But l e r Broadcast A report from the field of Child Welfare . . .

First National Resource Center 4Tribes

The Butler Institute was
invited to join with three
Native American serving
organizations to create our
nation’s first ever National
Resource Center for Tribes
(NRC4Tribes). Funded by the
federal government to sup-
port tribal child welfare pro-
grams, the NRC4Tribes offers
training and expert techni-
www.nrc4tribes.org cal assistance to all federally
recognized tribes. Tribes can
request assistance to improve child welfare services,
to build better relationships with courts, and to build
partnerships with states and community providers. Tribes
can also get help developing data tracking and moni-
toring systems. This new Resource Center provides an
unprecedented level of support to tribes as they guard
the safety, permanency, and well-being of American
Indian and Alaskan Native children.
Our national partners – the Tribal
Study Stats: Law and Policy Center in Los
Angeles, California, the Indian
375 participants Family Resource Center in Mon-
200 tribes tana, and the Native American
Training Institute in North Dakota
Stronger Tribal Child Welfare Programs =
Better Outcomes for American
Indian/Alaskan Native Children
manage the NRC4Tribes resources and services, while
Butler provides evaluation support.
As a first step, the NRC4Tribes team conducted a com-
prehensive needs assessment of tribal child welfare. The
assessment, with 375 participants and 200 tribes across
Indian Country, represents the largest and most com-
plete study of tribal child welfare ever undertaken. The
assessment was designed
and data gathered with
the help of Indian consul- Tribal Law
Indian
Child &
tants that used a culturally & Policy Family
based methodology. Our Institute Resource
evaluation team contin- Center
ues to analyze the data NRC4Tribes
and will share the results
with the participating Native Butler
American
tribes, the project funder Training
Institute
for Families
(Department of Health Institute
and Human Services, Chil-
dren’s Bureau), and the
community at large in the NRC4Tribes Members
spring of 2011.

Tribal Nations Reclaim Their Destiny

Through Implementation Center Project
From powerless to empowered, America’s tribal became entangled in state or county child protection
nations reclaim their destinies for those who represent and adoption cases. However, ICWA did not provide
the future—their children. resources to build the ca-
pacity of their child wel-
After the corrosive legacy of boarding schools and the fare programs, so Native
systematic placement of Native children in non-Native children continued to be
families, many tribes, including the 11,000 member over represented in state
Osage Nation of northern Oklahoma, are exercising and county child welfare
their tribal sovereignty and self-determination by making systems nationwide.
sure that their tribally-operated child welfare programs
are fully their own in terms of values, cultural practices, Today, the Osage Nation
and traditions. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of is working towards ensuring
1978 strengthened tribal control over tribal children who safety, permanency, and
www.osagetribe.com

2148 S. High St. | Denver, CO 80208 | (303) 871.4548 | www.thebutlerinstitute.org

well-being for all of the tribe’s children and families program to support the development and implementa-
through a Children’s Bureau Mountain and Plains Child tion of the practice model. Osage Nation child welfare
Welfare Implementation Center grant. staff members recently completed Business Process
The project supports the implemen- Mapping to identify each activity, decision, and inter-
tation of an Osage Nation specific vention in the tribal child welfare process. Completion of
practice model that incorporates the the process prompted Lee Collins, Osage Nation Social
tribe’s world view, values, and tradi- Services Director,
tions, and also develops a compre- to praise the en-
hensive automated data system to deavor for foster- ICWA =
The Mountains and
support increased practice effective- ing among staff Good Intentions
Plains Child Welfare
Implementation Center ness. a sense of shared but Insufficient Results
A service of the
Children’s Bureau purpose and vi-
The Butler Institute is the tribe’s evalua-
sion — and a passion for the Osage Nation’s efforts to
A Member of the TTA Network

tion partner, offering ongoing feed-

www.uta.edu/mpcwic exercise sovereignty and self-determination.
back to the Osage child welfare

North Dakota Tribes Aim for Excellence

Two communities in North Dakota’s Indian Country con- by the partners. As part of the
tinue progress toward attaining excellence in services intervention, Learning Circles
for their children and families through a series of feder- encourage front line workers to
ally-funded projects. Established by treaty in 1851, the build solutions to practice issues
Fort Berthould Reservation in mid-west North Dakota is that they identify. In another
the home of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations, component of the intervention
who join together as the Three Affiliated Tribes. Fur- plan, stipends for Bachelor and
ther north, just seven miles from the Canadian border, Masters of Social Work degrees
members of the Pembina are offered to social services
Interventions: Band of Chippewa call the employees to help professional-
68,000 acre Turtle Mountain ize the child welfare staff at each
Organizational
Reservation home. These two agency. To date, fifteen students
Assessment,
nations partnered with the received stipends and six com-
Learning Circles
Butler Institute, the University pleted their degrees.
Design Teams
of Texas, Arlington (UTA), and
the Native American Training In the Garden Project, working
Institute for two Children’s Bureau projects to continue with UTA as the lead and Butler
their efforts to improve their child welfare programs. as the evaluator, these tribal sites
The Western Workforce Project and the Garden Project completed intense Business Pro- www.nativeinstitute.org
focus on their agency’s workforce to build first-rate tribal cess Mapping to under-
child welfare organizations. stand and clarify how About this Issue . . .
each site carried out
In the first phase of the their work to develop Executive Director
Western Workforce new practice models Cathryn Potter, Ph.D.
Project, teams from and build information
each nation assisted systems. The Western Editors
with the administra- Workforce Project and Sandra Spears, LCSW
tion of an on-site Garden Project assist Charmaine Brittain, Ph.D.
Organizational Health these tribal nations in
Contributors
Assessment designed supporting continuous Robin Leake, Ph.D.
to identify agency examination of their Nancy Lucero, Ph. D
strengths and con- agencies and practices Joe Walker, MM, NATI
cerns. Data from their as they strive for excel-
assessments informed lence in their child wel- Layout & Design
www.thebutlerinstitute.org
multi-layered interven- fare programs for the Melissa Thompson
tion plans developed people of their tribal
nations. For more information, please
email Butler.Institute@du.edu.

2148 S. High St. | Denver, CO 80208 | (303) 871.4548 | www.thebutlerinstitute.org