Transcript Document 7191721

Cross Cultural
Communication
Terry L. Cross, MSW, National Indian Child Welfare Association
Alaska Statewide CINA Conference,
Anchorage, Alaska October 2012
For Colonialism to Succeed
• Take Territory – Land
• Take Natural Resources – Energy/Food
• Take Sovereignty – Disrupt Leadership
and Governance
• Take Away the Legitimacy of
Thought – Worldview, Language,
Spirituality, Healing
• Take the Children
Historical Context by Eras
• Pre-Columbian
• Military Balance 1492-1832 (340
years)
• Removal and Annihilation (18321870)
• Assimilation (1870-1970)
• Self-Determination ( 1968-Present)
Boarding Schools
Church and Federal
Historical Background
• Tribal governments disrupted
• Traditional land and economies taken
away
• Generations of children forced into
residential schools
• Children taken from families for
adoption outside their cultures
Manifestations of Colonialism
• Limits on tribal jurisdiction
• Inequity of funding
• Superiority of thought
• Removal of children
• White privilege/resentment
• Paternalistic policy making
• Disparities (structural risk factors)
Messages of Colonialism
• Indigenous people can’t be trusted to know
or do what’s best for them.
• Indigenous people are not significant
enough to count.
• Services can only be done by Indigenous
people if provided as prescribed by the
colonial power.
• Colonial power policies are the “right” way
and can’t be modified even when they do
harm.
• Know your place (we defeated you—get
over it); “Cowboy up” – Michael Bloomberg
Symptoms of Post-colonialism
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Intergenerational Trauma
Lateral Oppression and Violence
Internalized Racism—Self-Blame
Identity Politics
Dismembered Social Norms
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Blaming the Victim
Post-colonial Reality
• Disparities – Racial inequity in
economic security, health, education,
social conditions
• Disproportionate representation in
systems (over and under)
• Poor outcomes for AI/AN children in
state services
• Barriers to self-determination –
funding
• ICWA not fully implemented
Disparities vs. Disproportionality
• “Disparities” refers to the variation in rates
at which persons of different groups
experience social conditions
• “Disproportionality” refers to the over
representation of specific groups in child
welfare, particularly placement
Child Well-Being, 2007/2008
National
Average
White
(NonHispanic)
Black/African
American
Asian &
Pacific
Islander
American
Indian &
Alaska
Native
Hispanic/
Latino
Infant
Mortality
Rate
6.7
5.6
13.2
3.7
8.8
5.7
Teen Death
Rate
62
58
83
33
87
58
Teen Birth
Rate
43
27
64
17
59
82
% of teens
16-19 not in
school/not
graduates
6
5
8
2
13
11
% of
Children in
Poverty
18
11
34
12
31
28
As
ia
n
ac
.
Is
.
in
o
AI
/A
N
Am
/P
La
t
m
./B
la
ck
H
is p
an
ic/
A
1.
15
43
3.
77
23
3.
35
3.
65
1.
0.
1.
74
6.
09
9.
73
10
Af
.
hi
te
5
W
20
19
.9
8
Suicide Rates by Race/Gender
Age 10-18, 2006
25
15
0
Female
Male
Foster Care Placement, 2009
(compared to 2010 census percentage of
total population)
2009 % of Total Foster
Care Population
2010 % of Total
Population
39.2
30.2
72.4
12.6
American Indian/ Alaska
Native
2 (2.6*)
.9
Asian American
.6
20.4
4.8
16.5
White
Black/ African American
Hispanic/Latino
* estimate by NICWA which includes AI/AN
children in tribal welfare programs
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2011) Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010 Census Brief.
Available at http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families:
Children’s Bureau (2010) The AFCARS Report Preliminary FY 2009 Estimates as of July 2010.
Available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report17.htm.
Maltreatment Decision Path
White Children
100
Reported
8 Placed
25
Substantiated
Decision Path to Disparity
• American Indian Children
25 Placed
50
Substantiated
Juvenile delinquency risk for
Indian children increases
100
Reported
Overrepresentation
of AI/AN children in
care is related to
poverty, poor
housing, poor
education,
untreated mental
health issues, and
caregiver
substance misuse.
Basic Principles of Child Protection
Assumes
the Family
has the
Tools to
Ensure
Safety and
Well Being
Safety and
Well being
Paramount
Blackstock & Trocme, 2004
Family
Child
STATE steps in
when family
fails to ensure
safety and well
being
Psychological Parent Model
Extended Family Model
RISK FACTORS
What is an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE)?
The experience of “significant abuse or household
dysfunction during childhood”
Specific Indicators:
• Recurrent physical abuse
• Recurrent emotional
abuse
• Contact sexual abuse
• An alcohol and/or drug
abuser in the
household
• An incarcerated
household member
• Someone who is
chronically depressed,
mentally ill,
institutionalized, or
suicidal in the household
• Mother is treated violently
• One or no parents
• Emotional or physical
neglect
(Division of Adult and Community Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, 2010)
ACE Study Model
(Division of Adult and Community Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, 2010)
The ACE Study
• The ACE Score is a count of the total
number of ACE indicators for an
individual.
• The score ranges from 1 (low trauma) to 9
(high trauma).
• In the mainstream population, as an
ACE score increases, the risk for
numerous health problems increases.
(Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, 2010)
American Indian Youth Victimization and Delinquency
Outcomes Study (AIYVDOS)
• Used a participatory
research model:
– Culturally sensitive and
scientifically sound
– Involving community
members as partners
and owners throughout
the research process
Final Sample
•
•
•
•
110 young adults, aged 18-25
82% Enrolled Tribal Members
58% Female, 42% Male
Grew up:
– On the Reservation: 46%
– Rural: 5%
– Small Town: 21%
– Suburbs: 10%
– Urban: 18%
AIYVDOS and ACEs
# of ACEs
0
4+
% of
AIYVDOS
Participants
% ACEs
study
(CDC, 2010)
30%
36%
25%
13%
The percent of youth in our
study with four or more
ACEs is almost TWICE the
rate in the mainstream
population.
In mainstream culture, adults
who had experienced four or
more ACEs compared to
those who had experienced
none had at least four times
higher risk of
– Alcoholism/drug use
– Depression
– Suicide attempts
The good news…
ACE Study Model
(Division of Adult and Community Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, 2010)
PROTECTIVE FACTORS
What is a Protective Childhood Experience (PCE)?
Positive relationships and experiences while
growing up that protect young people from
negative influences and behaviors.
Specific Indicators:
•
•
•
•
Supportive Adults
Positive Peer Groups
School Activities
Family Resources
• Spiritual/Religious
Connection
• Connection with Tribal
Elders, Learning a Tribal
Language
• Safe and Strong
Community
ACE scores, PCE scores, and Juvenile Delinquency
We examined how ACEs and PCEs relate to
delinquency by grouping people according to both
ACEs and PCEs
• The group with low ACEs and high PCEs had the
lowest delinquency (14%)
• The group with high ACEs and low PCEs had the
highest delinquency (67%)
• Even when ACEs were high, the group with high
PCEs had lower delinquency (39%) than the group
with low ACEs and low PCEs (46%)
ACE scores, PCE scores and Depression
We also examined how ACEs and PCEs relate
to depression.
Depression was related to the following:
• Gender (female)
• Higher Sexual abuse (ACE)
• Lower Safe and strong community (PCE)
• Lower Spirituality (PCE)
Decolonization
“Colonization dismembered
our culture, our people,
and our families. Our job is
Re-membering.”
Theda Newbreast, Blackfeet
Relationship of NAYA-identified outcomes to
existing evidence
Community-mindedness
Positive cultural identity
School belongingness
Reduced perceived discrimination
Hope
Spirituality
Positive relationships with adults
Lower depression
Lower alcohol use
Lower antisocial behavior
Lower levels of internalizing behaviors
Reduced suicide
School success
Increased school belongingness
Anti-drug adherence
Higher self-esteem
Higher social functioning
Increased resilience
Better physical health
Better psychological health
Better health practices
Increased physical activity
Consistent use birth control
Lower gang involvement
Perception of less neighborhood disorder
Better athletic performance
Increased hopefulness
Higher levels of employment
Decreased likelihood of hurting someone
Outcomes in red are NAYA-identified outcomes; all items in right column are outcomes from the research literature.
Touchstones of Hope
•
•
•
•
•
Self-Determination
Culture and Language
Holistic Approach
Structural Interventions
Non-Discrimination
Self Determination
•Development of community visions of
child safety
•Embracing what hurts – taking
ownership
•Linking economic development/lands
to child safety
•Reconciliation in child welfare
program for leaders
Culture and Language
•Clarity of what community child caring
knowledge is
•Acknowledging mainstream child welfare
is culturally loaded
•Caution around adapting mainstream
programs – center community knowledge
and values
Holistic Approach
•Do community planning with child wellbeing
playing a central role
•Engage children/youth in community visioning
exercises
•Be cautious about the risk of doing community
development based on what government will
fund versus on community need
•Engage the non-profit sector
Structural Interventions
•Ensuring Alaska Native children have
equal access to resources
•Child welfare addressing poverty,
substance abuse, mental health, and
housing
Non discrimination
•Ensuring Indigenous children have equal
access to resources
•Ensuring Indigenous knowledge is on equal
footing with non Aboriginal knowledge in child
welfare
•Promoting respectful relationship building
across cultures
Background of WPIC Project
• 16 Alaska Native tribal partners.
• Developed in response to the
disproportionate rate of out-of-home
placement of Alaska Native children in
Alaska.
• Increase tribal capacity in several areas.
• Approaching systems change in tribalstate relationships through knowledge
and education of historical trauma.
Purpose of the TIHSM Template
• Standards based on
the State of Alaska
Safety model.
• Development and
Implementation of 8
core elements.
• System of Care
model.
• Cross system
collaboration.
Tribal In Home Services
System of Care
Local Practice Model
Core Elements
Safety
Model
Purpose of the TIHSM Template
• Standards based on
the State of Alaska
Safety model.
• Development and
Implementation of 8
core elements.
• System of Care
model.
• Cross system
collaboration.
43
Development of TIHSM On-Site
Step 1:
Providing a
Foundation,
Overview,
Materials to
discuss the
TIHSM
Development of TIHSM On-Site
Step 2:
Discussion,
Brainstorming,
Group
Dialogue
Development of TIHSM On-Site
Step 3:
Case staffing
to reveal
services
Development of TIHSM On-Site
Step 4:
Incorporation
of Tribal
Principles and
Values on
Safety
On-Site TA successes with the TIHSM Development
Utilized the 8 core
elements to staff the case.
•Case staffing indicated
the level of services and
resources available in
villages.
•Allowed tribal staff to fully
see what they do for
families but also the level
of collaboration that exists
or can exist.
Other uses of the TIHSM
• To develop an
assessment.
• To staff and problem
solve.
• To document services
provided to families and
children.
• To develop court reports.
Other uses of the TIHSM
• Service
mapping,
•Case
planning,
•Team staffing
•Individualized
MOA’s
Other uses of the TIHSM
• This document assisted
the tribal child welfare
worker to think of each
8 core element and how
they could either
provide the service or
collaborate to provide
the service.
Let’s remember why we are really here
today…
Healthy Native Children
www.nicwa.org
National Indian Child Welfare Association
Protecting our Children
Preserving our Culture