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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2009)
Spílygy Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon Mgrch 26, 2009 Pgge 3 Children’s Protective Services employee profiles Life’s calling to work with children, families Talofa to the people o f my community. My name is Elizabeth Blanche Hisatake. I am 37 years old, and I’m writing this is an introduc tion o f who I am and what I do here at Children’s Protec tive Services. My m o th e r is M ary Tohet. My father is H arry Hisatake Jr. aka “Pineapple.” My m aternal grandm other was atwai Caroline Katchia T o h et, an d my m a te rn a l g ra n d fa th e r w as atw ai Harvey Tohet. I am unable to recall my paternal grandparents, since they lived in American Sa moa. I am an enrolled mem ber o f this tribe (in addition to being Samoan and Japa nese) and I say that proudly, because this is the commu nity I grew up in and the people I know. I initially started working w ith C hildren’s P rotective Services (CPS) when I was 16 or 17 years old. A t the tim e th e CPS cen te r was known as the “group home.” I becam e in terested in working with CPS and the children because I am a sur vivor o f sexual, mental, and emotional abuse. This is the major reason why I chose to work in this field and with the children in my commu nity. The other reason I chose this field is due to the ex ample my grams (Caroline) shared and showed by open ing her heart and hom e to other children who needed stability, consistency, and a nurturing and loving hom e and family. A t the time I was growing up I became very jealous o f those other kids, because she was my grams and I didn’t want to share or have another kid steal her love from me. Re flecting as an adult, I realize my gram’s had a big Jieart and was always willing to open her heart to other kids-,- b ut that didn’t take away the love she felt and showed me. I w orked at CPS for nine years, and w hen I was 25, I moved to W oodburn because I was following my heart. I lived in W oodburn for a total o f nine years, and during this time I gave birth to my one and only child (by choice I have only one child) Mascena Caroline Nava. She’s a fourth-grader in Mrs. M oore’s room here at W arm Springs Elementary. During the nine years I lived in Woodburn, I worked at the W o o d b u rn S chool D istric t, M arion C o u n ty Services to Children and Families aka DHS now, and the Portland Area O f fice for the Siletz Tribe. I would come home when I was able to and a majority o f th at time was to help to my “kuks” aka Richard Tohet, for any medicine singing and gath ering, as he is a medicine singer. I knew in my heart it was time to come back hom e and work with the children o f my community. There was an em ployment opportunity with CPS. I applied for the “service co ordinator” position and had a telephone interview with Becky Main and C harlene Stacona-White. It was very natural to re apply with CPS for the va cancy th at was available. I was extended the o ffer o f em p lo y m en t and w ith o u t hesitation. I accepted and m oved back hom e. I have been back since March 2006. T h e calling in my lifetime has always been in the social services field, working with children and families. I am very fortunate to be back at CPS and currently working as a CPS Specialist, aka case worker. The horrific trauma I survived during my child hood has strengthened me so I can work with my kiddos, as I ’m able to understand, recognize and relate to the gamut o f emotions they are feeling. I am able to help them understand the emotions they are feeling are valid. I will continue to be pas sio n ate and ad v o cate fo r child abuse prevention. Everyday there are m il lio n s o f c h ild re n b ein g abused in the world and we have the pow er to make a difference. I want to encour age the members o f my com munity to become proactive and advocate for our chil dren, w ho m ig h t be your daughter, son, brother, sister, co u sin , niece, nep h ew or grandchild. Rem em ber it only takes one person to make a differ ence, to inspire other people to care and w ant to make a difference for our children. F a’afetai (Samoan thank you). Elizabeth Hisatake Poitra promoted to CPS secretary My n am e is W ilo n a Poitra. My m other is Peggy Williams. My father is Lester Poitra. I used to have five brothers but the Creator had made one o f them my Elder, so now I have four brothers: Willard, Spencer, Jo sh and Woods. I have one daugh ter, Jackie P oitra. I have many nieces and a few neph ews. . I am an enrolled W arm Springs Tribal member. I have lived here all o f my life, except for the two years I w en t away to b o ard in g school in A nadarko, O kla homa. I graduated from Madras High School, earning my high school diploma. I have also earned a Medi cal A ssistan t D iplom a from Tongue Point Job Corp Center in Astoria. I have W orked for Indian H e a lth S ervices • in W arm Springs and Siletz, and have also worked at the Early Childhood Education Center, Bright Wood Corp., and various other jobs. I sta rte d w o rk in g at C hildren’s P rotective Ser vices on April 16, 2008. I started out as a limited d u ratio n o ffice assistan t, which was mainly filing. Af ter a few months, I was hired on as the full-time reception- dst, and as o f recent January o f this year I was prom oted to being Secretary III for CPS. My duties include, but are not limited to, answering the phone, taking messages and doing o th er duties as as signed. I am now scheduling the Perm anency P lanning Re view Team meetings, payroll, filing and much more secre tarial duties. Many duties for transitional caseworker H ello m em b ers o f th e C o n fe d e ra te d T rib es o f W arm Springs. I hope this reaches you in good spirit... My n am e is R o b e rta T ufti. My In d ian nam e is Koos Koos and I am enrolled trib a l m e m b e r o f W arm Springs. My parents are the late O scar Fabian Tufti (Warm S prings) - an d th e late G erald in e G o v en o r T u fti (N evada). T hey b o th had strong faith in the Full G os pel Church. I have four children and four grand children. In 2004 I have applied for the Children’s Protective Services Assistant position. I worked with families for two years. In 2006 I then trans ferred to a Transitional Case worker position, and I like what I do. Sò òrice thè parent(s) receive te m p o ra ry c u sto d y o f th e children) the transitional case worker will m onitor the case for up to six months. A transitional caseworker per form s case m anagem ent ser- vices for families who have been reunified with their chil dren. I also assist, guide, imple m ent m onitor and supervise the case at the time the chil dren have been placed with the family, and continue to provide case m anagem ent services for 90 days after the case has been terminated as wards o f the Tribal Court. The court initiates and makes referrals to com m unity re sources as appropriate. I sub m it m o n th ly re p o rts and documentations in a timely m anner to designated agen cies. ’ I also assist in other areas where staff shortage exists. G o d b less you and yours... CPS employee profiles continue on page 6. Clill’s Repair & Auto Sales ass? A p c r 2JUUr Repair Free towing with any bill exceeding $500 475-6618 330 S.W. Culver Hwy. Madras, OR 97741 ,v (w *<' . ‘ m Çj” Free Battery Check & Installation with purchase ft
