Project AWARE Wildcats (PAWS)

About

The Center for Indigenous Health and Chinle Unified School District (CUSD) will launch Project AWARE Wildcats (PAWs), a program to promote mental and behavioral health and expand access to services for students. Project PAWs builds on the relationship built between the Center and CUSD as part of Project SafeSchools and the COVID-19 pandemic response efforts. 

Consistent with the National youth mental health crisis, community-based mental and behavioral healthcare services are not sufficient to meet the needs of Chinle’s student population. Analysis by the Center for Project SafeSchools has found that Native American students are four times as likely as their non-Native peers to experience depression, anxiety, and social-emotional challenges, a pattern exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PAWs project aims to address this crisis by providing students with trauma-informed, culturally-based, and recovery-oriented mental and behavioral health services. School counselors and support personnel will engage with students to provide tiered services that promote well-being. District staff will be trained to implement trauma-informed practices, and parents, families, and community members will be equipped with strategies and resources to expand the trauma-informed approach beyond the school setting. With proper support at school and home, the PAWs project will provide the resources needed to properly support students’ mental and behavioral health in Chinle and surrounding communities.

The work will be made possible by a $4.7 million subcontract over 5 years from the Chinle Unified School District, with funding that originated from The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Special Event Highlight: 

The Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health (JHCIH) is proud to present the Directing Change Community Screening on April 17, 2026. Held in partnership with the Chinle Unified School District on the Navajo Nation, this event celebrates the creativity, storytelling, and voices of local youth.

As part of the Directing Change afterschool program hosted by JHCIH’s Project AWARE Wildcats (PAWs), the screening will feature powerful, youth-produced Public Service Announcements created by 25 student filmmakers from Chinle Junior High and High Schools.

Developed by the nonprofit Youth Creating Change, this innovative program combines a hands-on curriculum with a film contest, empowering youth to translate what they’ve learned about mental health and help-seeking into impactful 60-second films. Attendees can vote for their favorite entries, hear from industry professionals about the influence of film and media on mental well-being, while celebrating youth voices, creativity, and resilience.

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