The fall gathering for the Diné Action Plan (DAP) on September 18, 2026, gave Advisory Group and Task Force members the opportunity to reflect on accomplishments, objectives, and challenges of the past five years.
The DAP provides a road map for the Navajo Nation to address its biggest challenges, known as nayéé’ or modern-day monsters, including suicide prevention, substance abuse, violence, and missing and murdered Diné relatives. The DAP utilizes the strengths of the Navajo people by drawing upon cultural teachings and methods to defeat the nayéé’.
The DAP was signed into law October 14, 2021, through Resolution CS-51-21. It calls for a review at least every five years using the Diné planning model of Nitsáhákees (thinking), Nahat’áa (planning), Iiná (life), and Siihasin (reflection and/or evaluation).
DAP Advisory Group and Task Forces are currently in the phase of Siihasin, reflecting on and evaluating their progress, including reviewing the Plan’s five-year timeline which has specific goals and objectives for each of the nayéé’.
The Advisory Group, which is composed of 19 representatives from the Navajo Nation government, is designed to ensure strong participation and strategic leadership from key Navajo Nation public safety agencies and partners.
“The DAP will help us to establish laws and policies that will benefit our people and future generations by reducing incidences of violence, substance abuse, suicide, and missing and murdered Diné relatives. The work our DAP members are doing will have far reaching impact for our children and families,” Thomas Cody, Executive Director of the Navajo Division for Children and Family Services (NDCFS), said.
NDCFS has taken the lead in coordinating and implementing the DAP over the past few years. As part of the implementation, task forces for each of the four nayéé’ were established. The Navajo Epidemiology Center under the Navajo Department of Health has also partnered with the DAP Task Forces to focus on public health data. Two additional areas of focus in the Diné Action Plan include Education and Awareness for the public and Capacity Building. Each of these task forces meet regularly outside of the quarterly gatherings to work on their specific areas.
The task forces reported back to the entire group during the fall gathering. Vera John, of Navajo Division of Behavioral and Mental Health Services (DBMHS), delivered the report on behalf of the Substance Abuse Task Force, highlighting the work that DBMHS has been performing. One of the major collaborations of the Task Force is working with the Yideeską́ądi Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí Center Treatment Center in Phoenix to provide residential substance use treatment. DBMHS is also transporting people for treatment services, providing community outreach, and offering talking circles. DBMHS has a sober living facility in Chinle and telehealth services available, John said. DBMHS continues planning to provide transitional living services in the Phoenix area and residential treatment services on the Navajo Nation.
Anthony Begay, Navajo Treatment Center for Children and Their Families (NTCCF) Program Manager, is the lead for the Suicide Prevention Task Force. The Task Force provided its five-year report, which emphasized primary, secondary and tertiary prevention and postvention methods that utilize cultural teachings and public education to increase awareness of signs and symptoms of depression, hopelessness, and self-harm. A challenge for the task force has been establishing baseline data for its goal of decreasing suicide and the task force is working with the Navajo Epidemiology Center on gathering relevant data.
The Violence Task Force reported on its activities over the past five years, which included numerous prevention and outreach strategies from the victim witness advocates of the Department for Child Well Being, the establishment of the Operation Diné School Safety initiative led by the Department of Diné Education, and activities from the Missing and Murdered Diné Relatives (MMDR) Coalition. The Violence Prevention Task Force focused on four main objectives: enhancing services, utilizing Diné cultural practices, working on violence rate data, and addressing the ability of the public safety system to keep communities safe. A survey was shared for the general public and partners to complete which can be located at the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd1Wq57EMpgb4US_MyCZaUH1ZWHPidNSAEFPurPnY5hXiuO9w/viewform?usp=publish-editor
Sonlatsa Jim, DAP Chair, said that the five-year report will include recommendations from the task forces and will be shared with the Navajo Nation leadership, including the branch chiefs, when completed in October.
Partners and community members are encouraged to join the effort to defeat the nayéé’ by contacting the Chair or the Task Force leads to participate. DAP Task Force leadership is currently as follows:
DAP Chairperson: Sonlatsa Jim, Navajo Division for Children & Family Services
sonlatsa.jim@ndcfs.org
Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force: Vera John, Navajo Division of Behavioral & Mental Health Services
verajohn@navajo-nsn.gov
Suicide Prevention Task Force: Anthony Begay, Navajo Division for Children & Family Services – Navajo Treatment Center for Children and their Families
anthony.begay@ndcfs.org
Violence Prevention Task Force: Sonlatsa Jim, Navajo Division for Children & Family Services
sonlatsa.jim@ndcfs.org
Missing & Murdered Diné Relatives Task Force: Honorable Amber K. Crotty, Navajo Nation Council Delegate
acrotty@navajo-nsn.gov
NDCFS would like to thank the MMDR Coalition for their partnership in securing the meeting location in Flagstaff, Arizona. The next quarterly DAP meeting is scheduled for December 18, 2026.
###