INDIAN ISLAND – Nearly $500,000 in federal funding has been awarded to establish youth programs aimed at discouraging criminal behavior.

The Penobscot Nation has been awarded $277,006 and Downeast Health Services Inc. in Ellsworth has been awarded $220,000 by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Penobscot Nation will use the funding to enhance tribal efforts to prevent juvenile delinquency and improve its juvenile justice system.

Downeast Health Services Inc. will use the funding to expand a juvenile mentoring program with students who are considered at high risk for substance abuse, delinquency and educational failure