LOCALS CONVICTED ON DRUG CHARGES TO BE EDUCATED BY KSCS

Two Kahnawakehro:non who were convicted on drug offenses will be doing
their community service somewhat different than the norm.

The Sate'shen:naien Program reached an agreement with both the Court of
Kahnawake and the Longueuil Court on February 3.

This agreement is to implement a rehabilitation program that will educate
community members who are convicted on drug offenses. The participants have
to serve 180 hours as a part of this program and KSCS can terminate it at
any point in time if they feel the participants aren't trying or benefiting
from it.

Ron Skye, the administrator of the Court of Kahnawake said that if one or
both of the participants does not show up a report will be made by their
supervisor at KSCS which will be forwarded to him. He will then send it to
Longueuil court where the sentencing judge will look at it and a new
sentence, which may include a fine and imprisonment, will be handed down.

This is the follow-up to a pilot project that took place in March '99 that
resulted in one Kahnawakehro:non convicted on drug charges serving his
community service through this program. Herby Lahache, who is supervising
the project, says it was successful.

This project begins on Monday, February 21, at the KSCS offices, where the
two individuals will be offered a life skills curriculum. They will be
learning subjects such as decision making, communications, anger management
and drug prevention information. A series of workshops that relate to the
subject matter will be provided by the staff of KSCS.

`This program is a benefit to the whole community because whatever they
learn, they can pass on to others in the same situation about the dangers
and negative effects to the health and well-being of Onkwehonwe and
Kahnawake,' commented Louis Jacco of Healing the Family Circle.

All the activities will take place at the KSCS offices and the two
participants have to go there on specific days. If they don't show up, it
becomes a problem, said Lahache, because the workshops are scheduled and
the people giving them have worked hard on them. If a problem like this
were to continue then the program would be cancelled and they would do
their community service elsewhere.

These two participants will at no time interact with either of the Youth
Groups that Sate'shen:naien offers.

`We want to re-educate them,' said Lahache. `We're trying to put them in a
place that would benefit both them and the community.'