The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe garnered a $20,000 grant from the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative (NIEJI) Innovation program at the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The grant is earmarked to help fund a program to address elder abuse.

Tribes throughout the United States submitted proposals to create programs to prevent, identify, and address elder abuse, neglect and exploitation in their communities. NIEJI Innovation awarded funding to eight tribes from eight states to help them develop programs for their communities. Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of Washington’s proposal is titled “Elders Abuse Community Empowerment.”

NIEJI Innovation provides grants to tribal community-based organizations to carry out activities to prevent, identify, and/or address elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation in local tribal communities (rural or urban).

There are five distinct areas of intervention in local tribal communities in addressing elder abuse:

1. Innovative approaches to preventing and addressing elder abuse in Indian Country;

2. To create awareness of elder abuse, its signs and impact;

3. Development of tribal resolution code, and laws to address elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;

4. Development of infrastructure, policies and procedures for reporting, investigating, and intervening in elder abuse cases in tribal communities; and

5. Development of cross-jurisdictional processes for reporting, investigating, or intervening in elder abuse cases.

These grants will be for one year for projects to address the areas above or other innovative projects that will address elder abuse in their community.

These grants are funded by an award (#90EJIG003) from the Administration for Community Living.

UND’s Center for Rural Health, works with tribal communities to help improve health outcomes and well-being for American Indians.