling and contributing lives. The project will assist in providing a safe non-judgmental place for teens to share with their peers and work on their mental health and decision-making skills.The project will provide tools and vital resources to teens that can be shared in the community with family and friends. By the end of the project we propose to have at least 100 young people trained in mental health with the ability to incorporate it into the communities they are looking to serve.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project is and will continue to be Indigenous teens in the community and surrounding communities. Historical trauma and the stress of being a current young person have led to increases in mental health issues, substance abuse, and suicide among that age group. Changes/Problems:We were able to add our teen ambassador. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In January, twenty staff and service providers participated in Teen Mental Health First Aide. This was provided by the UW-Division of Extension, our program partner. We again provided program training in March. The Wise Women Group trained staff and service providers in Discovery Dating. This is a program that helps teens make positive decisions. In April, our Youth Project Coordinator traveled to Madison with two teens to participate in the Mental Wellness Student Youth Leadership Summit. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The programming and recruitment are disseminated through the college's website, local tribal news, and social media. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to strive to meet the needs of teens in the community both from a mental health standpoint as well as working to become successful citizens within the community. Some programming has started in year one and we are looking to expand programming in year two. This will occur in both communities. We also want to make sure we are sharing our successes with the community, partners, and funder through appropriate evaluation. We will continue to follow the goals and objectives as indicated in the original proposal.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The College of Menominee Nation Department of Continuing Education has been able to continue building its relationship with the community and its partners. We started the project with informational events where we were able to educate the community about CYFAR and the Building Menominee Teen Resilience project. The first was the annual Woodland Boys and Girls Club Pow-wow at the local Family and Community Engagement Center. Staff worked with local youth Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) trying to coordinate upcoming events within the community and the local school district. This was a result of the school district losing its SADD chapter advisor. The college's staff worked with the school district to ensure resources and opportunities for the group were not lost. An additional partner that we have made a strong connection with is the Native American Center for Health Professionals (NACHP) at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. They are very committed to improving both physical and mental health in Tribal communities. In November, the two community sites were able to travel down to Madison and tour the School of Medicine and participate in an Indigenous student panel on resources that are available for careers and programming. This also helped to build on our relationship and the CYFAR team continues to participate in monthly meetings with NACHP. The new year brought kickoff events in both the Neopit and Keshena communities to recruit and promote the Building Menominee Teen Resilience project. We were able to bring in motivational speakers who are Native and experience mental health generational trauma and how it impacted their lives. In Neopit, we brought in an x-professional basketball player who is from a Tribe in Wisconsin. Who talked about growing up on the Reservation and how basketball was his positive outlet. In Keshena, we were able to bring in a Native rapper who provided music that delivered messages to the audience including making smart decisions and taking care of yourself both mentally and physically. The highlight of this event was a Native American hand drum contest for the youth with the artist performing with them. At each event, we also had safe and fun hands-on activities such asart therapy, self-care stations, mocassin making, healthy traditional foods, and basketball drills. For each motivational speaker, we were able to partner with NACHP and the Wisconsin Department of Vocational Rehabilitation sharing the cost of each. In February, we held parent information meetings for the participants who we recruited during the kickoff event. This took place at both sites and allowed us to share the objectives of the grant as well as handouts on the curriculum we would be using for programming. Parents and the youth provided feedback on what else they would like to see come out of this project. They were able to ask questions to get a better understanding of the grant and the community sites. We were also very excited to announce the addition of a recently graduated Native teen from the Menominee Indian School District, who came on board during the planning year in Marchas the Teen Mental Health Ambassador. We were able to draw from her experiences and bounce ideas off of her as well as have her come up with ideas for possible programming that she felt would better connect with young people. This worked out even better than we had proposed and she was able to connect with her peers and us as service providers to try and bridge the gap of what was needed to create meaningful mental health and resilience opportunities for those who most needed it. We were able to bring her to the Annual CYFAR Professional Development Event in Minneapolis. She was very interested in all of the work that is happening throughout the country to help young people become healthier and more successful. She has moved on to attend school at the University of Wisconsin Madison. We are in the process of filling this teenambassador position as we have seen the benefit of hearing young people's voices directly. April, we partnered again with NACHP on theirIndigenous Health and Wellness Conference held in Madison. Thisbrought together young Natives from throughout the state to meet and learn about wellness and non-Western techniques for dealing with stress and depression. They were also able to learn about careers in the medical field and listened to another Native motivational speaker who has become a successful young actor in spite of her handicap. This three-day conference ended with a powwow providing a safe and healthy environment to again celebrate the Native culture. In May, we brought all of the students who were interested in the program to both the Neopit and Keshena community sites and administered a pre-test of common measures for resilience. Sixteen youths completed this common measure. We were also able to conduct an adult survey and a community event and recorded twenty adults who took the adult common measure for resilience.

Publications