American Indian Culture and Research Journal

INTRODUCTION This article will first describe the Puyallup Reservation in Tacoma-Pierce County, Washington, focusing on its urban context and the demographics of the multitribal community it serves. The authors will then consider the Chief Leschi Schools system (pre-K through 12) in historic perspective and in its contemporary form. The community and family risk factors associated with the escalating problem of alcohol/drug abuse and violence/youth violence in the surrounding urban community and within the Puyallup Reservation will be discussed. The impact of the broader urban alcohol/drug abuse and violence on Chief Leschi Schools and its children and families will then be analyzed. The tribal programmatic response to this situation and particularly the development and the evolution of the prevention programs, Positive Reinforcement in Drug Education (PRIDE) and Puyallups Against Violence (PAV) will be discussed. These programs were designed to provide positive alternative activities to American Indian and Alaska Native students and the general multitribal community. The current design of the alcohol-drug-violence-gang prevention program (Safe Futures) and the future goals and plans for this program will then be reviewed. Special attention will be placed on reviewing the risk factors and protective factors targeted for intervention through the Safe Futures Program. Finally, the relevance of this project to a selected sample of the research literature will be discussed. This article is based on an analysis of historic data and a set of interviews with school staff, prevention staff, and general Puyallup tribal employees.