NCAI Policy Research Center

Tribally-Driven Research Agenda
In 2005, the NCAI Policy Research Center convened more than 300 tribal leaders, tribal staff, elders, and youth to identify and prioritize research areas of particular importance to Native communities. The tribally-driven research agenda that emerged from this conversation has been used as a general guide to our work and partnerships.

Census Outreach Campaign 
Working alongside the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Council of La Raza, and the Asian American Justice Center, NCAI is offering a series of trainings on the importance and benefits of participating in the decennial census, public relations and public service announcement materials and other outreach materials to encourage Native participation in the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey.

Federal Funding Formula Analysis: Use of Census Data for Distribution of Federal Funds 
The NCAI Policy Research Center is currently analyzing the potential impact of single race versus multi-race identification from US Census data in the distribution of federal funds to American Indian tribes within the Indian Housing Block Grant funding formula. A white paper was produced.

Strengthening Tribal Governance
In fall/winter 2006, the NCAI Policy Research Center partnered with the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona to convene Indian Country through a series of regional intertribal forums to identify strategies to strengthen the quality of governance in tribal communities. Meeting materials and a convenings report are available; four resource papers were produced.

Evaluation of Multi-Agency Tribal Consultation
The NCAI Policy Research Center is assisting various agencies within the US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, US Department of the Interior, and US Department of Justice in assessing and improving their joint tribal consultation efforts. The 2008 evaluation of multi-agency consultation sessions was completed. 

Native Youth Suicide Prevention
In partnership with the National Indian Child Welfare Association and Georgetown University National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health, the NCAI Policy Research Center convened a think tank with scholars and tribal representatives addressing Native youth suicide at the 2006 NCAI Mid-Year Session and compiled resources for tribal delegations to the September 2007 American Indian and Alaska Native Summit on Youth Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Healing. Click here for materials from June 2006 think tank.

American Indian/Alaska Native Youth Survey
In collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the NCAI Policy Research Center conducted a web-based and paper survey that focuses on how Native youth (ages 12-21) currently view themselves and their future to help NCAI, tribal leaders, our partners, and other organizations better understand the needs of Native youth and identify strategies to support our next generation of leaders. The survey was launched in October 2008. Final results were released in 2009.

A Study of Criminal Justice in Indian Country
In partnership with the University of California Los Angeles and University of Minnesota, the NCAI Policy Research Center is examining the law enforcement and criminal justice systems in Indian Country in order to better understand the deficiencies and make recommendations for achieving public safety in tribal communities and proper treatment of detainees. Some data is presented in the book, Captured Justice: Native Nations Under Public Law 280.

Well-being of Urban Indian Families and Children 
The NCAI Policy Research Center, in partnership with the National Urban Indian Family Coalition and the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development undertook an analysis of the well-being of urban Indian families and children. A paper was produced in partnership with NUIFC.

Community-Based Participatory Research: Identifying Promoters and Inhibitors of Good Practice in Native Communities
In partnership with faculty at the University of New Mexico and University of Washington, the NCAI Policy Research Center has proposed research with Native community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects to determine the conditions under which CBPR in Native communities is most effective. If funded, the project will result in a testable model of CBPR practice, produce site-specific and aggregate reports about the promoters and inhibitors of CBPR in Native communities, and allow for the comparison of Native data to data from other communities of color. This resulted in the current NARCH V project.

Innovations in Rural Forestry
In partnership with the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute, the NCAI Policy Research Center is working with Native communities to gather data on promising forestry practices in tribal areas undergoing significant social, economic, and environmental change. This project aims to build the capacity of two tribal communities to conduct research and contribute data to national datasets on natural resource projects in rural America. The NCAI Policy Research Center worked to identify tribal sites. The final report was issued in December 2009.  

National Rural Assembly
The NCAI Policy Research Center, along with the Center for Rural Strategies and nine other members of the Assembly’s Steering Committee, are shaping efforts to develop a comprehensive rural policy agenda and network of stakeholders.

BIA Land Title and Recordation Office (LTRO) Study
In partnership with the First Nations Development Institute and other field experts, the NCAI Policy Research Center is identifying and examining a range of options for tribes to expedite processing of title information to strengthen sovereignty and promote economic development. The white paper, released in November 2008,  included case studies, a discussion of options for tribes, and policy recommendations. 

Impact of Vote-by-Mail on Native Voters in Oregon
Working with NCAI’s Native Vote Project, the NCAI Policy Research Center is determining the impact of Oregon’s statewide policy of “vote-by-mail only” for all elections on Native voters living on reservation lands. A draft report was completed in November 2008. 

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Montana
In partnership with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Montana and PolicyLink, the NCAI Policy Research Center convened community partners to develop a collective vision for frontier communities in the Great Plains and to develop a policy research agenda. 

National Native American Economic Policy Summit
The NCAI Policy Research Center provided research and data support for the May 2007 National Native American Economic Policy Summit. Four white papers from the Summit are available on-line.

Crafting a Collective Vision for the Future of Indian Country
In 2005, the NCAI Policy Research Center convened an interactive session to identify tribal priorities and develop a collective vision for tribal communities at the NCAI Annual Session. Click here for materials from the convening.

·Considerations for and Alternatives to Tribal Per Capita Distributions
Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and working with the University of Arizona, the Native Nations Institute, and Washington University in St. Louis, Center for Social Development, the NCAI Policy Research Center drafted a white paper to inform national policy issues and tribal decision-making around per capita distributions.

Predatory Lending in Indian Country
Working with the Native Financial Education Coalition, the First Nations Development Institute, the Center for Responsible Lending, and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the NCAI Policy Research Center is addressing the negative impact of payday lending and other predatory lending practices on Native communities through informed policy development. Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the project resulted in a policy brief that addresses why people choose payday lenders, promising models to offer financial services, and policy options that can be enacted. 

Realism in Federal Indian Law
In partnership with the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California- Berkeley and a national network of Indian law scholars, the NCAI Policy Research Center convened Indian law professors to encourage junior scholars to fill the void in the academic literature on the grounded realities of federal Indian law. The meeting transcript was published in as “Conference Transcript: The New Realism: The Next Generation of Scholarship in Federal Indian Law” in the 2007-2008 edition of the American Indian Law Review, 32 (1).

Child Welfare Community of Practice
Funded by a three-year grant from the Administration of Native Americans, US Department of Health and Human Services, the NCAI Policy Research Center created networks of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers around the topical areas of child welfare, climate change, and tribal governance. Funding to maintain these online communities has since ended.

Climate Change Community of Practice
Funded by a three-year grant from the Administration of Native Americans, US Department of Health and Human Services, the NCAI Policy Research Center created networks of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers around the topical areas of child welfare, climate change, and tribal governance. Funding to maintain these online communities has since ended.