Connecting with Our Youth

Connecting With Our Youth / Teca Kici Okijupi (CWOY/TKO) Mobile App. This app is a suicide prevention and early intervention mobile application designed to enhance social connectedness and access to wellness resources in support of Native American youth. The app incorporates Lakota culture values, resources and activities to support Native youth seeking support and connections for healing and behavioral wellness. A primary resource for this app are the Okijupi providing one-on-one support services for our youth. Okijupi is a Lakota term for connecting or connector. For the app, Okijupi are community volunteers approved to work with our youth by the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board; have been trained and confirmed through background checks for this role. The app will also share resources youth can engage on their own and community-wide activities they can participate in to make connections and support their wellness goals.