The GatheringThe GatheringTRIBAL STAR’sTRIBAL STAR’s

mission is to ENSURE that mission is to ENSURE that Tribal foster youth Tribal foster youth are connected toare connected to

CULTURE, CULTURE, community and resources community and resources

throughout their transition to adulthood throughout their transition to adulthood thereby increasing thereby increasing POSITIVE outcomes POSITIVE outcomes

for Tribal Foster YOUTH.for Tribal Foster YOUTH. 

Tribal STAR is a program of the Academy for Professional Excellence at San Diego State University

School of Social Work

Stepping onto the PathStepping onto the Path**

Understanding The PastUnderstanding The Past**

Valuing The PresentValuing The Present**

Creating The VisionCreating The Vision

Welcome & Introductions

Why are you here today?~

Introduction of Clans~

Introduction to materials

MODULE 1

History and Purposeof the Tribal STAR Project

 Funded by the California Department of Social Services, Tribal STAR is a result of a partnership between the SDSU School of Social Work, Academy for Professional Excellence and:

•Southern Indian Health Council•SD HHSA Indian Specialty Unit & Independent Living Unit•Indian Health Council•Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel•YMCA YFS •South Bay Community Services•San Diego Youth Services•Intertribal Court of Southern California, Southern CA Tribal Chairmen’s Association•San Bernardino County Child & Family Services•Orange County Social Services Agency•Casey Family Programs, San Diego Field Office•Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians•Pala Band of Mission Indians, Social Services Dept.•Valley Oaks Foster Family Agency•County of San Diego, Office of Education, Foster Youth Services

  

Training & Technical Assistance

Training Opportunities:• The Gathering (training for frontline workers)• The Summit (training for management/supervisory

staff)• The Collaborative (adapted ½ day training)• Let the Spirit Lead: ICWA, In the Best Interest of the

Child• The Other Side of ICWA• Statewide Training for Trainers Series• Statewide Training for MSW StudentsTechnical Assistance includes:

• Independent Living / Trainer Forums• Tribal STAR website• Drumbeats newsletter• Community based collaborative support

What do we know about the needs of Tribal Youth?

• Dropout rates range from 45-85%• High teen pregnancy rates (45% before the age of

20)• Unemployment rates of up to 80% on the

reservations• 35% of Tribal youth experience out of home

placement (more than any other racial group)

The Landscape of California

• CA has the largest Native American population in the nation (333,511 / 2000 Census, US Census Bureau / www.nahc.ca.gov)

• CA is the State with the largest number of foster youth

Chafee Guidelines

“States must make benefits and services available to Indian children in the state on the same

basis as other children.”

“State must certify in its plan that: state will consult and coordinate with each Indian tribe in

the state.”

*all CA Tribal Chairs received a copy of the Proposed State Plan for Fiscal Years 2001-2004

How are Tribal Foster Youth

Affected By The…

CFSR (Child & Family Services Review)

SIP (System Improvement Plan)

ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act)

What outcomes does your county intend to improve in the area of Tribal

Youth & their families?

What goals do you have to improve services for Tribal youth?

MODULE 2

Connectionand Loss

What About Connections?

How could grief and loss affect the way youth and families interact with you and your staff?

Bringing Them Back – A Tribal Perspective

• Host a traditional ceremony• Open communication• Cultural awareness• Non-judgemental• Host a gathering• Address their fears• Help them find balance• Patience

MODULE 3

Historical Context of American Indians

500 Nations

What Events Have Shaped Our Current Cross-Cultural Relations

With Native Communities?

Indian History

• 1492-1800 European Conquest• 1789-1871 Pre-Reservation Period• 1871-1928 Early Reservation Era• 1934-1953 Indian Reorganization• 1953-1968 Termination Era• 1968-1980 Self Determination• 1980-now The Present

The “Indian Problem vs. Euro-American Problem”

For four centuries, non-Indians in North America have had an “Indian problem”. In its most basic form, this problem has had three aspects:

1. Economic: how best to secure access to Indian resources, land in particular

2. Cultural Transformation: how best to accomplish the cultural transformation of Indians into non-Indians

3. Political: how to maintain effective controls so that the problems 1 and 2 could be more

satisfactorily resolved

Euro-American problem

In essence, Tribal survival: the maintenance of particular sets of social relations, more or less distinct cultural orders, and some measure of political autonomy in the face of invasion, conquest and loss of power.

The working out of these two conflicting agendas has given context and shape to

Indian-White relations.

An Apology

Remarks ofKevin Gover, Assistant Secretary-Indian

AffairsDepartment of the Interior

at the Ceremony Acknowledging the 175th

Anniversaryof the Establishment of the

Bureau of Indian AffairsSeptember 8, 2000

Another Apology

In 2001, the Child Welfare League of America acknowledged wrongful involvement in the 1950’s/1960’s effort to facilitate the adoption of Indian children into White homes for the purpose of “saving” these children from their own culture and language.

What are some of the contributions

of Native Americans to contemporary society?

Presentation

Contributions of Native Americans

The Indian Child Welfare Act

Purpose

The purpose of ICWA is to protect the best interests of the Indian children

and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families

by establishing minimum federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their parents or Indian

custodians.

Intent of ICWA

• Prevent the unwarranted breakup of American Indian families

• Recognize tribal jurisdiction to make custody decisions

• Establish minimum federal standards that are to be followed when children are removed

Placement PreferencesFor Out of Home Placement

1. Extended family

2. Foster care licensed by Tribe

FOSTER CARE

3. Indian foster home licensed by State

4. Institution approvedby Tribe

5. Other foster homes

Placement PreferencesFor Pre-Adoptive and Adoptive (Permanent)

Placements

1. Extended family

2. Tribal member

Permanent Placement

3. Other Indian family

What is your role in ensuring ICWA compliance?

Case Worker Follow ICWA and local protocols for notification

and placement

IL Staff, Probation Officer, Case Manager, Counselor, Education staff etc.

If there is any reason to believe youth is a member of a tribe, report to the CW case

worker and collaborate with local ICWA staff.

Resourceshttp://www.gpo.govhttp://www.nicwa.orghttp://www.childsworlds.ca.govhttp://www.americanindiansource.comhttp://theacademy.sdsu.edu/

TribalSTAR/http://www.kumeyaay.com

MODULE 4

American Indian Values & Culture

Group Discussion

Who are you and where are you from?

What are the differences in the value systems between American Indian and Western Mainstream Culture?

How does this impact our thoughts and practice when providing services to Tribal youth and

families?

(Tribally) Traditional: People who hold onto their native culture tightly, never being forced to assimilate into another culture. 

(Western) Acculturated: A person who changes his or her cultural identity, values, beliefs, practices and norms just to get experiences with a different culture.

 (Western) Assimilated: People who choose to give

up most of their old ways, in order to adopt another dominant culture’s beliefs, values, and norms.

(Horejsi et. al., 1987) 

Traditional Indian Values vs. All American Values Mainstream Values

Clan/communal emphasis Individual EmphasisSharing WinningPresent-time orientation Future OrientationSpiritualistic MaterialisticTime non-awareness Time awarenessHarmony with nature Conquest of naturePassive AggressiveGiving/spending Acquiring/savingAppreciates/honors silence Avoids silenceRespect of other religions

Converting/proselytizing

(Source: The Indian Child Welfare Act, Handbook by Rose-Margaret Orrantia; Cultural Awareness; the Indian Perspective, Marilyn Robinson).

Clan Discussion

What can you do to be more culturally sensitive when

providing services to Tribal youth?

MODULE 5

Walking in Their Moccasins

PresentationListening to Those Who Have Been

Affected by Foster Care

What do youth and families feel when they are in the system?

What do youth experience?

What would help us provide more effective services in the future?

Events to Consider as Important for Tribal Foster

Youth

• Naming ceremonies• Sweat lodge and other purification

ceremonies• Sundance and other renewal ceremonies• End of life services, wakes, burials• End of cycle after death ceremonies

Resilience A New Word; An Old Meaning

Spirituality Family Strength

Elders Ceremonial Rituals

Oral Traditions Tribal Identity

Support Networks

MODULE 6

Stepping Into The Circle

The Talking Circle Process

• Every individual participates and some can choose not to speak

• When someone else is speaking it is our turn to listen

• This is our time to speak our thoughts, our truth

• The process is not complete until everyone has participated

(Por, G., 2005)

Welcome!

The Gathering ~Day 2

MODULE 7Honoring the Seasons of Change

• What do we know about adolescent development?

• What do we know about American Indian adolescent development?

• What is the purpose of American Indian puberty rites?

• How might unresolved grief and loss play a role in one’s development?

-Age varies, national average is 25 to 26 years of age

-Totally responsible for oneself

-Usually enter into this phase catapulted by some sort of positive event (marriage, graduate from college, bought first house, etc. . .)

Typical Independent Living Development

Phase I Informal Learning

Phase II Formal Learning

Phase III Practice

Phase IV Self-sufficiency

-Begins at about 9 or 10-years-old -Learns life skills by observing parents and other role models

-Takes cues from environment about how to live life (how home is kept, work ethic, etc. . .)

-Begins in the teenage years

-Obtains formal training about life skills in school

organized activities

-Receives life skill lessons through

(i.e. sports, scouts, clubs, etc. . .)

-Begins typically around 18-years-old

-Opportunity to practice the lessons learned in Phase I and Phase II with a safety net.

-This practice of life skills typically takes place at college, military, job, etc. . .

Indicates when young adult leaves home for the first time

IV-A

Typical Independent Living Development

Cameron Hill Associates, 1997

Independent Living Development for Young Adults in Care

P h a s e I I n f o r m a l L e a r n i n g

P h a s e I I F o r m a l L e a r n i n g

P h a s e I I I P r a c t i c e

P h a s e I V S e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y

- B e g i n s a t a b o u t 9 o r 1 0 y r s . o l d

- N o c o n s i s t e n t r o l e m o d e l s b e c a u s e o f m o v i n g f r o m p l a c e t o p l a c e

- N o c o n s i s t e n t c u e s f r o m e n v i r o n m e n t b e c a u s e i t i s c o n t i n u o u s l y c h a n g i n g ( h o w h o m e i s k e p t , w o r k e t h i c , e t c . . . )

- B e g i n s i n t h e t e e n a g e y e a r s

- S c h o o l s i t u a t i o n i s n o t c o n s t a n t , t y p i c a l l y f a l l b e h i n d i n s t u d i e s a n d m i s s o u t o n i m p o r t a n t l e s s o n s

- R a r e l y g e t s t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o j o i n o r g e t i n v o l v e d i n o r g a n i z e d a c t i v i t i e s ( i . e . s p o r t s , s c o u t s , c l u b s , e t c . )

- T h i s p h a s e i s s k i p p e d

I n d i c a t e s w h e n y o u n g a d u l t a g e s o u t o f f o s t e r c a r e

I V - B

A v e r a g e o f 7 d i f f e r e n t f o s t e r h o m e s

Cameron Hill Associates, 1997

Western Contemporary vs. American Indian

Society Traditional Systems

CHILD 

• Name given• baptism• Learns to use the toilet • Goes on first date • Learns to drive a car and

obtains drivers license • Gets first job

CHILD

• Initiation into clan, moiety, or subgroup by ceremony

•  Learns to assist with family chores

• Puberty rites: learns gender-specific roles, family, community, and tribal expectations 

• First hunt or first menses • Naming ceremony – establishing

identity in relation to family, clan, moiety, and tribal context

Western Contemporary vs. American Indian

Society Traditional Systems

ADULT

• Turns 18 and• Leaves for college

ADULT

• Participates in Tribal community decision making

• Participates as adults in ceremonies

SENIOR CITIZEN

• Turns 65

Western Contemporary vs. American Indian

Society Traditional Systems

ELDER• Turns 55• Is venerated by

community and• acknowledged as an elder

Comparison of Developmental Stages of Youth

Clan Activity

Normal ~ Youth in ~ AmericanAdolescent Foster Care Indian Youth

in Foster Care

What issues affect stages of development for Native youth in foster care? Compare the developmental stages and fill in your answers in your Workbook (Module 7).

Recommendations for Workers

• Build on young peoples’ connection to all living entities

• Encourage and openly discuss their spiritual development

• Make use of the outdoors.

• Recognize the vital role played by elders, aunts, uncles, and other extended family, blood-clan-moiety involvement and encourage their participation in these groups’ activities.

• Encourage generosity of spirit.• Incorporate more cooperative learning

activities.• Respect their individualism.• Allow for a longer response time.• Be more flexible with timelines.• Respect that learning can also occur

through listening and in silence.

(Source: Munsell, G. 2004 Tribal Approaches to Transition: The John H. Chafee Foster Care

Independence Program, NRCYS)

MODULE 8Identifying Services for Tribal

Youth

ActivityDrawing Our Youth

What are the needs of adolescent youth? BLUE

What are the needs of adolescent Tribal youth? RED

What organizations/individuals/resources can address these needs? GREEN

Positive Outcomes from a Tribal Perspective

• Youth are contributing members of the community• Youth have a sense of belonging to the community• Youth are actively connected to Tribal and non-Tribal resources to

achieve inter-dependency• Youth recognize the importance of community involvement• Youth are continuously exposed to culture, customs, and

traditions• Achieve cultural permanency through modification of parental

rights (flexibility)• Non-Tribal guardians of Tribal youth have access to Tribal cultural

& community resources and allow youth to experience and explore their cultural identity

Ways Which Tribal YouthIn Foster Care May Behave

• More traditional youth may not question the position they find themselves.

• Youth may be too intimidated by service providers or the bureaucracy they represent to request services.

• Those who apply for and are denied services may not complain or assert themselves.

• Youth may present to service providers, expecting those providers, like traditional healers, to know their needs, while they sit passively.

What surprised you about the needs of adolescent American

Indian youth?

What can you do differently as a result of learning this

information?

MODULE 9Strengths & Barriers to Collaboration

What are examples of successful local collaboration?

What makes them successful?

What’s the difference between collaboration, coordination, and cooperation?

Collaboration

Coordination Cooperation

Commitment to common mission

Understanding of compatible mission

Individual interpretations of mission

Mutual goals and plans

Some planning and division of roles

Informal structure

Well-defined communication channels operating on many different levels

Communication channels established

Information shared as needed

Resources contributed and pooled or jointly secured

Resources available

Limited or no resources

(Jones, et al., 1999).

Clan Discussion

• Review: “Positive Outcomes for Tribal Youth”

• Discuss: How could collaborations support successful outcomes for your agencies, your county, your youth?

MODULE 10Applying Strengths & Addressing

Barriers

Cross-Cultural Collaboration

A recognition and appreciation of each participant’s world view, role and

function and the values and mission of the

organization they represent.

The Importance of Introductions

Culturally Responsive Communities, Tribes and Native Organizations

Increase Cross-Cultural Understanding Through the Following:

• Establish a welcoming environment• Assist local organization/tribes/communities that enhance cross-

cultural understanding• Sponsor regular meetings with the community/leaders• Assist organizational personnel with the involvement of Elders• Provide an annual open house /workshop• Develop mechanisms to coordinate services of all local programs

• Provide encouragement and support for community members who show an interest & involve them as resources

Who to Contact First?

ICWA representative or Tribal contact

A personal visit, or phone call is better than a letter or an email.

-Is anyone in the community working with Tribal foster youth?

-Who do people go to for advice when working with Tribal foster youth?

-Who should I contact at Tribal council / what is the best way to approach them?

Tips for Following Protocol

• Demonstrate respect for Elders & leaders

• Schedule meetings and events around meals

• Publicly acknowledge Tribal participation in meetings & make introductions

• Model a spirit of cross-cultural collaboration by including and recognizing all efforts

Values and Protocol That Enhance Collaboration

• Personal connection will go farther than a written letter

• Accepting food and drink and scheduling meetings during mealtimes cultivates trust

• Be natural – but not intrusive, remember that communication within communities is also non-verbal

Tribal STAR Best Practice ModelCircle of Care

ICWAWorker

Probation Officer

Community Based

Organization

Foster/Kinship Parent, Group

Home Staff

Independent Living Skills Case Manager

Social Worker

Biological Family

CASA

Education System-Teacher-Guidance Counselor-School Social Worker

Community College Independent Living

Skills Director

Cultural ConnectionsReligious, ethnic and

community leaders/members

Juvenile Judge / Attorney

Tribal Foster Youth

Clan Discussion

As a Clan, identify:• 3 specific objectives that will improve

outcomes for Tribal foster youth• Concrete action steps for each

objective• Community partners for each

objective

Developing Action Plans

• Complete your Personal Action Plan

• Provide Tribal STAR with the yellow copy

• Keep the white copy for yourself

MODULE 11

Stepping Into The CircleTalking Circle

(Por, G., 2005)

Thank you…

for working to ensure that outcomes for Native American foster youth

improve!Tribal STAR

Academy for Professional ExcellenceSDSU School of Social Work

http://theacademy.sdsu.edu/TribalSTAR/619-594-3546

Copyright © May 2010. All Rights Reserved.