page 4
SOCIAL SERVICES HOUSING
TRIBAL FOSTER HOMES
NEEDED
WITHOUT OUR CHILDREN THERE CAN BE NO
TRIBE
Since the passing of the Indian Child
Welfare Act of 1978, State agencies
have been charged with the task of
recruiting Indian Foster Homes.
Since that time there have only been
56 Indian Foster Homes licensed.
Currently there are hundreds of In
dian children mandated to the care of
these State agencies. They are
placed in all white homes who en
deavor to make the child into someone
who has no Tribal ties and one who
will find it distasteful to even be
Indian.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde have taken seriously the task
of recruiting homes to be appropriate
Tribal Foster Homes for our children.
We need families in every area of the
state to become involved in foster
parenting. Our greatest need is in
Multnomah County.
Regardless of where you live, if you
are interested in becoming a Foster
Parent, please contact the Social
Services Department of the Tribe.
Children are the most valuable natu
ral resource of any Tribe. We cannot
allow our children to be taken from
us and reprogrammed into non-tribal
members .
It is the law, for state agencies to
report any Indian child who is in
care to the proper Tribe and to do
their best to place these children in
Indian Foster homes. We cannot
Vi'v
charge the State with non-compliance
if we do not have the homes avail
able. Contact Mary Ring, Social
Services Program Director, if you
have any questions. The number is:
879-5253. Let's band together and
make the future of all our children
brighter.
0
vV
AAAAA
1 J
Vvv v v
JoAnn McClary, the new Social Services Researcher
ALCOHOL AWARENESS
On May 4-8, 1987, a delegation of
Tribal personnel traveled to South
Sioux City, Nebraska to meet with
members of the Tribes all over the
United States to work on a plan to
erradicate alcohol and drug abuse in
the Native American population.
We were given some startling statis
tics about the use of drugs and alco
hol. For instance, 75 of all fami
lies in the United States have some
connection with either drug or alco
hol abuse. We received training in
programs that we as a Tribe can offer
our children to prevent abuse.
Alcohol and drugs are only a small
portion of the entire problem. In
each case you can trace physical,
sexual, verbal and emotional abuse.
The Tribe is currently in the process
of writing a grant to receive funding
for local programs. There are funds
available for starting programs
geared to "Youth at Risk". If you
would like to suggest ideas you might
have on programs the Tribe could in
corporate, please feel free to call
us at 879-5253 or 879-5215.
We will be directing our attack on
drugs and alcohol in an wholistic
manner of treatment. Treating the
whole person. not just the symptoms.
The major emphasis that we received
in Nebraska was early education and
prevention. A child is never too
young to learn about alcohol and
drugs. It was also made clear that
our children need good healthy role
models in which to look up to.
We will be working hard in the fu
ture to eliminate the problem of
alcoholism and drug abuse, by edu
cation and prevention. This is not
just a problem for Social Workers
or health staff, it is everyone's
problem. Let's work together as a
Tribe to get these programs on
their way.
A.
Housing Director, Dave Bailey, mows along during a
cemetery clean-up day.
HOUSING REPORT
There has been an additional alloca
tion of funds to the housing contract
that will enable us to serve one more
home this fiscal year. There will
also be five tribal elders who will
receive help under the rehabilitation
section of the housing program. All
those who will receive services have
been notified at this time.
All others who have a current housing
improvement application on file will
be kept "on file" and hopefully there
will be some assistance available to
them in the future.
There are currently some proposals
being considered to change the hous
ing improvement program. The major
change would be that tribes could
only assist elderly and handicapped
members with housing funds. This
proposal, if adopted, would serve to
eliminate the majority of Indians
from a housing program that is sup
posed to benefit all Indians.
Once the elderly and handicapped in
the tribe are served, the tribe would
receive no more funds for the housing
program. This proposal does not
present a fair or balanced approach
to the problems of tribal housing as
it does not take into consideration
the needs of all members. Elderly
and handicapped should be the prior
ity of the program but all tribal
members should be eligible as the
need arises.
The housing coordinator has sent let
ters stating the tribe's opposition
to the proposed changes to the appro
priate persons in the U.S. Congress.
We are now waiting to see if our ob
jections have altered the proposals
to the benefit of all tribal members.
Hopefully we will have an impact that
will improve housing contracts in the
near future.