Kauffman has been working on youth suicide and substance abuse prevention since 2000 and has worked with Montana tribes in the past, including a year-long intensive model on suicide prevention on the Blackfeet reservation, where Pretty Paint grew up and is an enrolled tribal member.

A plan is critical to any success, Pretty Paint said. “Without a strategic plan, without an inventory, we continue to be fragmented. We do good work when we have plans.”

Pretty Paint said nominations for committee members are starting to come in from the tribes. By late October or November Kauffman will hold a two-day training. It is required to submit the strategic plan to DPHHS by February 2017.

State Rep. Edward Greef, R-Florence, questioned the need for a contractor at all. Opper said the tribes were more comfortable working with a contractor instead of DPHHS.

Kipp said the state’s efforts to combat suicide can often fall flat on the reservation. He used a billboard on his reservation that advertises the number for the state’s suicide hotline as an example

“I looked at that and thought in my community there’s all sorts of dead spots out there,” he said. Families often can’t afford cellphones for their children. “That’s a major thing you have to take into consideration.”

Kipp also questioned state agencies’ previous efforts on the reservations. “For three or four decades now agencies are involved in our issues, and they’re not having any effect,” he said.

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