Tribal Court Announces Community Forums and Survey

The Lac Courte Oreille Tribal Court would like to announce the dates of its community forums. These forums will be held on the following dates at three different locations.

• March 26, 2014 – 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – New Post Youth Center (Tentative)
• April 2, 2014 – 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Reserve Elderly Center
• April 14, 2014 – 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. - Peter Larson Room

The forums or “listening sessions” are being held as a part of our community assessment to encourage members of the community to voice their concerns of general safety and wellbeing. The assessment is meant to gather information from the community about how we can improve the justice system of the tribe. Hearing about concerns of the community will help us in developing ways to address these concerns through our work. We know people are busy with their families, jobs and responsibilities so to make it easier for families; we are planning on providing a meal and child care for families at the community forums/listening sessions.

We are also finalizing plans to conduct the survey portion of the assessment. Watch for posters and postings to find out ways to participate. For more information about the assessment please contact Karen Breit at (715) 634-8934 ext. 286 or Matthew Schaaf at ext. 305.

The court has an Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program Grant (IASAP), under the DOJ, Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS), which provides funding and technical assistance to federally recognized tribal governments to plan, implement, or enhance tribal justice strategies that address crime issues related to alcohol and substance abuse. The purpose of the IASAP is to: prevent and reduce alcohol-and substance abuse-related crimes. One of the activities under this grant is to hold community forums and topic listening sessions. We feel that we would receive better participation if we were able to provide incentives and food; which are not allowable under the federal grants.

We know people are busy with their families, jobs and responsibilities so to make it easier for families; we are planning on providing a meal and child care for families at the community forums/listening sessions. We have scheduled three community forums/listening sessions to solicit community feedback and participation.