National Indian Child Welfare Association

Agency Background

The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) is a nonpsrofit membership organization dedicated to the well being of American Indian children and families. NICWA believes that every American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) child should have access to community-based, culturally appropriate services that help him or her grow up safe, healthy, and spiritually strong—free from abuse, neglect, sexual exploitation, and the damaging effects of substance abuse.
A 23-member all AI/AN board of directors oversees NICWA. Board members are tribal leaders, tribal child welfare directors and staff, and other individuals who are committed to the well being of Indian children. General membership includes individuals and tribal programs.
The organization was founded in 1987 with the following goals:

1)      Protect the most valuable resource of American Indian/Alaska Native people, our children
2)      Promote safe, healthy, and culturally strong environments for AI/AN children
3)      Promote the spiritual strength of Indian children and a positive cultural identity
4)      Provide technical assistance for, and information sharing among, AI/AN children’s programs

NICWA maintains a staff of approximately 30 who engage in a wide variety program activities related to fulfilling the mission of the agency.  The majority of the staff is Native American and a significant number also hold a Master of Social Work degree. In order to carry out the goals above, NICWA is organized by program areas.  The following programs are funded through a variety of contracts, grants and supported by membership revenue:

1)      Training and information
2)      Community development for children’s mental health
3)      Community development for Indian child welfare
4)      Government affairs and advocacy
5)      Research
6)      Indian child welfare worker certification

System of Care Technical Assistance

Since 1997, NICWA has been serving as the technical assistance provider for Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) tribal grantees under a contract with the Indian Health Service (IHS) through an interagency agreement with CMHS. The NICWA community development for children’s mental health program has the primary responsibility to provide technical assistance to the tribal service system of care communities.  NICWA also provides technical assistance to tribes and urban Indian programs receiving system of care planning grants through the CMHS “Circles of Care” grant program and the Indian Health Service Mental Health and Community Safety Initiative.
NICWA assigns a Community Development Specialist (CDS) to each system of care community as the primary contact for assessing, planning, providing and coordinating all TA to that community.  The CDS and the community develop a close relationship through regular e-mail, phone calls and face-to-face meetings at grantee meetings and on-site visits.  Through a team effort, the CDS coordinates access to all of NICWA’s resources and those of the broader Technical Assistance Partnership to meet the TA needs and requests of the tribal system of care communities.
In addition to direct technical support for the grant communities, NICWA contributes its expertise to the improvement of the cultural competence of the technical assistance partners, provides advocacy for systems of care approaches targeting Indian children and families, and conducts both research and information dissemination.  NICWA has developed, and CMHS has published, several “promising practices” monographs focused on the incorporation of cultural helping and healing practices in a systems of care model. 

Areas of Activity

Culturally Specific and Focused Technical Assistance

NICWA has a model of practice and technical assistance called the “Relational Worldview”, which provides a culturally based theory of change and community development.  This model provides the basis for all of the work that NICWA does directly with system of care communities and partners.  NICWA’s TA meets the unique needs of the Native American system of care communities.  NICWA provides assistance in planning, developing, and operating systems of care in settings where the tribal governmental structures and partner agencies are different from the mainstream communities, and where cultural issues are the highest priority and the social challenges are extreme.  NICWA staff and consultants have unique experience, expertise and understanding of the cultural, and political complexities that Native American communities face in developing their local system of care initiative. 

Cultural Competence and Technical Assistance Partner Support

NICWA works with each of the organizations in the CMHS Technical Assistance Partners (TAP) to enhance the cultural exchange of information among the partners and tribal system of care communities, to coordinate activities to ensure the inclusion of the Native American perspective. NICWA has established partnerships with each of the TAP organizations and has collaborated with those organizations to develop culturally specific technical assistance products.
NICWA staff and consultants coordinate technical assistance with the TAP Regional Technical Assistance Coordinators (RTACs) to ensure that issues of tribal sovereignty and inclusion of tribal perspectives are addressed in city, county, state and territory run system of care initiatives.   NICWA also participates in the CMHS Executive committee to coordinate technical assistance efforts at the federal partnership level.

Onsite Technical Assistance

One of NICWA’s primary responsibilities is to conduct onsite technical assistance and training to the Native American system of care communities at least once per year.  This TA is provided to meet their specific TA needs based on a self-assessment process guided by NICWA’s Relational Worldview model, which ensures that TA services are targeted toward the achievement of the community’s system of care goals.   NICWA is also able to provide support, consultation and onsite technical assistance to cities, counties, states and US territories to improve cultural competence specific to Native American populations and state-tribal intergovernmental relationships as requested by those entities.

System of Care Community Meetings (National and Regional)

NICWA staff and consultants work with the Technical Assistance Partnership (TAP) and CMHS project officers to coordinate culturally relevant content at the annual national system of care community meeting.  Beginning in 2005, the TAP divided all the system of care communities into 5 geographic regions for the purpose of coordinating technical assistance and providing smaller regional meetings each year.  The Native American/tribal communities span many geographic areas, so NICWA coordinates a Native American community meeting as a sixth “regional meeting”.  This meeting provides the opportunity for peer-to-peer TA, networking and relationship building as well as the ability to focus on issues that are unique to the tribal communities, such as culture and tradition, tribal governments, Medicaid, coordination with IHS and BIA programs and other issues related to the sovereign status of tribal nations. 

Promotion of System of Care Approaches for Indian Children’s Mental Health

NICWA produces and disseminates information on systems of care in Native American communities among tribes and elected tribal leaders and makes presentations on systems of care and children’s mental health at various national Indian meetings.  NICWA seeks to promote the inclusion of systems of care language into the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, as well as other federal legislation that will impact Native American communities.  NICWA also advocates for Indian Tribes to be included in the eligibility criteria for other state and federal grant programs that may provide additional resources to Native communities.

Federal Site Visits/Reviews

NICWA actively participates in the Federal site review visits to tribal system of care communities with project officers as part of the site review team.

Circles of Care Grant Program

Beginning in October 1998, nine 3-year systems of care planning grants were made to tribes (7) and urban Indian programs (2) to plan and assess a mental health service delivery system for children with serious emotional disturbances and their families, unique to the tribal community and culture.  NICWA provided the technical assistance to these Circles of Care grantees.  NICWA has also authored two reports on this program, which is scheduled to be published through CMHS in early 2005.  One report focuses on the community program level and the other reports on the national cross-site evaluation of the grantees co-written by the staff of the Circles of Care Evaluation Technical Assistance Center at the University of Colorado.
In October 2001 a second round of 3-year Circles of Care grants were awarded to six tribes and one urban Indian program. Like the first round of grants, NICWA provided 1) TA assessment, coordination, and delivery to Circles of Care grantees; 2) conducted Circles of Care grantee meetings, site visits, and parent involvement meetings; 3) provided coordination and cultural consultation with the cross-site evaluation; and 4) provided mental health policy analysis, advocacy, and publications.  Funding was not available to develop a final report for publishing of this round of grants.
In January 2005 the availability of a third round of 3-year Circles of Care grants was announced by CMHS, and NICWA provided two technical assistance meetings for prospective bidders.  In October 2005, individual grants were awarded to three tribal organizations, three urban Indian programs and at one tribal college. NICWA will continue to provide the technical assistance to those communities through the end of the funding cycle in September 2008.

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