Rocky Boy Reservation, MT

Led by the Chippewa Cree Tribe’s Department of Human Services, Rocky Boy’s Children Exposed to Violence Project (RBCEVP) was a collaborative effort of 11 organizations designed to prevent children’s exposure to violence, reduce its negative impact, and increase awareness. The Chippewa Cree Tribe targeted all of the Rocky Boy Reservation, spanning 195 square miles in northern Montana. Rocky Boy, isolated by geography, weather and economics, is Montana’s smallest reservation with a total population of 3,600 residents that includes roughly 900 children and youth under the age of 18.

By design, the strategic plan for the RBCEVP was a Chippewa Cree culture-based approach to prevention and treatment that emphasized the Chippewa Cree way of life in terms of philosophy, traditional value system, custom, protocol, health and healing concepts, socialization, and education. The approach also integrates a native epistemology (way of knowing) through the involvement of tribal elders. The RBCEVP aimed to address and prevent children exposed to violence by engaging both tribal programs and community members through robust strategies that incorporate culture as a protective factor in all programming.

Visit the Rocky Boy’s Children Exposed to Violence Project on Facebook.

Read the Process Evaluation Report for the Rocky Boy Defending Childhood Initiative.

Learn about the Strengthen Families, Prevent Violence public education campaign for Indian Country.