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Tribal foster parents build skills and
gain support, knowledge at training
By Leah Suitter, ICW Case Manager III
The Siletz Tribal Indian Child Welfare department is putting a lot of emphasis
on recruiting new foster parents as well as providing support and training for our
current foster parents.
As a way of supporting this new plan, we invited Nadja Jones, Tribal affairs
director/senior ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) manager for the state Department
of Human Services in the Director’s Office, to present at a foster parent training on
Jan. 11 at Chinook Winds Golf Resort. Nadja is Comanche and Onondaga, and it
was a pleasure to have her.
Thanks to lightning and a thunderstorm, there was a long power outage. In spite
of having no power for the laptop/projector, Nadja’s “candlelight” presentation was
great and touched on several issues related to foster parenting.
Nadja provided a cross cultural skill-building exercise and discussed the model
of wellness for a family with foster children and the rights of the foster child, foster
family and the birth family. The presentation was very informative and our foster
parents responded well. Nadja felt the foster parents were “highly engaged and
committed to helping the Tribal community.”
Photos by Diane Rodriquez
Leah Suitter, case manager in the Tribe’s Indian Child Welfare department, pres-
ents a basket of goodies to Nadja Jones (above), who led the session for Tribal
foster parents, who gathered as a group (below).
We are thankful to the foster parents who participated in the training on a busy
Saturday morning. Their engagement in the event contributed to making it great. I
enjoyed having everyone there and I look forward to many more trainings with our
foster parents, including bigger and better things in the future.
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Newport, Oregon
Jan. 24, 2014
Courtesy photos by Alicia Keene
Tribal Head Start students from Siletz
and Lincoln City paid a visit to the
aquarium.
Aiden Brown, Jordan Smith and Julio
Sanchez-Russell (far left) check the
weight of a fish.
Izayah Aviles (left) looks out from the
USS Sea Lemon.
Peyton Grove and Hailey Ivy-Wright
(opposite page) explore the touch pool.
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Siletz News
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February 2014