S moke S ignals
JUNE 15, 2015
11
Vocational Rehabilitation seeks to help people
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
If you are a Grand Ronde Tribal
member living in Marion, Polk,
Yamhill, Tillamook,
Clackamas, Multnomah
or Washington counties
and are looking for em-
ployment, don’t overlook
the Tribe’s Vocational
Rehabilitation Program
as a resource.
Although some might
attach negative con-
notations to the pro-
gram’s name or feel they
that they do not have a
“disability,” Vocational
Rehabilitation offers a
Tribal member numerous avenues
of assistance in gaining and retain-
ing employment.
“We are here for any Tribal mem-
ber seeking employment and seek-
ing to become self-sufficient,” says
Employment and Training Special-
ist Khani Schultz. “Vocational Re-
habilitation is intended for anybody
who needs services in obtaining
employment and training.”
In 2014, the program helped 263
Tribal members.
How does one get started?
First step is to call Vocational
Rehabilitation/477 Supervisor Mi-
chael Herrin at 503-879-4543 for a
friendly conversation, Schultz says.
From that conversation, if a Tribal
member is deemed as a person who
qualifies for help, then the Tribal
member will fill out an intake appli-
cation and undergo an assessment
evaluation that will help Vocational
Rehabilitation employees determine
what kind of training and/or on-the-
job education is needed.
For instance, Schultz says, if a
Tribal member had back surgery
and can no longer return to work as
a laborer on construction projects,
Vocational Rehabilitation would
help train them for and obtain a
new job.
Or if a Tribal student is
transitioning out of high
school and wants to start
a career instead of at-
tending a post-secondary
institution, Vocational
Rehabilitation can help.
“What is it that you
want to do?” Schultz
says about clients. “VR
is a process of help-
ing people help them-
selves.”
Vocational Rehabil-
itation can help Tribal members
take basic computer classes so that
they feel more comfortable tackling
online computer applications like
the one used at Spirit Mountain
Casino.
Vocational Rehabilitation also
helps Tribal members get “booted
and suited” – obtain the proper
clothing for jobs they have been
hired to perform.
Schultz says that Vocational
Rehabilitation staff members are
held to the same confidentiality
standards as health workers. “Ev-
erything is confidential,” she says.
Vocational Rehabilitation also
works with many partners, from
the state Employment Office to
numerous Tribal departments – the
Tribal Employment Rights Office,
Human Resources, Education,
Housing, Transitional Housing,
the Community Garden, the Grand
Ronde Food Bank, Grand Ronde
Food and Fuel, Finance, Procure-
ment and Behavioral Health.
In particular, Schultz cites the
Finance Department and Kelly
Contributed photo
Employment and Training Specialist Khani Schultz says that Finance
Department employees, such as, from left, Accounts Payable Specialist
Tammy Chavez, Budget/Grant Coordinator Nancy Renfrow, Account
Specialist Darla Patterson and Accounts Payable Specialist Nicole Teeter, are
indispensable in helping the Vocational Rehabilitation/477 Program help
Tribal members in obtaining work, especially in expeditiously processing
check requests to purchase appropriate work clothing.
Herber in Procurement – “They
rock our world,” she says – because
staff members often are asked to
process purchase orders and check
requests on short notice to help
Tribal members obtain needed
supplies, such as work boots.
“Without them, we can’t get ser-
vices done for our people and that is
what it is all about,” Schultz says.
“Interdepartmental cooperation
is vital. We are always out there
looking for partners.”
Vocational Rehabilitation also
can help Tribal members who are
receiving Social Security disability
or supplemental security income
but want to return to work.
“Just call,” Schultz adds. “Our
goal is to have eligible Tribal
members with disabilities gain
and retain employment. The de-
sired outcome will be independent,
self-sufficient, productive partici-
pants in the community.”
Vocational Rehabilitation em-
ployees also staff the Portland Area
Office, 4445 S.W. Barbur Blvd., on a
weekly basis to help Tribal members
in the metropolitan area.
The Vocational Rehabilitation
staff also includes Employment
& Training Specialist Pearl Rife,
Vocational Rehabilitation Coun-
selor Dodie McKenzie and 477/VR
trainee Chris Martin. n
he said, to determine if the district
utilized input from the state.
Cornwall and Education Depart-
ment Indian Education Specialist
April Campbell, who is a Grand
Ronde Tribal member and former
head of the Tribe’s Education De-
partment, became involved in the
controversy after the April School
Board meeting.
“I was invited to attend a board
work session,” Cornwall said.
“When I attended the work session,
I shared that I thought the request
to have the Tribal flag be placed in
the gym was very reasonable.”
Cornwall cited both the Pendle-
ton and Jefferson County school
districts, which honored similar
requests to hang the Umatilla and
Warm Springs Tribal flags, respec-
tively, without the request reaching
the board level or requiring a policy.
“I shared that I had witnessed
the benefit of the flags and that re-
lationship firsthand. I encouraged
the board to speak with the super-
intendents and, if they wanted to,
to speak with the board members,”
Cornwall said. “The requests in
those communities were received as
a way to foster cooperation and rep-
resent as many of the population of
those school districts as possible in
the most appropriate manner.”
Cornwall, who attended the May
School Board meeting, said he also
will attend the June 23 meeting
to see the issue to its hopeful con-
clusion.
“It’s a complex situation for the
board members of this district,”
Cornwall said. “I’m not a board
member and I am not a repre-
sentative of the community. I am
more interested in the outcome and
response based on how the board’s
output has been received. I will be
observing and supporting this pro-
cess through its conclusion.”
Johnson did not return a phone
call from Smoke Signals seeking
comment on the proposed flag
policy.
After adoption of the revised pol-
icy, the School Board is scheduled
to vote on Fasana’s original request
without the Grand Ronde Tribe
having to make an official request
to the School District, Forster said.
Other board members are Clinton
Coblentz, Dan Heidt, Linda O’Neil
and Ken Onstot. The board will
meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 23,
in the school library on the Oaken
Hills campus. n
Policy now in place for vote
FLAG continued
from front page
Umatilla Tribal flag hanging in
the high school gym. She sent an
e-mail to Forster, requesting that
the school district hang the Grand
Ronde Tribal flag since about a
third of district students identify
as Native American.
Forster placed it on the School
Board’s April agenda, but it was
pulled from the “action item” list
by Board President Craig John-
son, who suggested the Tribe pay
$25,000 to hang the flag for five
years.
At a tense May School Board
meeting attended by more than
100 people, Tribal and community
members were allotted slightly
more than 40 minutes to testify
regarding Fasana’s request. No one
spoke in opposition to hanging the
Tribal flag, but the School Board
did not comment or take action on
the proposal, leaving many in the
audience frustrated and dismayed.
The ensuing controversy prompt-
ed Fasana, who had been the Tribal
liaison to the School Board for
eight years, to mount a last-minute
write-in campaign for School Board
that received more than 40 votes in
the May 19 election.
Forster said the revised policy
was sent to School Board members
during its development and only one
comment was received, which was
incorporated into the final policy.
“They didn’t say ‘no’ to it,” he said.
Forster said he also consulted
with Winston Cornwall, a Civil
Rights Education specialist with
the state Department of Educa-
tion, and with Betsy Miller-Jones,
executive director of the Oregon
School Boards Association, as well
as his administrative team in the
development of the policy.
He met with principals Tim
France and Carrie Zimbrick, who
will succeed him as district super-
intendent in July, and developed a
policy that will hopefully address
concerns on both sides and still gain
support from a majority of board
members.
“The board is now in a position to
vote,” Forster said. “They wanted a
policy in place. I think this is one
that meets their expectations.”
Cornwall said the state Edu-
cation Department’s legal staff
reviewed the proposed policy. “We
have not seen the revised policy,”