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Tribal Family & Youth Services
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The Tribal Family & Youth Services (TFYS) department administers the programs for Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Child Welfare, In-Home Services, Foster Care Licensing, and Wellness (Elders and youth). The department assists children, youth, Elders, and families in achieving safety, stability, and security through services established by tribal values and strength-based practices. TFYS strives to continue the recognition of tribal sovereignty and to expand services. In 2021, TFYS focused efforts to implement the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact (Child Welfare Compact). The Child Welfare Compact which became effective December 15, 2017, was a collective effort made by Mary Johnson Director tribes and tribal organizations with the State of Alaska. The Child Welfare Compact reflects the State of Alaska’s constitutional and statutory obligation to provide child welfare services and authority to enter into inter-governmental agreements with tribes and tribal organizations to fulfill its obligations, the authority of Alaska Native tribes under federal and tribal law to exercise authority over child welfare matters, and the unique state-tribal cooperation that has developed in Alaska to ensure improved compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and transformation of child welfare services in an effort to reduce the rate of out of home placement and improve the well-being of all Alaska children and families.
2021 Highlights
Continued high involvement with the State of Alaska on the Child Welfare Compact, resulting in an increase of funding to support efforts to implement scopes of work. Continued the evaluation of Tribal Title IV-E Administrative & Training and Maintenance agreements with the State of Alaska utilizing to develop a plan to maximize reimbursement to provide best practices to all children and families served. Received a one-year Tribal Title IV-E Planning grant extension to update the TFYS Policy &
Procedure manual, Eligibility manual, Tribal Foster Care Licensing manual, Tribal Statute Title 04 – Child and Family, and agreements with the State of Alaska to qualify for direct federal reimbursement. Identified and customized a data management platform (Face-to-Face) to capture data to meet
Title IV-E Direct Planning grant and other grant report requirements, and to track and monitor efforts in providing quality services. Provided a presentation to over 100 participants at the statewide Child Welfare Conference that highlighted the work done through the Tribe’s Wellness program. Participated in Tribal/State Compact negotiations and a Compact Tribal Caucus. Process was negotiated for service area, prevention scope, and the funding formula with an estimate of $177,475 for FY22. Implemented three of the five scopes of work under the Child Welfare Compact (Diligent
Relative Search, Ongoing Placement Search and Family Contact). Participated in Compact negotiations that led to an increase to $260,338 in state funds for FY23 to complete the scopes of work in the Compact. Received State funding from the Family First Prevention Services by Tribal Title IV-E Agencies in the annual amount of $87,230.
Tribal Family & Youth Services
Continued strong partnerships with the Temporary Assistance for Native Families (TANF) and Child
Care departments to promote family preservation through weekly meetings.
Child Welfare
The Child Welfare program protects and maintains the integrity and rights of tribal children, their families or custodians, and the Tribe in involuntary custody proceedings. The program provides foster care and case management services to children and parents or guardians in communities served and serves as tribal advocates at the intake, research, investigative, prevention/early intervention and legal intervention stages of tribal child welfare cases. Opened a virtual office in Seattle, Washington to provide ICWA support to tribal citizens involved with Child Protective Services in Washington. The staff consists of a child welfare attorney, family case worker, and an administrative assistant. Office space is pending due to the COVID-19 pandemic. » Provided direct services to approximately 50 children and their families through meetings, visits, and court. » Secured agreement with Washington state to allow direct release of Tlingit & Haida Rescue Relief Household funds to families caring for tribal children. » Conducted field visits to four of six regions in Washington state Regions 1 (Spokane, Wenatchee), 3 (Sedro Wooley, Whidbey Island), 4 (Seattle, Kent, Auburn), and 6 (Port Townsend, Vancouver). Collaborated with Washington and Alaska ICWA/WICWA Appeals advocates to propose a Title 1919 Agreement that allows for Washington and Alaska interstate placement of children in state custody. Maintained a successful and productive relationship with Casey Family Programs (CFP) to support the transformation of child welfare in Alaska. » CFP donated $180,000 in 2021 to support the efforts of TFYS. » CFP completed year one of five of the agreement with Tlingit & Haida and provided resources through consultants to develop programming, provide training opportunities, and to support the growth of the TFYS department. Increased support service capacity by securing new office space in Klawock, AK and hiring two additional staff (family case worker and administrative clerk) to support the rural office. Awarded Department of Justice funding and utilized the model created for the Seattle office to secure staff to provide ICWA services through
Tlingit & Haida’s Anchorage office. Advocated for Office of Children’s Services (OCS) to follow their policies and procedures to notify tribes when OCS will be traveling to rural communities. Provided case management services for 691 ICWA cases: Alaska (612), Washington (50), other states (29).
Tribal Family & Youth Services
Increased development of in-home services through the Preserving Native Families (PNF) program and the collaborative relationship with the Tribe’s TANF department to enhance the knowledge of cross-training to serve families involved in both services. » Expanded to work with Adult Not Included (ANI) families. Received PNF carryover request, along with a continuation request of federal funds under the
TANF-Child Welfare grant to explore the utilization of the Structured Decision-Making assessment with TANF. Surpassed the statewide rate of tribal intervention on a child’s behalf. Work is being done to ensure all tribal children have an intervening tribe.
4.06%
11.62% 84.31%
2021 ICWA Case Management Alaska Cases Washington Cases Other Cases
Wellness
The Wellness program works to support the health and well-being of tribal citizens by linking and empowering Elders, youth and families. Designed creative ways to serve Elders and youth while maintaining high engagement during the
COVID-19 pandemic. » Over 120 Elders in Juneau were provided perishable and non-perishable nutritional items and a hot lunch by Smokehouse Catering delivered once a week. » 153 Elders from 15 communities in received emergency assistance support. » Hosted weekly Elders Talking Circles via Zoom with activities led by staff and Elders to help decrease loneliness. Nine talking circles were held via Facebook live. » Negotiated an agreement with the Juneau School District that allowed staff to be in the schools to hold study halls, teach Lingít, and Native Youth Olympics.
Tribal Family & Youth Services
» Hosted a summer camp that helped 43 students achieve credit for missed Physical Education school hours.
2022 Goals
Fully implement and track data for the five scopes of work under the Child Welfare Compact that include: Initial Diligent Relative Search, Licensing Assist, Safety Evaluation of Relative Homes,
Family Contact, and Ongoing Placement Search. Complete the Tribal Title IV-E Direct Pre-Print which will detail out and refine the continuum of services offered in the TFYS department to include all programs. Work with the State of Alaska to: » Create a dual licensing application for potential tribal and state foster parents to obtain a license, and » Advocate for the change in state law to recognize multi-tribal interventions, as well as adding the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into Alaska statute.
