Hankie P. Ortiz, Esq.
Deputy Bureau Director, Indian
Services
Bureau of Indian Affairs
(202) 513-7640
1
First Nation People’s Equal First World Outcomes-Progressing
Indigenous Solutions That Matter
U.S. Department of the Interior
Bureau of Indian Affairs
2
3
TIWAHE INITIATIVE
4
Building Tribal programs that work
together to invest in children, youth,
and families, while preserving tribal
cultural values and traditions
INTRODUCTION TO TIWAHE
Tiwahe (ti-wah-heh) means family in the Lakota language.
• It symbolizes the interconnectedness of all living things and one’s personal
responsibility to protect family, community, and the environment.
• The Tiwahe Initiative focuses on the family, community, and tribal culture.
• It is a five year demonstration project that centers on interrelated problems which
are often a result of high rates of substance abuse, including child abuse and
neglect, poverty, family violence, unemployment and a high incidence of
incarceration in tribal communities.
• It includes program service coordination, interagency collaboration, and building
tribal capacity and infrastructure in key tribal programs.
5
TIWAHE PILOT PROJECT TIMELINE
• A Five-Year process, from 2015 through 2019
• Coordinated Team Approach - BIA, National Tiwahe Coordinator,
Tribal Family Advocacy Specialist working together; and each
Tiwahe plan will include three distinct phases
Year 1: Planning and Development Phase
Year 2: Service Delivery – Implementation Phase
Year 3: Reporting and Enhancement Phase
6
TIWAHE GOALS
• Help tribes build capacity and infrastructure for key tribal service
programs including Tribal Courts, Social Service programs, Indian
Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and Job Placement and Training Programs.
• Address barriers to success for Native youth and families.
• Create more effective interagency collaborations to pool scarce
human and material resources, share expertise among staff, expand
services, reduce duplication efforts, and exchange information about
family needs to formulate the most responsive approach.
7
TIWAHE OBJECTIVES
• Improve the delivery and access of services for tribal children, youth, and
families.
• Develop a tribally-driven, comprehensive approach in the delivery of
services to its tribal community that will:
Improve screening tools;
Create alternatives to incarceration via solution-focused sentencing;
Improve links to appropriate prevention, intervention and treatment
opportunities;
Improve case management and provide more home-based services
to children and families; and
Enhance overall partnerships between local, tribal, county, state and
federal
8
FOUR TRIBAL TIWAHE SITES-2015
Association of
Village Council
Presidents
Ute Mountain Ute
Tribe
Spirit Lake Tribe,
North Dakota
Red Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians,
Minnesota
9
FY 2015 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Each Tiwahe Site received a 50% increase to their Social
Services funding, 50% increase to their ICWA FY 2014
Base Levels for 2015, and a pro rata increase in Job
Placement and Training Funds.
• Each Tiwahe site provided a Tribal Resolution confirming
the Tribes’ commitment, hired a Tiwahe coordinator, and
developed a comprehensive implementation plan.
10
ADDED TWO TRIBAL TIWAHE SITES-2016
Fort Belknap Indian Community
of the Fort Belknap Reservation
of Montana
Pascua Yaqui Tribe
of Arizona
11
12
FY 2016 ACTIVITIES
Funding: social services recidivism and tribal.
Will begin the Planning and Development phase for the
two new sites by the end of the year.
Selected a National Tiwahe Coordinator, pending
background check. Expected to be on board by the end of
the summer.
Secure a research and evaluation contract to assist the
Tiwahe sites with development of their goals, assessment
tools and service coordination/delivery. The procurement
package submitted to the contracting office on July 1.
13
FY 2016 ACTIVITIES CONTINUED…
Launched the Center for Excellence – a vehicle to provide social
services training to Tiwahe sites/staff and for tribes to share best
practices and lessons learned from implementation of Year 1 and Year
2 of the Tiwahe Initiative.
Online and in-person training related to the center has been
implemented. Full launch will occur prior to the final quarter of FY 17
Implementation Phase for the four original sites is ongoing.
As part of the Implementation phase, the BIA is providing technical
assistance to the tribes on implementing their Tiwahe plans.
Ongoing positive progress and collaboration of the BIA Tiwahe Team,
consisting of representatives from BIA Office of Indian Services, BIA
Office of Justice Services and the Office of Self Governance.
14
TIWAHE HIGHLIGHTS
AVCP – Focus on tribal court enhancement & training, community
outreach campaign on teen dating violence/violence against
women, implementation of the Healthy Families Program and job
training
Red Lake Nation - Alternatives to Incarceration program, Push to End
Suicide efforts, Native Community Development Institute, Family
Group Decision Making model, Tiwahe community outreach
awareness in coordination with local law enforcement and
development of welders training program
15
TIWAHE HIGHLIGHTS-CONTINUED
Spirit Lake Nation - Development of MOA which outlines coordination of all
local human services agencies, enhancement of tribal court system
through hiring of additional court personnel, development of Spirit Lake
Social Services Coalition (includes representatives from local human
services, court and behavioral health agencies)
Ute Mountain Ute - Development of “Tour de Ute” one stop center for
interventive/preventive services, production of youth film “Escape”
which outlines the daily struggles and stories of hope of youth at Ute
Mountain and development/participation in the Alternatives to
Incarceration program
16
FUTURE TIWAHE GOALS
• FY 2017: Plans will go into effect and base line court data process will
begin. Total number of Tiwahe pilot sites will total of 11 by end of FY 2017
• FY 2018: All pilot tribes will undergo an additional court assessment to
measure success. Baseline data should indicate Tiwahe sites have been
able to decrease the client to staff ratio of their social workers, increase
family services to their clients, increase job opportunities for their members
and increase the number of court personnel
17
FUTURE TIWAHE GOALS
• Funding and technical assistance will be diverse based on tribal
priorities. For example, one tribe will initiate a recidivism program, while
another tribe will focus on hiring additional court personnel, and a third
will prioritize hiring additional human services caseworkers
• Include more training opportunities through the Center for Excellence for
tribal and BIA social workers
• Evaluation criteria in place to measure the effectiveness of the Tiwahe
plans and the positive impact on their communities
18
FY 2017 TIWAHE OBJECTIVES
• Add 5 more sites and build capacity at existing Tiwahe sites (bringing total
sites to 11)
• Expand the pool of BIA and Tribal social workers to decrease client to staff
ratios
• Continue the Tiwahe evaluation and research contract
• Fund the Center of Excellence. The Center for Excellence will provide tribes
an opportunity to access training, share best practices, and provide tribes
an opportunity to partner with post secondary social work programs to
recruit and train social workers
• Increase funding for the Housing Program, Job Placement &Training , Tribal
Courts, and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
19
Office of Indian Services
Human Services
SOCIAL SERVICES
INDIAN CHILD WELFARE
Division of Workforce Development
JOB PLACEMENT AND TRAINING
Office of Justice Services
Tribal Courts
Detention
Law Enforcement
20
THANK YOU!
22