Hi, my name is Brian Frisina, DCYF ESIT Tribal Program Consultant. Each week I will provide a key term to help support us all in getting to know our Tribal Nations partners better.
This week’s term is The Boarding School Tragedy.
Capt. Richard H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans:
Beginning in 1887, the federal government attempted to “Americanize” Native Americans, largely through the education of Native youth. By 1900, thousands of Native Americans were studying at almost 150 boarding schools around the United States. The U.S. Training and Industrial School founded in 1879 at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, was the model for most of these schools. Boarding schools like Carlisle provided vocational and manual training and sought to systematically strip away tribal culture. They insisted that students drop their Indian names, forbade the speaking of native languages, and cut off their long hair. Not surprisingly, such schools often met fierce resistance from Native American parents and youth. But the schools also fostered a sense of shared Indian identity that transcended tribal boundaries. The following excerpt (from a paper read by Carlisle founder Capt. Richard H. Pratt at an 1892 convention) spotlights Pratt’s pragmatic and frequently brutal methods for “civilizing” the “savages,” including his analogies to the education and “civilizing” of African Americans.
Indian boarding schools were founded to eliminate traditional American Indian ways of life and replace them with mainstream American culture. The first boarding schools were set up either by the government or Christian missionaries. Initially, the government forced many Indian families to send their children to boarding schools. Later, Indian families chose to send their children because there were no other schools available.
At boarding schools, Indian children were separated from their families and cultural ways for long periods, sometimes four or more years. The children were forced to cut their hair and give up their traditional clothing. They had to give up their meaningful Native names and take English ones. They were not only taught to speak English, but were punished for speaking their own languages. Their own traditional religious practices were forcibly replaced with Christianity. They were taught that their cultures were inferior. Some teachers ridiculed and made fun of the students’ traditions. These lessons humiliated the students and taught them to be ashamed of being American Indian. The boarding schools had a bad effect on the self-esteem of Indian students and on the well-being of Native languages and cultures.
References:
“Kill the Indian, and Save the Man”: Richard H. Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Source: Official Report of the Nineteenth Annual Conference of Charities and Correction (1892), 46–59. Reprinted in Richard H. Pratt, “The Advantages of Mingling Indians with Whites,” Americanizing the American Indians: Writings by the “Friends of the Indian” 1880–1900 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1973), 260–271.
Battlefield and Classroom: Four Decades with the American Indian, 1867-1904 by Richard Henry Pratt, 1964)
Native Words, Native Warriors. Boarding Schools | Struggling with Cultural Oppression. National Museum of the American Indian Education Office, americanindian.si.edu.
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We will spotlight a PIE member each week. PIE is ESIT’s 12-month training program designed for parents or caregivers with children who have received early intervention services through an ESIT program. The goal of PIE is to enhance the leadership and advocacy skills of participants so they can become active leaders in their communities.
This week, we’d like to introduce you to
Ana Buenorostro.
Ana is a member of PIE: Cohort 3. She lives in Ephrata with her two daughters Ana Elsa, 5 years old, and Victoria, 3 years old. Victoria was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. Together, they are on this journey learning every day, with the dream of being able to provide support and help to other parents who are in the same situation.
Welcome to PIE, Ana, we are glad you are here!
Questions about PIE? Contact Vanessa Allen, DCYF ESIT Family Engagement Coordinator, at vanessa.allen@dcyf.wa.gov.
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On September 10, the ESIT team sent notification that new Child Outcome Summary (COS) descriptor statements would be available in the Transitional Data Management System (T-DMS) on September 14. In addition, updated guidance materials and the decision tree were added to the DCYF ESIT website.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the new descriptor statements are not yet available in the T-DMS, however, the launch has been rescheduled to happen on or before October 5, 2020.
How should you complete the COS with families and document decisions in the T-DMS?
- Use the new materials and statements on the website when meeting with families to complete the COS and select descriptor statements.
- Do not enter the COS ratings/statements into the T-DMS until after October 5, even if you have an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) that needs to be issued prior to that date to be timely and compliant.
- After October 5, retroactively issue the IFSP with the correct issue date.
For example, the IFSP team selects new descriptor statements and needs to issue the IFSP on September 21. The Family Resources Coordinator (FRC) will wait to enter the information in the T-DMS until October 6, entering an IFSP issuance date of September 21. The T-DMS will not “block” or otherwise prevent the User from entering the date.
We recognize this may temporarily disrupt the work of some providers and appreciate your understanding. Please let your program consultant know if you have any questions about the new descriptor statements.
For technical assistance with data entry into the T-DMS in this interim timeframe, please contact the ESIT Help Desk.
ESIT Data Systems Users:
Beginning in July 2021, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) will collect data for services delivered in ACORN, which is the new ESIT data management system (DMS). In preparation for this new contract requirement, we have made a training opportunity available to all DMS users.
Contractors and their subcontractors are required to register for and participate in scheduled DMS training and technical assistance sessions to learn how to document the provision of services provided.
In our training environment, users will input a representative sampling of child/family service delivery information to practice and demonstrate efficiency with the new service delivery tracking and reporting features.
To access the ACORN Services Delivered training, please go to http://acorntraining.sproutservices.org/
The preferred browser is Google Chrome.
Detailed instructions for users are available here.
Please contact Will.Moncrease@dcyf.wa.gov, ESIT Data Coordinator, if you require technical assistance with this training environment.
Instructions to Access the School District Portal are posted to the ESIT Data Management System page, under the title Training and Technical Support, under ESIT DMS Known Issues.
Questions? Please contact kim.hopkins@dcyf.wa.gov.
HCA is required by the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to identify options to reduce state general fund spending by 15%. The Interpreter Services program was identified for possible reductions as it is an optional Medicaid program. Please read HCA Director Sue Birch's letter regarding budget reduction decision packages that will be submitted to OFM for the 2021 legislative session.
These short testimonials describe the ease of use and benefits of virtual home visits. Five families share their experiences with virtual home visits and reveal their initial concerns, impressions, hopes and successes. The videos address families where they are, whether they are new to EI/ECSE and want to better understand virtual visits, or want to make the most of their providers' expertise during and in between virtual visits.
ESIT telepractice providers:
The Washington State Telehealth Collaborative is conducting two surveys and needs your input. The information collected will be used to create statewide initiatives to improve provider training and general internet access. We want them to hear from ESIT providers so that your needs will be reflected in upcoming initiatives.
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The Telemedicine Training Survey is five questions long and will be used to identify gaps in telehealth training across the state and across a wide variety of health providers. Make the voices of 0-3 therapists heard!
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Is slow internet impacting your telemedicine visits? Take the WA Broadband survey. The Office of Broadband is creating a map of internet access and speed to help identify areas of need.
Please answer these surveys today and share these links widely!
The UC Davis MIND Institute is conducting a telehealth study that may be a useful resource for families looking for evaluations or who are delaying in-person evaluations during the current pandemic.
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