Northern Cheyenne Board of Health

The Northern Cheyenne Board of Health (NCBH) is a tribal health serving organization, overseeing all behavioral health programs and services on the reservation. The mission of the NCBH is to provide complete care to the community with a culturally coordinated approach. The Honor Your Life (HYL) project proposal is the result of multiple tribal programs and community members identifying the desperate need for increased services and training in suicide prevention. HYL will serve the Northern Cheyenne population, focusing on youth ages 10-24, veterans, military families, and lesbian bay bisexual and transgender youth (LGBT). HYL will utilize multiple evidence based strategies and interventions, including: American Indian Life Skills, Lifelines, QPR, ASIST, Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, cultural-community consultations, and early intervention skill building (Native HOPE, Good Road of Life).

HYL has three outcome goals, which support the strategic suicide prevention goals of the state of Montana and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe:

1. We will increase early screening 10% among youth ages 10-24 who are at risk for suicide on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation during the three-year project period;
2. Youth, LGBT youth, military families and veterans on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation will accept services provided through this project 50% of the time (including referrals, training, culturally-based contact and follow-up recommendations); and
3. Substance abuse by at-risk youth will decrease 10% during the three-year project period on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

Individuals reached through this project include clinicians, youth-serving organizations, schools, courts, tribal programs, college students, military families, youth, and LGBT. HYL has developed three strategic goals to achieve maximum project results:
Strategic Goal 1: Increase the understanding of suicide prevention.
Strategic Goal 2: Help those in need through targeted interventions and culturally based coordination
Strategic Goal 3: Coordinate multi-level agency partnerships for maximum involvement

The intended outcomes of the HYL project are: community members will have access to local training and resources they need to identify at-risk individuals; providers will be trained to recognize at-risk behaviors; those in need will benefit from culturally-based targeted interventions; and multiple agencies and programs will work together to provide continued services and interventions for future generations.