Happy Holidays from the Office of Tribal Relations!
From the Office of Tribal Relations Team:
We Wish You Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
As a reminder, DCYF offices are closed Friday, Dec. 24, and Friday, Dec. 30.
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The Office of Tribal Relations is Hiring an Early Learning Tribal Liaison
In the role of Early Learning Tribal Liaison, you will draw upon your history of successfully working with tribal communities and governments, as well as your knowledge of state and federal early learning programs to assure quality and comprehensive program service delivery in the areas of child welfare & early learning.
Applications accepted through Jan. 17 at 11:59 p.m. Apply: Early Learning Tribal Liaison.
The Office of Tribal Relations is Excited to Introduce our New Early Learning Tribal Navigator, Antonia Bancroft!
Yá'át'ééh (Greetings),
My name is Antonia Bancroft. I am the Tribal Child Welfare Early Learning Navigator with the Office of Tribal Relations. I am Diné, of the Bitterwater clan, born of Zuni Edgewater and my Maternal Grandfather is of Redstreak clan and my Paternal Grandfather is of Tangle clan. I reside in Longview, Washington, with my husband Warren, my son Gavin, and my bunny Cedar.
I previously worked for DCYF in 2017 in the Family Assessment Response unit and moved into Child Family Welfare Services in the Kelso office. After that, I worked for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe as an Indian Child Welfare Social Worker. Prior to my work in Washington State, I worked for the Navajo Nation Department of Self Reliance (Tribal TANF) back home on my reservation.
I am very excited to be a part of the Tribal Relations team as a Tribal Navigator. As an Indigenous Social Worker, I am very passionate about helping our tribal families strengthen their connection to their communities so our next generation can thrive in a supportive and healthy environment. Being in this new role as Tribal Navigator will allow me to provide support to our caseworkers and tribal families with children 5 and under in connecting them to voluntary early learning programs and family support resources. This is an exciting new program that I hope will pave the way for more Tribal Navigators to help decrease reports of abuse and neglect, decrease out-of-home placements among tribal families, and increase the number of children receiving high-quality early learning supports.
If you have any questions, or want to learn more about this new program, please feel free to reach me at antonia.bancroft@dcyf.wa.gov or 360-819-0008.
Ahéhee' (Thank you).
Nominate an Unsung Hero for Parent Recognition Month
DCYF is preparing to celebrate Parent Recognition Month in February 2022 by honoring extraordinary parents, caregivers, guardians, and community members across Washington State through the annual Unsung Heroes campaign.
Since 2011, with your help, we have honored 281 parents and caregivers in Washington for the roles they have taken with their families, schools, and communities. They have been recognized because they have shown strength, courage, and empathy in their communities. We also acknowledge that this year, parents and primary caregivers have been called upon more than ever to be the buffer for the traumatic experiences that our world has faced. Parents and caregivers around Washington State are supporting their children, families, and communities in exceptional ways through this pandemic and we want to show our appreciation.
Please help us honor 28 more unsung heroes in February 2022 by nominating a parent, primary caregiver, or guardian for the Unsung Hero award. The nomination form is available in three languages (English, Spanish, and Somali). All nominations must be submitted by Jan. 17. The nominations can be emailed to strengtheningfamilies@dcyf.wa.gov or submitted via the form itself.
For more information, email strengtheningfamilies@dcyf.wa.gov.
Region 4 Update
On Nov. 30, OICW in Seattle hosted their virtual Native American Month Celebration. Included as part of the celebration were ‘sightings of fry bread’ and the annual auction, which was very fun as well as successful. All proceeds went to the support of Mother Nation. Roxanne Finney, a longtime employee of the Office of Tribal Relations, was also blanketed at this celebration in recognition of her retirement and many years of service.
Volunteers of America Western Washington is excited to announce that they are working on the training curriculum for staff that will be hired to work on the Tribal crisis line.
They are seeking feedback from AI/AN communities, especially Elders and Tribal leaders. If you are Tribal affiliated, a Tribal agency, or anyone working with the AI/AN population to help bridge the gap that has been only getting bigger throughout the years, creating barriers to accessing resources, please complete this survey.
Please feel free to share this survey as they want as much feedback from the population they will be serving.
If any of you have any questions or comments about this survey, or you just want to know more about the program, please reach out Mia Klick at mklick@voaww.org. Thank you all for your time and the hard work you all do each day.
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Jan. 6, 10 a.m.: EarlyEdU Alliance Highlight Webinar. Join for a conversation with Miriam Calderon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Policy and Early Learning at the U.S. Department of Education. EarlyEdU will talk with Miriam about key initiatives aimed at preparing a qualified early childhood workforce. As part of the conversation, they'll ask Miriam how institutions of higher education can play a part in preparing early educators to effectively meet the challenge for high quality universal pre-K and other early childhood efforts outlined in the President’s Build Back Better Framework. Register.
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Tribal Home Visiting: New funding opportunities will be available in early 2022. If there is interest in learning more about home visiting programs and new funding, please contact Ivon Urquilla at ivon.urquilla@dcfy.wa.gov.
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Living Languages Grant Program: The Office of Indian Economic Development (OIED), through its Living Languages Grant Program (LLGP), is soliciting proposals from federally recognized tribes for grants to fund Native language instruction and immersion programs for Native students not enrolled at Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools, including those tribes in states without BIE-funded schools. View this opportunity here. Deadline: Jan. 25.
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Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Diabetes Translation Research (CAIANDTR) provides funding to support pilot and feasibility projects related to diabetes in Native populations. They have finalized the solicitations for their next round of funding and hope that you will consider applying or sharing information about these opportunities with your collaborators. Detailed information about these opportunities is available on the CAIANDTR website.
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Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) 2022 Native American Summer Fellowship Program: PEM is looking for talented and creative students and emerging professionals from Native American, Native Hawaiian, First Nation or Alaska Native backgrounds who are eager to develop the knowledge, skills and networks necessary to become 21st-century community and museum leaders. Fellows work with PEM's dynamic staff and gain access to a comprehensive perspective on the theory and practice of museum management. Weekly workshops, field trips, mentoring, and in-depth engagement on museum projects support Fellows in sustaining their existing skills while cultivating their professional development needs. Placements will be based on applicant’s academic and/or career goals, their application, the interview process, and the match between Fellows’ interests and available projects. Fellowship includes stipend, housing near PEM, and travel expenses. Academic credit is available upon official request. Deadline for application and all supporting materials is Friday, Jan. 28. Please check out the NAF Program site that has information about our programs, program staff, and NAF Alumni: https://pem.org/naf.
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American Indian Endowed Scholarship: Applications for the 2022-23 academic year American Indian Endowed Scholarship (AIES) are available now. AIES helps financially needy students with close social and cultural ties to an American Indian community in the state of Washington. Students can use the scholarships at public colleges and many independent colleges in Washington. The program prioritizes upper division and graduate level students, however, all applicants receive award consideration. Award amounts range from around $500 to $2,000. About 15 students are selected each year to receive the awards. Students may get AIES funding for up to five years, but they must reapply each year. Applications are due March 1, 2022. The application and instruction materials are downloadable from the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) website.
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Native WYSE CHOICES wants to support Native young women by helping them make choices that are right for them, their health, and the health of future generations. They are offering a paid research opportunity for young Native women living in urban communities. Interested participants can see if they are eligible to join the study by visiting https://ucdenver.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cYcwCRWYZ7MLfIW
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Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity Tribal Advisory Committee (CIIHE TAC) is seeking delegate nominations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) is extending the recruitment date of primary delegates for the CIIHE TAC, which will play a role in helping to ensure OMH has Tribal input that is critical for the CIIHE’s success and effectiveness. Additionally, the CIIHE TAC will have 16 delegate positions, one from each of the 12 geographic areas served by the Indian Health Service and four national at-large member positions. They strongly encourage tribal leaders or designated tribal representatives to submit their nomination letter(s) Apply by Jan. 7. For more information about CIIHE TAC membership, including eligibility requirements, selection criteria, nomination procedures, and template letters, please visit the OMH American Indian/Alaska Native Population Profile page.
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The Region 16 Comprehensive Center has been working on a survey to aid in the development of an online tool, housing information on programs supportive of Native students and Native education in WA. It seems at one time or another, we all end up hearing about a program we wish we had known about sooner — the hope is the creation of a database of programs, tools, and organizations will help us all learn about what’s available to our students and educators more easily. Please take 10-15 minutes of your time to fill out this survey: https://zcyjvuz3bvw.typeform.com/to/saRUxvom.
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