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W Training & Systems Change>Projects> Frontline
Connections >Grantees > Native
Village of Eklutna
Frontline Connections: A Quality
Improvement Center to Improve Child Protection Services
in the Northwest.
Frontline
Connections Grantees: Native
Village of Eklutna
Anchorage, AK
Project contact: ecacdirector@gci.net
Executive Summary:
The Native Village of Eklutna, a federally recognized
tribe of Dena'ina Athabascans, fulfills its traditional
responsibility to Alaska's Native people in part through
the operation of the Eklutna Child Advocacy Center (ECAC).
ECAC was established with the goal of facilitating positive
outcomes for Alaska Native and American Indian children,
families, and communities involved with the Alaska Division
of Family and Youth Services (DFYS). To accomplish this
goal, ECAC emphasizes culturally appropriate interventions
and compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
Although Alaska Natives
make up only 20% of the Alaska population, they comprise
a full 60% of children in the statewide foster care system.
To help reverse these alarming statistics and ensure
that Native foster children remain connected to their
tribal family and community whenever possible, culturally
specialized intervention strategies are needed to increase
the success rate of child abuse and neglect interventions
and provide the services Alaska Native children, families
and communities deserve to achieve wellness.
Through the grant from
the Northwest Institute for Children and Families (NWICF),
ECAC will evaluate an intensive case management strategy
to determine it's effectiveness in engaging families,
communities and kin involved in the CPS system due to
neglect. ECAC will provide three primary services to
eligible Alaska Native and American Indian families for
the purposes of evaluation. These include: 1.) Intensive
case management including frequent home visits, parent-led
case planning, and tribal intervention services; 2.)
Frequent and constructive family visitation opportunities
in a comfortable, positive environment; and 3.) Parent
education and support groups. Services will be offered
in a way that is culturally appropriate, strengths-based,
and non-judgmental and that works toward alleviating
the adversarial nature of the child protection system.
The "client" is not just the individual parent,
but also the child, the family, and the tribe. Parents
and their tribal communities are encouraged to participate
actively in decision-making and take ownership for child,
family and community well-being.
For five years, ECAC has
implemented these principles and pursued positive change
in the Alaska child welfare system, through direct advocacy
as well as policy reform. The most recent opportunity
from NWICF is an exciting chance to evaluate our program
and share our success with other helping agencies.
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