ANA's Commitment to Native Children - A Response to The Way Forward of the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children

In 2016, Congress established the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children (PDF)with the mandate to study the programs, funding, and supports of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children with the purpose of improving the lives of Native children and youth.

The Commission is named after two remarkable advocates of Native children: Alyce Spotted Bear, a highly regarded Native American educator and enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation in North Dakota; and Walter Soboleff, a well-known Tlingit scholar, elder and religious leader.

Over several years, the Commission held field hearings and received testimony directly from tribal leaders, youth, elders, and scholars who shared their life experiences and challenges lifting up Native communities. The report and corresponding recommendations (PDF)reflect the importance of listening to Native communities across the country describe their vision of what will support communities, children, and youth into the future.

The Commission highlighted four key themes:

1. Cultural engagement and language learning
2. Community control and community-level decision-making
3. Flexible funding approaches to federal grant making and grant management
4. Addressing the unique individual experience and collective historical trauma accumulated in many Native communities

ANA is committed to implementing these recommendations in several ways:

Recommendation #9 - Support Native culture and language learners in early childhood programs and K-12 schools

ANA supports Native culture and language immersion through grant programs. One promising project is the Endazi - Nitaawigingof the Red Lake Nation, Minnesota, and its Ojibwemowinlanguage immersion education program. With ANA funding, the Red Lake Nation will:

• Hire 9 teachers
• Provide language instruction to 90 children in grades K-8
• Provide language support to 30 family members

Recommendation #18 - Develop multigenerational nutrition programs for Native children, youth, and families

ANA funds many projects focused on nutrition education, food sovereignty, traditional food practices, and other food services. An innovative, multi-generational nutrition project is being led by the American Indian Center in Chicago entitled "Food is Medicine: Urban Native Food Sovereignty Project." . The Center has:

• Created community cooking and gardening workshops
• Planted 2 community gardens
• Increased access to healthy Indigenous foods (18,000 lbs. of fresh produce)

Recommendation #19 - Expand health-related services where Native children and youth are present.

Several ANA Community Partners center their projects around cultural, physical, and mental health for Native children and families. Oceti Wakan (Sacred Fireplace) has braided all three elements in a high school wellness program on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Oceti Wakan's curriculum, called "Wolakota - Life Skills for Teens," has:

• Provided health and wellness tools/skills grounded in Lakota culture for all high school students on Pine Ridge
• Reportedly increased the number of high school graduates by 10%

Recommendation #25 - Create and expand mechanisms that allow Native entities to integrate and/or consolidate funding streams to support more multidisciplinary programs for Native children and youth

In FY24, ANA completely revamped its Notice of Funding Opportunities, its basic grant application, to increase funding accessibility for Native communities. ANA also began fully funding projects in the first year, rather than in annual increments. This model of grant management recognizes the self-governance of Native communities and reduces federal administrative bureaucracy.

Recommendation #28 - Incentivize positive progress against indicators of social distress in Native communities

ANA funds several projects that foster behavioral health in Native communities. The Fairbanks Native Association is using its ANA funding to deliver "Project Forward," a specialized program designed to reduce suicide and suicidal ideation among American Indian and Alaska Native veterans in the Fairbanks, North Star Borough (FNSB).

Through this project, the Fairbanks Association intends to:

• Provide treatment and supportive services to AI/AN veterans
• Train staff and community members to aid in suicide prevention
• Demonstrate improvements in individual behavioral health and wellness

For fifty years, ANA has made significant investments in Native communities across the United States and the Pacific to advance the health and well-being of Native children, families, and communities. We remain committed to fulfilling the recommendations of the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children (PDF)Report through our funding, resources, and partnerships with Native communities.

ANA is proud of the historic policy reforms of the Administration for Children and Families and the Biden-Harris Administration . We endeavor to transform the systems we oversee from systems that cause trauma to systems that aid in healing and support thriving Native families and communities.

November is National Adoption Month