On Wednesday, March 21, the Cheyenne River Youth Project® will host “Drug Recognition & Awareness,” the second in its free series of special 2012 training sessions to address the critical topics of school violence, bullying, drug recognition and gang prevention. The training session, which was made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention, will be held at the Cokata Wiconi Teen Center on East Lincoln Street.
All staff will attend the session, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on March 21. In addition, the not-for-profit youth project also is inviting Cheyenne River community members to participate in the training.
“We’re approaching other community organizations to see if their leadership and staff are interested in attending, as these are topics that affect all of us,” explained Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “We’re also inviting any members of our local community who simply are interested in these issues. We can accept up to 50 participants for each session.”
“Drug Recognition and Awareness” will involve a discussion about the most common illicit drugs in the region, including marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy, pharmaceuticals, methamphetamine and synthetic drugs. It will address drug identification, origins, patterns of abuse and symptoms associated with use.
Later this spring, CRYP will host a combination session addressing school violence and bullying and a gang prevention session. The combo session will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 25; it will address the dynamics of bullying behavior and strategies to address such behavior, as well as trends in school violence and the personality traits associated with perpetrators.
Then, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 16, CRYP will host “The Gang Subculture: Awareness, Recognition and Response.” It will encompass all aspects of understanding the street-gang subculture, including gangster mentality; motivating factors for gang involvement; national, regional and local gang trends; gang identification; and addressing gang behavior through intervention and prevention.
To lead the training sessions, CRYP is welcoming Christopher Grant, a national Native American gang specialist who is based in Rapid City, South Dakota. He is the former chief of detectives for the Rapid City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and the former commander of the Rapid City Area Gang Task Force.
“We’re thrilled to have Christopher Grant as the presenter for our training sessions, as he is a nationally recognized gang specialist with specific emphasis on Indian Country gang, drug and violent-crime issues,” Garreau said. “He’s worked on more than 65 reservations across the country.”
Grant has conducted gang assessments for communities and schools, and he has provided critical training seminars for tribal leaders, educators, community members and law-enforcement entities, including those at the federal, state, local and tribal levels. According to Garreau, his broad range of experience will provide valuable insight for CRYP staff as well as members of the Cheyenne River community.
“These issues are prevalent in Indian Country, of course, but they’re also common across the country and across racial lines, in downtown areas as well as in rural ones,” she said. “To better meet the needs of the kids who attend our teen center and youth center, we need to fully understand what they’re facing — in the streets as well as in the halls of their schools.”
There is no cost to attend the training sessions. Space is limited, however, so Garreau recommends contacting CRYP at 605-964-8200 or sending an e-mail to julie.cryp@gmail.com to confirm attendance.
To learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project® and its programs, and for information about making donations and volunteering, call (605) 964-8200 or visit www.lakotayouth.org. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, visit the youth project’s Facebook “Cause” page. All Cause members will receive regular updates through Facebook.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project®, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.