87% - Alcohol /Drug Abuse
65% - Lack of Parental Guidance/Supervision
56% - Peer Pressure
42% - Abuse (emotional, sexual, physical)
34% - Lack of Leisure Activities (Boredom)
27% - Lack of Education
23% - Poverty
19% - Media (TV, Radio, Video Games)
18% - Stress
16% - Lack of Culture
11% - Prejudice
3% - Other
2% - No Response

If you would like, please explain any of your responses:

- Too many alcoholics and druggies - Many break ins for money - Lack of parental guidance - Ignoring children - Not enough things for kids to do - Vandalism high - Image

- Parents don't watch their kids - Police don't do their jobs - Jobs are scarce - Besides pow wows no heritage is taught - Peer pressure - Too much free time - Nothing done to kids so they do it over again

4. Are there services in your community that assist families who have youth involved in criminal or delinquent activities?

Yes - 33%

No - 43%

No response - 23%

Kiamichi Children’s Home	Social Services	Choctaw Nation
Boys and Girls Club	Tribal Services	Councilmen
Kiamichi Youth Council	Health Education	Counseling
County Juvenile Services	Youth Shelter	Office of Juvenile Justice
Local church program	DHS	Choctaw Youth club
School program	D.A.R.E.	Big Brother/Sister
C.A.R.E.S.	Chi Hullo Li	Recovery Center
Choctaw Chief	Behavioral Health	Nothing to prevent
Jones Academy	Detention Center
Kiamichi Youth Council	Church

5. Are these adequate services?

If no, please list what types of services you would like to see in your community:

6. Are there any cultural/traditional efforts for youth at risk in your community?

Yes - 35%

No - 50%

No response - 15%

8. Do you believe cultural/traditional efforts should be provided for youth at risk?

Yes - 80%

No - 4%

No response - 12%

9. In your community, where do people get information about services for youth at risk for criminal or delinquent behaviors? (Check as many as apply)

School	64%	Clinic	31%
Not available in my town	7%	Church	40%
Tribal Office	41%	At home	3%
Grocery store	3%	County offices	26%
Other (see below)	0.2%	No response	1%

Comments listed in other: at home, CHR, hospital, my own children, 4-H, rodeo, FFA, youth services, youth shelter, police station and newspaper.

10. Would you be willing to serve as a youth mentor in your community if such a program was developed?

Yes - 56%

No - 29%

No response - 14%

The general consensus is that the people of the Choctaw Nation are concerned about their youth. Using a scale from one to ten, with one being not at all and ten being very large, the average score was 7.8 in response to the question about how much of a concern youth delinquency was in the community. The top seven reasons given by the respondents for youth delinquency are:

87% - Alcohol /Drug Abuse
65% - Lack of Parental Guidance/Supervision
56% - Peer Pressure
42% - Abuse (emotional, sexual, physical)
34% - Lack of Leisure Activities (Boredom)
27% - Lack of Education
23% - Poverty

The respondents identified twenty signs that would cause a youth would be at risk for delinquency. This list ranged from using ATOD, boredom, being left alone, problem with authority to lack of church.

Only 33% of the respondents indicated that they believed that there were services in their community to assist families and youth who are experiencing problems. Of these, respondents were able to identify twenty nine services in the Choctaw Nation.

Of the 33% of the respondents that identified services,
29% believe that the services are adequate
40% believe they are not adequate

Respondents who indicated that services were not adequate were asked to identify the types of services they would like to see in their community. Those responses ranged from community centers, mentoring, ATOD education, sports, carnivals and after school programs.

Thirty five percent of the respondents reported that they believe there are cultural/traditional efforts available for youth at risk in your community and 50% indicated there are no such efforts. When asked how important it is that youth know about his/her culture (with one being not at all and 10 being very important), the average rating was 8.2. In addition, 80% of the respondents indicated that they believe that cultural efforts should be provided to youth at risk. These respondents suggest that people feel it is very important to have cultural efforts in place but that these types of efforts are not available in most communities. If they are available, they are not well known to the community.

It appears from the responses that the best places to inform the community about services, events, and provision of information is to use the: schools, clinics, churches, and tribal offices.

One of the most exciting responses came from a response to the last question which asked if the respondent would be willing to serve as a mentor to a youth. Over half, 55% indicated they would be willing to do so and submitted their names and phone numbers for contact in the future.

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