National Child Welfare Resource Center for Tribes Preliminary Findings from the National Needs Assessment of Tribal Child Welfare Programs Note: These findings have not yet been approved by the Children’s Bureau A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a member of the National T/TA Network

The National Resource Center for Tribes (NRC4Tribes) has joined the Children’s Bureau Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Network to provide and broker training and technical assistance to support the enhancement of Tribal child welfare systems. 2

The Partnership

Kathy Deserly Associate Director, NRC4Tribes & Director, Indian Child and Family Resource Center Jerry Gardner Executive Director, Tribal Law and Policy Institute & Director, NRC4Tribes Deb Painte NRC4Tribes Leadership Team & Director, Native American Training Institute Joe Walker NRC4Tribes Leadership Team & Evaluation Specialist, Native American Training Institute Robin Leake NRC4Tribes Leadership Team & Research Manager, Butler Institute for Families, DU Dr. Cathryn Potter NRC4Tribes Leadership Team & Executive Director, Butler Institute for Families, DU Who we are

Establishing a shared vision… The NRC4Tribes Leadership Team - comprised of TLPI and its partner agencies - held a facilitated strategic planning session to plan the five year implementation of the NRC4Tribes. As four separate entities, the agency staff felt the importance of developing a common vision, mission, philosophy and guiding principles specifically for the NRC4Tribes. 10

The vision of the National Resource Center for Tribes (NRC4Tribes) is to facilitate the empowerment of Native Nations to nurture the safety, permanence and well-being of American Indian/Alaska Native children, families and communities by offering culturally The vision… 11 relevant information, resources and technical assistance so that the dreams and sacrifices of the ancestors are fulfilled and honored.

Our mission is, as members of the Children’s Bureau T/TA Network, to collaborate with Native Nations and our training and technical assistance partners to identify and effectively implement community, culturally based strategies and resources that strengthen tribal child and family services. The mission… 11

Children are sacred and entitled to be cherished in a safe and nurturing environment with strong family, community and cultural connections. Their happiness and well-being includes nourishment of mind, body and spirit in order to fulfill their dreams throughout their journey toward becoming a healthy Elder. The philosophy… 12

NRC4Tribes Needs Assessment Purpose  Listen to tribal child welfare program staff, families and community stakeholders talk about program strengths, gaps and challenges.  Gather relevant information, which can then be distilled into an accurate profile of the tribal child welfare system.  Guide decisions about types of services, administrative functions, data and information collection, program management and reporting for which T/TA is needed.

Needs Assessment Domain Areas Organizational effectiveness  Workforce issues, recruitment and retention, staff development, leadership and supervision, climate and culture, historical and vicarious trauma, use of a practice model. Capacity and T/TA needs in following areas:  Assessment, data and technology, prevention, family engagement, in-home services, foster care, adoption, legal and judicial, service array, community partnerships, state-tribal partnerships.

Needs Assessment Instruments Collaborative Development  NRC4Tribes, Children’s Bureau, Advisory Committee, Consultants  University of Denver Institutional Review Board Final Instruments  General On-line Survey  Customized interview protocols for all stakeholders  Tribal director telephone interviews  Demographics

Consultants  Team of tribal child welfare experts from across the country selected to gather assessment data  Advise on methods, tools, and outreach  Conducted on-site assessments and telephone interviews  Prepared through meeting in Detroit, MI, conference calls, webinars and weekly support meetings during the assessment  Signed confidentiality agreement and followed data protocols to ensure confidentiality

NRC4Tribes Needs Assessment Consultants Consultant training prepared the NRC4Tribes consultants to conduct the national T/TA needs assessment.

Needs Assessment Methods General Online Survey  Web-based & paper/pencil survey  85-items; checklists, multiple choice, open-ended  All stakeholders invited to participate  262 surveys completed by representatives of more than 100 tribes Tribal Director Telephone Interviews  2-hr. telephone interviews conducted with 31 tribal child welfare directors across 6 Children’s Bureau regions (7 BIA regions; 10 states) Onsite Assessments  20 IV-B funded tribes invited; 16 accepted  149 in-person interviews conducted  42 staff surveys

Participation in Needs Assessment  All Participation was completely voluntary  General online interview link ed and mailed directly to tribes; marketing through fliers, newsletters, websites and ads  Tribes for on-site and telephone interviews selected through stratified sample based on geographic region and size  Tribes invited through s, written mail and follow-up telephone calls 15

Respondents  More than 400 individuals participated through either a survey or interview  These respondents represented 127 federally- recognized tribes  42.8% of general survey respondents were involved with the tribal child welfare agency  45.6% of interviewees were tribal child welfare staff; 17.4% were foster parents and youth; and 37% were other stakeholders

N = 149

Preliminary Data Initial analysis has focused on three questions:  What are the existing strengths of tribal child welfare programs?  What are the current challenges that tribal child welfare programs face?  What types of training or technical assistance (T/TA) are needed by tribal child welfare programs?  Where can the NRC4Tribes best focus its T/TA efforts with tribal child welfare programs? 20

Tribal Child Welfare Program Strengths  Approach to working with families  Community members provide services to other members  Commitment to betterment of the tribe and its people  Working with one’s own people allows for more effective practice “I would say just our knowledge of the local people is a strength. That would be a prevention in itself. And being able to find relatives in a timely manner.” “ We do family meetings with the whole family where everyone is heard. All family members are encouraged to be part of the families service plan …” 21

Tribal Child Welfare Program Strengths  Characteristics of child welfare staff  Educational background  Experience  Knowledge of the child welfare system “Well educated and well trained staff who interact very well with the target population.” “Continuous efforts are made to ensure maximum participation in cultural activities and cultural education for the children and families served. Staff are required to participate in educational activities.” 22

Tribal Child Welfare Program Strengths  Available tribal services or resources  Substance abuse and mental health services  On-reservation foster homes  Tribal courts, law enforcement, state/tribal agreements “We work collaboratively with state agencies and services agencies to ensure appropriate culturally based services” “ Our tribe through the child welfare agency has developed a specialized model of practice that is a hybrid, incorporating both cultural as well as mainstream options for families involved in the child welfare system.” 23

Tribal Child Welfare Program Strengths  Cultural understanding “Obviously, child welfare is very important no matter what walk of life you are, but for the Native American folks, it’s about us re-establishing traditions and language and the family togetherness. It’s more about trying to stop genocide, if you will, and I think that’s the greatest strength of all the tribal programs, is what we’re actually trying to accomplish. That is what we fight for every day.” 24

Challenges: Program Operations and Services  Lack of funding for operations and services  Lack of prevention services  Lack of staff “I think money is a downfall and staffing and resources. Those are all of our bad areas. Foster care payments are hard, and our funds are limited so we can’t offer a lot of things that we want to make this a better program.” “You might hear a lot of times, ‘we’ve only got one person.’ You have no idea what that is like, the impact of what that is like. I think it’s a barrier toward a better communication and any child welfare procedure, whether it’s strengthening from the beginning and working on a prevention road or if it’s working with a family that has children in custody. If you don’t have the staff then you’re limited.” 25

Other Challenges  Staffing  Hiring staff with necessary education, experience and skills  Providing job-related training to new staff  Convincing experienced staff to learn new practice skills  Job turnover “Every program within the tribal system can use assistance in improvement due to turnover in staff within to program”  Technology for data tracking and case management  Case management systems  Data collection (intake, legal proceeding, case records)  and tracking outcomes 26

Other Challenges  Collaborating with state or county child welfare departments  Lack of knowledge and understanding by non-Indians of ICWA, tribal life, values, practices and history  Accessing services & working with service providers “I would say we’re working more with the other non-profits rather than the state to figure out a better way to serve our people... Well, we try to work with the state but they seem to have their own agenda and it’s hard, it’s really hard to work with them because, I mean for various reasons, but it’s kind of a contentious relationship.” “We do live in a very rural area so I think that transportation is a huge barrier for us as far as our families having access to those services.” 27

Challenges faced by Families in Tribal Child Welfare System  Substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence  Poverty and lack of housing  Lack of education  Historical and intergeneration trauma, especially from boarding schools “You look at the historic trauma and that is a big issue. And I think that because it’s not being addressed, people don’t know why they’re doing some of the things they’re doing. So if I have a parent come in, I can go and see if they have a file and if they do, I’ll read it and I’ll find out what happened to them as a child and I’ll ask, ‘Did you have parents or grandparents in the boarding schools?’ and stuff like that, because I need to know what’s going on because usually when I get families in, it’s the same families.” 28

Training Needs for Tribal Child Welfare Staff ♦Child welfare practice knowledge and skills  New worker training  Supervisor training “My staff is mostly younger, less experienced caseworkers. They are professional and dedicated to our families but need time to ‘season’. I think their biggest issue is working with the court system, both tribal and state/county.” ♦Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) legal and practice “So I would say one of our challenges is, the tribe, the ICWA workers just don’t have the training to really be effective in court. We do go to ICWA trainings and all that but they don’t, unless you get an advanced ICWA class, you don’t really get into that aspect.” 29

Training Needs for Tribal Child Welfare Staff ♦Child welfare legal issues and court systems  Expert witness ♦Tribal values, customs and traditional practices “ More training needs to be available to current and new employees of the tribe to make them aware of the custom and cultural sensitivity of the tribe.” ♦ Training is also needed for state/county workers, law enforcement, courts, foster parents, community providers and tribal council members to increase knowledge, skills and understanding of child welfare related issues and the work of the tribal child welfare program. 30

Technical Assistance Needs ♦Need for local TA providers with whom they could develop supportive and ongoing relationships and who would help them to addresses a variety of needs areas “We wish the federal agencies would choose someone to do our TA who has lived and worked within our tribal communities, who really understands exactly what it is like here and knows how to work with our diverse cultures. We want people who are willing to come in the winter and not just summer when we are busy with subsistence activities. The degree isn’t as important to us as the understanding of how to work with our villages and work through interpreters and with different ages of people.” “The main person that has been helping us has been our regional person. It was that face-to-face that really makes a difference.” 31

TA Need Areas from Survey Respondents

Summary of T/TA Needs Areas for Tribal Child Welfare Programs  Assistance in leveraging community, tribal, and state resources  Training in legal issues and court systems as these pertain to child welfare work  Training in practice and legal aspects of the ICWA  Assistance in heightening third parties’ (e.g., courts, tribal council, foster parents, law enforcement, and community members) understanding of child welfare work

Summary of T/TA Needs Areas for Tribal Child Welfare Programs  Increasing tribal child welfare program capacity and organizational effectiveness by: Casework skills for addressing child and family issues; Incorporating tribal values, customs, and traditional practices; Developing or revising policies and procedures (including a Children’s Code); Collecting data and evaluating program operations and child welfare outcomes; MIS data systems and technology (software and hardware); and Community outreach and involvement.  Developing collaborative partnerships between tribal and state child welfare systems with community providers with departments within the tribe

Summarized T/TA Recommendations Recommendation 1: Support the strengthening of the tribal child welfare program infrastructure to improve practice Recommendation 2: Support the use of culturally based practices in tribal child welfare Recommendation 3: Partner with the T/TA Network to support the development of MISs for tribal child welfare programs Recommendation 4: Promote the development and maintenance of successful tribal foster care and adoption (permanency) programs Recommendation 5: Support the strengthening and improvement of tribal/state relationships

Summarized T/TA Recommendations Recommendation 6: Build tribal child welfare peer networks Recommendation 7: Address workforce issues in tribal child welfare programs Recommendation 8: Enhance multidisciplinary collaboration for prevention services Recommendation 9: Ensure a targeted T/TA that meets the individualized needs of tribes Recommendation 10: Partner with other federal agencies within the ACF, the BIA, and others to model effective systems of care that will support tribal child welfare programs

In conclusion...  Today we presented a few emerging themes from just some of the data  Perspectives of directors interviewed and survey respondents are aligned “Our tribe through the child welfare agency has developed a specialized model of practice that is a hybrid incorporating both cultural as well as mainstream options for families involved in the child welfare system. We embrace and recognize the importance and effectiveness of traditional practices and spiritual healing through ceremonies.” 37

“ Our tribe believes that children are a valuable resource for the tribe’s future. We intervene with services during the initial contact with the family by state CPS services or investigation. We work collaboratively with state agencies and services agencies to ensure appropriate culturally based services, so that children are in a safe, sane, sober environment and the family is getting the services they need. We also intervene in ALL ICWA cases no matter where they are in the U.S. to ensure children remain connected to the tribe. Children are a gift from the Creator, they [are] given to us to teach us much more about ourselves, who we are as a people and Nation, only by keeping them safely connected to the tribe do we ensure our future.” 38

National Child Welfare Resource Center for Tribes NRC4Tribes For More Information: Jerry Gardner Executive Director, TLPI Director, NRC4Tribes Kathy Deserly Associate Director NRC4Tribes