The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW), in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, announce the release of The Relational Worldview: A Tribal and Cultural Framework for Improving Child Welfare Outcomes, a two-set training video for professionals and organizations working with American Indian communities.
This video series introduces audiences to the Relational Worldview model developed by Terry Cross and NICWA and features Cross, Executive Director of NICWA, along with Sandy White Hawk, Rachel Banks Kupcho, and Bryan Blackhawk.
The Relational Worldview video was developed for the Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate (PACC), a professional training program that was developed in response to community demand for an adoption-competent mental health and child welfare workforce able to serve the unique and complex clinical and practice needs for adopted individuals and their families. In particular there is a great need for improved child welfare services for American Indian families.
An estimated 200,000 American Indian children were removed from their families and placed in boarding schools and non-Indian foster and adoptive placements as a result of U.S. assimilation efforts. As a result, many American Indian communities continue to struggle with the lasting effects of this historical trauma. According to the 2012 Minnesota Child Welfare Report, American Indian children were 14.3 times more likely to be placed in out-of-home care than their white peers. Recent high profile court cases involving American Indian children adopted by non-Indian families highlight the need for increased knowledge and skills for professionals and agencies working with American Indian communities.
“The Relational Worldview videos have made a significant impact on the Anu Family Services’ staff understanding of historical trauma in First Nations communities,” said Amelia Franck Meyer, CEO of Anu Family Services, an award-winning agency in Minnesota providing permanency and treatment foster care services. “The concepts presented are eye-opening and paradigm-shifting, and in our opinion, many of the learnings can be applied to understanding the impacts of intergenerational and historical trauma in other communities and across the lifespan. These videos are a ‘must see’ for those working in social work, education, corrections, or any field in which they encounter individuals affected by historical trauma—everyone should see them.”
These training videos cover a variety of topics including an introduction to the Relational Worldview model, the history and impact of colonialism on indigenous communities, ways of healing for families and communities, and strategies for implementing the Relational Worldview model for organizations as well as for individual practitioners.
“I am so happy that our oral history, the lived experiences of Native American adoptees, is being used to validate the need for a Relational Worldview in social service agencies,” said Sandy White Hawk, Executive Director for the First Nations Repatriation Institute. “May our generation be the last generation to be so hastily placed far away from our families and communities.”
For more information on the video or to place your order, visit http://z.umn.edu/rwvvideos.