1. Systems Change Process & Breaking Out of the Box
Deb Painte, NATI
Joseph Walker, NATI

2. TRIBAL PERSPECTIVE
National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), Overview of Relational World View
Originally presented by Terry Cross, NICWA at the Western Pacific CWIC Regional Forum, San Francisco, March 2009
(slide excerpts used with permission)

3. Linear Worldview Social Work/Medical Model
Cause g Effect g New Cause g New Effect
Logical, scientific, time-oriented
Social history drives treatment
Services plan targets cause/symptoms
Direct relationship between intervention and outcome
Tends to promote labeling and stigma
Underlying question is “Why?”
SMALL GROUP BREAKOUT/DISCUSSION
Divide into groups of 3 or 4
Assignment is to think of a child/family that they are working with (or a fictitious one) and to create a “Time line” (on paper) for that family. They should include everything they know about the social history, symptoms, diagnosis, presenting problem and then document any treatment and it’s outcome, or projected outcome
LEAVE THE SLIDE UP DURRING THE EXERCISE
AFTER TIME IS UP IN SMALL GROUPS HAVE SOME TIME TO REPORT OUT ON QUESTIONS LIKE:
“Did this process of thinking about families seem familiar to you?”
“What did you learn about this family?”
“What kind of ‘data’ did you get on the family?”
Social History g Presenting Problem g Assessment g Treatment g Outcome

4. Relational Worldview Native and Tribal Thought
Context
Mind
Spirit
Body
This is in a state of constant flux as we go through time as each aspects changes
It is a different way to explain human behavior with the idea of balance maintaining health and being out of balance may promote “dis-ease”
Helpers and healers understand “problems” through balances and imbalances in a person’s world
The question of “how” to restore balance is seen as more relevant that “Why” something happened
BALANCE

5. Relational Worldview Native and Tribal Thought
Fluid, cyclical view of time
Each aspect of life is related
Services aim to restore balance
Interventions may not be directed at “symptoms”
Underlying question is “how?”
These are more of the things which are expected and provided by the Community Development Specialist who are the technical assistance coordinators

6. From Individual to Organization
The model of balance can be applied to organizations and communities.
Each element of the individual model has a parallel in an organization.
This is the basis for NICWA’s approach to agency climate.

7. Relational Worldview Organizational Level
Policies/Procedures
Physical
Environment
Infrastructure
Mission
Resources
Mgmt. Structure
Economic
Personnel Mgmt.
Political
Fiscal Mgmt.
Service Design
Social
Strategic Plans
Mandate
Using the model we talked about earlie,r from an individual perspective, we move to translate it to the level of the organization, or system. This is a way to think about technical assistance in evaluation an organization and planning to help create more healthy organization
Go through each of the points and examples of the four quadrants beginning with Environment, Infrastructure, Resources, and Mission Give examples of each of the points
Explain the inter-dependant nature of the circle and how it relates to organizations
The importance for an organization to be fully balance in all areas to remain healthy
SMALL GROUP EXERCISE (45 minutes)
Have the audience break-up into groups of people who work for the same organization or System of Care Project
Ask them to use this model to evaluate their organization/system
NICWA staff and consultants help facilitate small group discussions
Utilize the “Self-Study” 50 questions from the NICWA Binder “Tools for Assessing Technical Assistance Needs” (Feb. 2000) to guide discussion
REPORTING OUT
“What needs did you identify in using this model, that you may have overlooked in your other efforts to do a organizational assessment?”
“What strengths did you discover about your system?”
“ What areas are most vulnerable to becoming out of balance in your system?”
Human Beings
Org. Spirit
Leadership
Values
“Champions”
Purpose
Information
Vision
Funding
Mission
Coalitions

8. Relational World View Theory of Change
Change is a constant, inevitable, cyclical, and dynamic part of the human experience that occurs in natural, predictable patterns and can be facilitated to promote desired and measurable outcomes.
Change is:
Constant: Complex interactions between the quadrants are going on all the time, influenced by experience and perceptions of experience and by the balance states that have come before.
Inevitable: The human organism has a natural tendency to seek balance; to heal, adjust, or relieve stress, and reacts to stimuli by changing (e.g. flight-fight).
Cyclical: Changes in balance and harmony follow natural patterns of the cycles of days, months, seasons, and life spans
Dynamic: All change is multi-dimensional. Nothing in any quadrant can change without every aspect of the other quadrants being effected. Changes are a combination of linear and multi-causal, multi-effect relationships.

9. RWV-Based Practice
A change agent joins with the natural forces, and with purposeful intent, impacts the quadrants to restore balance and promote harmony.
Interventions do not necessarily target symptoms but rather impact balance and facilitate harmony, and are frequently designed to impact multiple quadrants.
Change can be measured by observing key indicators of balance and harmony and by recording change across time in relationship to the intervention(s).

10. Essential Elements for Systems Change
Financing
Policy
Standards of Practice
Data
Accountability
Dependability of
Institutions
Partnerships
Communication
Needs
Community Readiness
Strengths
Political will/urgency
External Relationships
Environment
Infrastructure
Mission
Resources
Values
Shared Vision
Cultural Integrity
Sovereignty/Governance Respect for ancestral wisdom
Alignment of principles
Using the model we talked about earlie,r from an individual perspective, we move to translate it to the level of the organization, or system. This is a way to think about technical assistance in evaluation an organization and planning to help create more healthy organization
Go through each of the points and examples of the four quadrants beginning with Environment, Infrastructure, Resources, and Mission Give examples of each of the points
Explain the inter-dependant nature of the circle and how it relates to organizations
The importance for an organization to be fully balance in all areas to remain healthy
SMALL GROUP EXERCISE (45 minutes)
Have the audience break-up into groups of people who work for the same organization or System of Care Project
Ask them to use this model to evaluate their organization/system
NICWA staff and consultants help facilitate small group discussions
Utilize the “Self-Study” 50 questions from the NICWA Binder “Tools for Assessing Technical Assistance Needs” (Feb. 2000) to guide discussion
REPORTING OUT
“What needs did you identify in using this model, that you may have overlooked in your other efforts to do a organizational assessment?”
“What strengths did you discover about your system?”
“ What areas are most vulnerable to becoming out of balance in your system?”
Leadership
Family and youth voice
Staffing
Training/TA
Vertical buy-in
Funding

11. Change Processes Create a sense of urgency Core leadership team
Broad participatory planning
Shared vision and strategy
Leadership empowering others
Vertical buy-in
Short term wins and persistence
Sustainability
Adapted from Kotter, 1997

12. Other tribal considerations
Impact of Historical Trauma, Intergenerational Grief & Secondary Trauma on Tribal Systems
Need to understand how this may impact your systems change process

13. Historical Trauma
Trauma upon trauma that occurs in history to a specific group of people causing emotional, mental and spiritual* wounding both during their lives and in the generations that follow.
Photo from Carlisle Indian School showing Sioux or Lakota/Dakota Boys arriving at school in Pennsylvania.
Many coping, resiliency and natural supports that were traditionally available in the past are not as prevalent as once were. Systems Change considerations should contemplate whether and how these traditional practices can enhance their systems change process.
1-8

14. Intergenerational Grief
Grief that is passed down from the generation experiencing the trauma to their children (the next generation) even though they may not be aware of or have direct experience of the actual traumatic events.
We have grandparents who did not parent their own children, and now these parents are trying to figure out how to raise their children, but as the evidence points out, Not doing so good! Whole communities and tribal nations in our region are stilly trying to get past this grief & trauma.
Photo from Tulalip boarding school in Children as young as 6 yrs. old were taken to be raised in these types of institutions.
Tribal communities have overwhelming, complex needs and challenges; and much of the population has been negatively affected on a multigenerational level. Systems Change needs to address this community need.
1-9

15. Definitions
Secondary Trauma – “a cluster of symptoms nearly identical to PTSD which results from the stress of working with or intimately knowing somebody who has been traumatized or is suffering. “ (Perron & Hiltz, 2006, p. 217)
Secondary Trauma Stress – “an acute stress reaction to a traumatic event experienced indirectly. (Phipps & Byrne, 2003, p. 139)
Systems Change may also increase the stress levels of already over burdened staff. Change needs to ensure that staff concerns and stress resulting from change should be addressed.

16. Breaking Out of the Box
Practice Model and Standards of the Lakota Oyate Wakanyeja Owcakiyapi (LOWO) Agency, a tribally chartered child welfare agency on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
See MPCWIC Toolkit
While the LOWO Practice Standards & Model were developed specifically for the Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in SD, the community engagement, involvement and partnership could provide a guide for other communities to see how child welfare practice can be positively enhanced and cultural competency strengthened by this in-depth, comprehensive community involvement.