Issue link: http://uwashington.uberflip.com/i/106618
SUGGESTIONS •Integrate culture into western concepts and approaches. Families •Teach anti-violence through teaching respect, honor and the teachings of our Elders. •Need to educate parents about healthy life choices and skills — for themselves and for their children. •Teach parents importance of reading to children — acquisition of reading skills. Many Native parents, grandparents/great-grandparents were in boarding schools and this practice was not encouraged. •Dads who are engaged with their families can teach other dads and be mentors. •In addition to reading, storytelling and technology, play board games and physical games with children. Teaches interpersonal skills and role of rules. •Teach children how to prepare healthy meals. •Play outdoors with your children. Community •When tribal dollars are used for childcare, make sure it is enhanced care similar to Head Start rather than just taking care of them. •Create "islands of safety" where children feel safe, and their development can be further nurtured. •Challenge community norms of alcohol and drug use. •Build a facility where assisted living (Elders) is attached to an early learning center, like in the past in plank houses. Connect youth to Elders. •Create community gardens — teach about nutrition, tradition, giving back. •Collaborate with schools to support children. •Have tribal leadership publicly acknowledge what children are doing well — attendance at school, working hard, giving back to others. •Go to the families and children rather than waiting for them to come to you — outreach is important. • Educate communities with regards to prevention — what it is and when it begins (birth). Some folks think it is drug testing or preventing relapses. •Get Native people serving on school boards and committees — one participant described this as very difficult as it is not often welcomed. •Provide early teachings about the harm caused by drugs and alcohol — that it's not culturally based or a part of family history. •Subsidize daycare costs for struggling families who are working, especially for "off hours" employment. •Identify unique strengths of the child and nurture these. Provide opportunities for them to give back. •Talk with children about aspirations early — what do they want to do. Encourage them! •Educate family and community about normal developmental behavior as well as strategies for managing difficult behavior (context — veterans sharing stories of childhood trauma as well as being given alcohol and substances to "calm" them as toddlers; need to break that cycle of parenting). •Educate community and school systems about how to support children who were born alcohol and drug affected. •Community wide discussions about avoiding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, early assessment and planning for drug and alcohol affected children. •Communities will need to step up to support children as schools and other institutions have less and less resources. PROMISING PROGRAMS AND PRACTICES (formal and informal) •The ACE Study •Growing your own Native teachers (Makah). •Liaison with schools — one in each school. They have an annual potlatch and invite teachers, staff, administrators, etc. They honor the students at the Potlatch (Lower Elwha). •Culture camps in Alaska — teach young men how to behave properly as Native men and fathers. They take their children with them. •Canoe Journey (Inter-tribal) •Collaboration between tribe and local school. •Home visiting programs — support what is working, early intervention with problems, teaching skills. •"I Care" Program •Mother Goose Program at Timberlands Library (funding cut now). Librarian worked with family to teach family how to use books with their children, read to them, and extend the story into life. •Yakama WIC works with families for early identification of children with disabilities and refers them to follow up support and care. •Nutrition program that sent nutritious food home with children in backpacks to a make sure they had something for dinner (not tribal but mentioned). •WSU powwows giving books to tiny tot dancers, rather than candy or toys. •Coordinate programs with local schools. •Prevention coordinator that goes to the schools and tribal daycare with a curriculum about health, drugs and alcohol, nutrition and diet. (Tribe unknown) •Inclusion of family in activities for children (sometimes required for safety). •Integrating mental health into existing services. Summary Report: April 4-5, 2012 13