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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2016)
Cape Perpetua receives grant to help support transportation for field trips YACHATS, Ore. – The Cape Per- petua Scenic Area has long been a favorite destination for school field trips. Tight budgets, however, sometimes make trans- porting students to the coast unaffordable. A recently received grant now will make it possible for Cape Perpetua staff to ease transportation burdens for field trips. The National Park Foundation awarded Cape Perpetua $5,500 to offset the transportation costs of schools sending children to the scenic area for field trips. The Open OutDoors for Kids grant pro- gram is part of the White House’s Every Kid in a Park initiative to connect youth with nature through public lands. Each year, about 40 school groups and 2,000 schoolchildren visit Cape Perpetua on field trips. To be eligible for transportation funding, fourth-graders must participate in the field trip. The Every Kid in a Park program targets fourth-graders, giving them free annual passes for public land entrance or day-use fees. To inquire about transportation assis- tance, contact Cape Perpetua staff at 541-547-3289. Every Kid in a Park passes available Fourth-grade students can still pick up a free pass, good for admission or day- use fees at national parks, national forests and other federal lands across the U.S. To receive a free pass, fourth-graders must obtain a paper voucher through the Every Kid in a Park website and then exchange the voucher for the pass at a participating agency’s field office. These passes can be obtained at Siuslaw National Forest offices in Corvallis, Hebo and Waldport, as well as the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center in Yachats and the Oregon Dunes Visitor Center in Reedsport. For more information about the Every Kid in a Park program, call 541-750-7000. Courtesy photo Thanks to the generous donation of $5,000 from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund, the interior of the Tenas Illahee Child Care Center was recently repainted. The children, staff and parents are deeply appreciative of the donation, which covered the entire cost of having the interior completely repainted. All of the classrooms and the hallway in the kitchen look brighter and just nicer. Thanks again, Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund, for all you do for our children, families and communities. Budget, continued from page 1 that recognizes high quality education as a prerequisite to success in today’s global economy and Tribal government’s role in building an educated and skilled Tribal workforce by delivering world class and culturally appropriate education to Indian Country’s children, youth and adults. The requested $1.1 billion investment in Indian education supports the BIE’s multi-year transformation into a capacity builder and service provider and includes increased program investments totaling $49.4 million to: • • • • • • Improve opportunities and outcomes in the classroom Expand multi-generational programs to advance early childhood development Provide improved educational instruc- tional services and teacher quality Promote enhanced language and cul- ture programs Enhance broadband and digital access Support Tribal control of student education The investment continues the FY 2016 commitment with $138.3 million in FY 2017 for education construction programs to replace, repair and address deferred maintenance needs at the BIE’s 183 elementary and secondary schools. This funding will support the next BIE replacement school construction list expected early this year. In continuing to recognize the impor- tant role Tribal post-secondary institutions play, the request includes an increase of $2 million for the BIE-operated Haskell Indian Nations University and the South- western Indian Polytechnic Institute, and an additional $500,000 for the two Tribal technical colleges funded by BIE – United Tribes Technical College and Navajo Tech- nical University. It also includes $6.8 million in pro- gram increases for Tribally controlled, post-secondary education scholarships with a focus on recipients seeking degrees 8 • Siletz News • in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. To foster public-private partner- ships to improve student experiences at BIE-funded schools, the request pro- poses appropriations language enabling the secretary of the interior to activate the National Foundation for American Indian Education. The foundation’s mis- sion will be to raise funds to create oppor- tunities for Indian students in and out of the classroom. The request also includes an increase of $3.6 million for Johnson-O’Malley grants, which is funding primarily distrib- uted by Tribes to non-BIE schools to sup- port the education of their Indian students. The FY 2017 budget request includes an additional $2 million to support Tribal youth participation in BIA programs that focus on management of Tribal natural resources through science, education and cultural learning. These programs pro- vide job opportunities, instill respect for resources and engender an appreciation of the important role that natural resources play in Tribal cultures and economics. The request will support approxi- mately 60 new Tribal youth projects and training programs throughout Indian Country and supplement existing training programs within the BIA’s forestry, water and agricultural programs. In addition, the president’s bud- get includes other federal agencies through Generation Indigenous that sup- port educational outcomes and provide wrap-around services to help address barriers and provide opportunities for Native youth. These new investments will build on current efforts to better coordinate ser- vices for Native youth and demonstrate results across the federal government. have expressed concern about the need to preserve Tribal communities by sup- porting Indian family cohesiveness and stability while also promoting safe Tribal communities. As part of his commitment to protect- ing and promoting Indian families and communities, the president’s FY 2017 budget request for the BIA supports Tribal communities by investing $21 million in program increases to support continued expansion of the Tiwahe initiative. Tiwahe, which means family in the Lakota language, promotes a compre- hensive, integrated and community-based approach to support child welfare, family stability and strengthening Tribal commu- nities as a whole. The initiative requests increases across human services, public safety, courts and job training programs. The initiative directly supports the Generation Indigenous objective of leveraging BIA programs in concert with other federal programs to support family and community stability and cul- tural awareness. The budget request includes $17.4 million over FY 2016 for BIA Human Services programs, with increases of: Supporting Indian families and protecting Indian Country To support family stability and to promote public safety, the BIA’s Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) works with Tribal courts to address the underlying causes of repeat offenses by making Tribal communities often experience disproportionate rates of poverty and a lack of access to services. Tribal leaders March 2016 • • • $12.3 million for social services to provide additional resources to Tribes and Tribal organizations to build and enhance capacity within their social services programs $3.4 million for Indian Child Welfare Act programs that work with social services programs and courts to main- tain the placement of children within their Tribal community, where pos- sible, to avoid the trauma of removal $1.7 million to improve access to suitable housing for Indian families with children mental health services, alternatives to incarceration and other support services more widely available. In 2017, BIA-OJS will continue pilot programs aimed at reducing recidivism at five sites by 3 percent by Sept. 30, 2017. The FY 2017 budget request invests an additional $2.6 million for Tribal courts. This funding will be used to ensure the judicial branch of targeted Tribal pub- lic safety systems can function effectively to meet family and community needs under the Tiwahe Initiative. BIA-OJS also provides technical assistance to Tribal governments seeking to update their legal codes to better reflect the Violence Against Women Act’s provi- sions. These provisions provide stronger protections and safety for vulnerable populations and expand the jurisdiction of Tribal law enforcement and justice systems to address domestic violence in Tribal communities. The BIA also is implementing train- ing for direct service law enforcement program staff in the areas of law enforce- ment, social services, victim servicees and courts, as well as making it available to Tribes operating these programs via self-determination contracts and self- governance compacts. Tribal nation-building The FY 2017 budget request supports Tribal nation-building and self-determi- nation by providing funding increases for contract support costs and investing in data for Tribal governments and federal agencies to guide future funding. The request continues the administra- tion’s commitment to fully fund contract support costs with an increase of $1 mil- lion above the FY 2016 enacted level to fully address requirements for 2017. The budget also includes a legislative proposal to fully fund BIA and Indian Health Ser- vice contract support costs as mandatory funding, beginning in 2018. The FY 2017 budget request includes an increase of $12 million for work with
