The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (PBPN) is a federally recognized sovereign Indian Tribe in northeast Kansas, with more than 5,000 enrolled members. The vision of the PBPN as a sovereign tribe is to (1) ensure self-sufficiency that respects diversity and equality while working within a spirit of cooperation and fairness for a high standard of living and quality of life, (2) strive to provide an environment of improved well-being for our people including education, health, safety, and welfare while valuing our culture, traditions, and all resources, and (3) accomplish these things for all generations with a system of value-based management to respect all views. Together, we can build a healthy, safe community that celebrates our culture, traditions, and values. As we work to address the hard issues our community faces, we honor that approximately 10% of our population are ages 18 years and under. Our youth are our tribe’s future and continuation of culture, making youth mental health and suicide prevention and early intervention in the community major concerns to our leadership and members.
We know that tribal communities - and particularly Native youth - experience a higher risk of depression, mental suffering, and suicide due to the damaging legacy of historical trauma and its continuing impacts on Native families. Thus, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation proposes the Prairie Band Youth Wellness Services initiative, a Social Services-based project that will implement evidence-based and culturally-rooted services to build resiliency, mitigate risk factors for suicide and self-harm, promote positive youth development, and strengthen partnerships for a holistic system of care. The project’s goals are to: (1) Strengthen a system of suicide early intervention services for youth in the Prairie Band community; (2) Provide comprehensive “bridge” supports between early suicide intervention efforts and “postvention”/recovery services for youth and their families in the community; and (3) Engage Prairie Band leadership, youth, and families to create meaningful, community-based wraparound supports that address mental health and wellness for the entire community. Our youth are our future; they are tomorrow’s elders and leaders. It is critical that we build a strong system of support around them to ensure the overall health and longevity of our people.