Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive

Description

Many of the recommendations in this report are addressed to Congress and executive branch agencies outside the Department of Justice because solutions to the dire situation faced by AI/AN children must be comprehensive and will require efforts beyond the Department of Justice. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the Attorney General work with the Legislative and executive branches of government to implement the recommendations. The recommendations are intended to serve as a blueprint for preventing Al/AN children’s exposure to violence and for mitigating the negative effects experienced by Al/AN children exposed to violence across the United States and throughout Indian country. During 2013-14, the Advisory Committee convened four public hearings and multiple Listening Sessions across the nation to examine the scope and impact of violence facing AI/AN children exposed to violence in their homes, schools, and communities. The Advisory Committee heard from more than 150 witnesses. The hearings, attended by more than 580 people, were open to the public. The primary focus of this report is the findings and recommendations that emerged from those hearings. In addition, this report incorporates and builds on two highly relevant reports that preceded it. The 2012 Report of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence and the 2013 Indian Law and Order Commission (ILOC) report, A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer.