Host, commentator, and activist, Ashlee Marie Preston, teaches that when we talk over people, ignore them or shut them down, what we're really saying is, “I'm more important than you are … I don’t really care what you think, I don't have time for your opinion, or, this isn't a conversation. It’s a contest and I’m gonna win.” In this passionate and deeply heartfelt talk, Ashlee seeks to help promote understanding about intersectionality, allyship and an urgency for compassion (watch time 15:33):
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“Let us put our minds together and see what kind of life we can make for our children.”
-Sitting Bull-Tatanka-Iyotanka, Hunkpapa Lakota leader
Each week, DCYF ESIT Tribal Program Consultant, Brian Frisina, provides a key topic to help us get to know our Tribal Nation Partners better.
This week’s term is:
169th Anniversary of Medicine Creek Treaty Signing Celebrated with Ceremonial Tree Planting
On Jan. 20, members of the Nisqually, Puyallup and Squaxin tribes gathered near the Nisqually Administration Building grounds for a tree planting ceremony to commemorate the 169th anniversary of the Medicine Creek Treaty signing.
Originally signed on Dec. 26, 1854, the treaty was signed by members of the Nisqually, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Squaxin, Muckleshoot, S’Homamish, Stehchass, T’Peeksin, Squi-aitl and Sa-heh-wamish tribes.
Chief Leschi of the Nisqually Indian Tribe rejected the treaty’s first iteration as it would have forced the entire nation to lose access to the Nisqually River.
Read full 2023 article, by Owen Sexton for the Nisqually Valley News, and learn more:
169th Anniversary of Medicine Creek Treaty Signing
Celebrated With Ceremonial Tree Planting
Native Civics: The Medicine Creek Treaty, 1854 to Present
The Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854 is still alive today. In this video, we follow WA State Teacher of the Year '22 Jerad Koepp (Wukchumni) as he visits the traditional lands of the Nisqually people in search of the treaty tree. As he explores the history, Jerad also learns from Nisqually and other Native American leaders about the language, history, and importance of the Medicine Creek Treaty (watch time 11:10):
Remembering Wounded Knee
“If a man loses anything and goes back and looks carefully for it he will find it, and that is what the Indians are doing now when they ask you to give them the things that were promised them in the past; and I do not consider that they should be treated like beasts, and that is the reason I have grown up with the feelings I have...I feel that my country has gotten a bad name , and I want it to have a good name; it used to have a good name. And I sit sometimes and wonder who it is that has given it a bad name.”
-Sitting Bull, December 29, 1890
We Shall Remain
This is part I of a short documentary surrounding the causes of the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 (watch time 1:08:15):
Sources
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Sitting Bull, by History.com Editors, Updated, History.com, Updated: July 10, 2023, Original: November 9, 2009, © 2024, A&E Television Networks, LLC.
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169th Anniversary of Medicine Creek Treaty Signing Celebrated With Ceremonial Tree Planting, by Owen Sexton, for the Nisqually Valley News, Posted Tuesday, February 7, 2023, © 2024 CT Publishing LLC yelmonline.com.
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Native Civics: The Medicine Creek Treaty, 1854 to Present, posted to YouTube by Teach With TVW, Feb 9, 2024.
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We Shall Remain - Episode 5: Wounded Knee, posted to YouTube by Jeffery Powell, Dec 27, 2017.
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The Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) Accountability and Quality Improvement team is pleased to introduce Kirsten Dixon as our newest Quality Improvement Specialist!
Kirsten has been working in social services careers for nearly eleven years, and she truly loves it. Social service work is her passion, especially early intervention. Kirsten is a true believer that early intervention services set children and families up for success. In recent years, Kirsten has been working as a Performance Excellence Specialist with the Missouri Child Welfare system. Throughout her career, she has had the pleasure of both working on the front lines and behind the scenes through program development and training. Kirsten brings experience in ensuring programs are in compliance with contracts, federal laws, state laws, grant requirements, and agency policy and procedures. Throughout her career, Kirsten has had experience in continuous program improvement projects in every aspect, from initiating change for front line staff to developing and implementing forms and trainings to address needs.
Kirsten, her husband, and two young daughters recently relocated to Spokane and is excited to be joining the DCYF ESIT team.
Welcome Kirsten, we're so glad you're here!
Opportunity Council Members
Opportunity Council’s ESIT team has been recognized for its commitment to ESIT Principle 1: Families are equal partners who bring to the team skills, experience and knowledge about their child, and are the final decision makers as to what will work best for their family. Opportunity Council is a Community Action Agency that provides services such as homeless housing, early learning and family services, job skills and financial wellbeing and is home to one of two ESIT programs in Whatcom County.
The Opportunity Council’s ESIT program serves between 220-240 families every month using an approach centered on the belief that families know their children best. They strive to provide services that are tailored to the unique needs and preferences of each family. According to Wendy Sim, ESIT Program Supervisor and Lead Family Resource Coordinator, "We just keep the child and family at the center of everything we do. That looks different for each family." Their philosophy is rooted in parent coaching, where parents are empowered to be the main teachers and advocates for their children’s development.
The program strives to build meaningful relationships with families from the very first phone call with a family until they transition out of services. Sim says, "Relationship building is at the core of our services." At the initial intake, FRC’s make an intentional effort to learn about each family's cultural background, daily routines, and unique priorities. “We meet families where they’re at, which means we go into every visit with respect knowing that families are the reason we are here,” says Sim. Evaluations are scheduled around the family’s availability and are treated as more than just a way to determine eligibility, but also an important part of learning from the family. This allows the team to tailor services that not only support the child’s development but also respect and honor the family’s values and needs. Using a Primary Service Provider approach, a single coach is matched to a family based on a variety of factors to ensure that the family receives consistent guidance, support, and resources that align with their priorities. As the nomination says:
“Opportunity Council staff are genuinely passionate about their jobs, community, and families served. Their passion shines through in the high-quality services they provide.”
The program is currently working on several improvement initiatives including enhancing language access services and supporting staff with professional development to improve services to children involved in the child welfare system and who experience in utero drug exposure.
Thanks for your dedication, Opportunity Council!
The ESIT Data Systems and Analysis Team is hosting regular ACORN trainings on a number of topics. Please feel free to sign up for any of the following sessions before live trainings pause for the holidays!
ACORN for Beginners
This session is ideal for those users who haven’t begun exploring the ACORN platform. We’ll cover user roles, the login process, basic navigation skills, and more. Click below to register!
Intake & Referrals in ACORN
This session is designed to teach Intake Coordinators, FRCs, and Lead FRCs how to add a newly referred child in ACORN. Topics of this training will include the lookup process and a screen-by-screen tutorial. Click below to register!
Don’t worry if you aren’t able to make it to one of these sessions. The Data Systems and Analysis Team will be sending out additional training dates and topics in the new year!
Questions?
If you have specific questions about ACORN development and support activities, please contact ESIT Data Systems and Analysis Manager, Kim Hopkins, at Kim.Hopkins@dcyf.wa.gov.
For technical assistance with accessing and/or navigating the ACORN training environment please contact ESIT.Help@dcyf.wa.gov.
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You are invited to ESIT's upcoming Special January SICC Annual Performance Report (APR) Meeting!
Wed., January 15, 2025
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Meeting link & Agenda TBA
Posted
The updated October SICC Meeting Materials packet has been posted to ESIT's SICC Meetings page for review. The draft October Meeting Minutes will be posted and ready for review soon.
SICC Direct List
If you would like your email added to the SICC direct email list to receive the agenda and meeting materials in advance of upcoming SICC meetings, email ESIT Interim Partnership & Collaboration Manager, Tammy McCauley, with the subject: Add me to SICC DL.
Upcoming 2025 SICC Meeting Dates
- Wed., Feb. 19 | Virtual
- Wed., April 16 | Virtual
- July 15 – 16| In person, Seattle area (location TBD)
- Tues., July 15 – PIE Graduation
- Wed., July 16 – SICC Meeting
- Wed., Oct. 15 | TBD
Questions?
Please contact DCYF ESIT Interim Partnership & Collaboration Manager, Tammy McCauley.
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The ESIT state leadership team plans to highlight individual providers or ESIT provider agencies that are demonstrating one or more of the Seven Key Principles in their work in a new section of the ESIT Weekly titled Key Principles in Action. This new section will help us recognize the high-quality agencies and efforts of individual providers across the ESIT statewide system. Nominators will remain anonymous (though we may contact you for more details about your nomination).
Principles
- Families are equal partners who bring to the team skills, experience and
knowledge about their child; and, are the final decision makers as to what
will work best for their family.
- Early intervention recognizes that family relationships are the central focus in the life of an infant or toddler.
- Infants and toddlers learn best through everyday experiences and interactions with familiar people in familiar settings.
- The early intervention process, from initial contact to transition, must be responsive, flexible and individualized to reflect the child’s and family’s priorities, learning styles and cultural beliefs.
- All families, with the necessary supports and resources, can enhance their children’s learning and development.
- The role of the service provider is to work in a team to support Individualized Family Service Plan functional outcomes, based on child and family needs and priorities.
- Early intervention practices must be based on the best available current evidence and research.
Read and download ESIT's Guiding Concepts.
Submit Your Nomination!
To make a nomination, please complete the form linked below:
As 2025 is quickly approaching, we are gearing up for our annual Unsung Hero campaign in honor of Parent Recognition month (February) and we are hoping you can help us spread the word far and wide.
Since 2011, with your help, we have honored 366 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. Parents and caregivers around Washington State are supporting their children, families, and communities in exceptional ways and we want to show our appreciation. Please help us in honoring 28 more in February 2025 by nominating a parent/primary caregiver/guardian/community members for the Unsung Hero award. The nomination form is available in three languages (English, Spanish and Somali). A parent panel will select an honoree for each day in February and then all honorees (including their family or supporters) and their nominators will be invited to an in-person celebratory dinner event in Olympia.
All nominations must be submitted by January 3, 2025. The nominations can be emailed to strengtheningfamilies@dcyf.wa.gov.
Save the Date
We hope that you will join us for the 2025 Infant and Early Childhood Conference (IECC), May 5-9, 2025 hosted completely virtual via Zoom.
Call for Presenters
IECC is currently seeking proposals for its 2025 conference. The IECC Conference is well known within the State of Washington for providing high quality, evidence based training for families and professionals working with young children (ages birth to eight) and their families.
- If you or someone you know may be interested in submitting a proposal - please submit proposals no later than Monday, January 13, 2025. To apply online, click here.
- IECC will be evaluating session proposals using a Rubric developed by DEC - we encourage presenters review our selection criteria before submitting their proposal.
IECC Partnership Opportunity
IECC is so thankful for its many community partners. Due to their support IECC has been able to shift its platform and offer the conference registration complimentary for all attendees the past few years. If your organization would be willing to partner with us please email the conference coordinator, Amanda Cardwell directly at amandacardwell@frontier.com.
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Supervisando Exitosamente/Successfully Supervising [Supervising for Success]
Quiénes deberían asistir: Este seminario está diseñado tanto para supervisores sin fines de lucro nuevos y con experiencia como para aquellos que no han recibido una capacitación formal en su función. Esta capacitación se ofrecerá en ESPAÑOL.
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Who Should Attend: This seminar is designed both for new and experienced nonprofit supervisors and those who have had no formal training in their role. This training will be delivered in SPANISH.
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¿Usted o un colega se sienten más cómodos aprendiendo en español?
Supervisar personas presenta desafíos, así como oportunidades de crecimiento. Supervisando Exitosamente es una versión de nuestro seminario Supervisando para el éxito diseñado específicamente para aquellos que supervisan, dirigen y trabajan con personal, voluntarios y miembros de la comunidad hispanohablantes. Este seminario de dos partes refuerza las habilidades de los participantes para mejorar la dirección, la comunicación y la motivación de su personal y su red, a la vez que facilita el aprendizaje y la instrucción en grupo. Esta capacitación se ofrecerá solamente en ESPAÑOL.
16 y 23 de enero de 2025
9 a.m. – Noon
Are you or a colleague most comfortable learning in Spanish?
Supervising people presents challenges as well as opportunities for growth. This seminar is an iteration of our Supervising for Success seminar specifically tailored for those who supervise, lead, and engage with Spanish-speaking staff, volunteers, and community members. This two-part seminar sharpens participants’ skills to better manage, communicate with, and motivate their staff and network while facilitating group coaching and learning. This training will be delivered in SPANISH ONLY.
January 16 & 23, 2025
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Join us for listening and brainstorming sessions and contribute your expertise! Anyone providing support to young children and families in Washington State is invited to participate, including infant mental health specialists, home visitors, child care providers, community health workers, early intervention specialists, and other trusted community members. There are two opportunities to participate, based on your role.
Direct Service Providers
This group is for individuals who directly engage with families, infants, or communities.
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Format: Two, 2-hour sessions over Zoom (4 hours total)
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Session A: Listening and storytelling about your experiences working in the infant and early childhood mental health field.
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Session B: Brainstorming solutions to expand, diversify, train, and retain the workforce.
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Requirement: Participants must attend both sessions.
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Compensation: Participants will receive a $100 gift card after each session, totaling $200.
Program Directors and Administrators
This group is designed for directors, program administrators, and supervisors.
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Format: One, 2-hour session over Zoom.
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Focus: Discussing workforce challenges, current solutions, and generating new ideas for workforce development.
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Compensation: Participants will receive a $100 gift card for attending this session.
Important Note: Individuals may only participate in one focus group.
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