A Look Back at Year’s End
By Kara Pasqua, NCARC Training and Technical Assistance Specialist
Season’s greetings, everyone! It is hard to believe 2024 is right around the corner. Our staff at the Native Child Advocacy Resource Center (NCARC) have been busy this fall supporting the formation and accreditation of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and child advocacy centers (CACs) serving Indigenous children and families. We continue to develop new training and technical assistance resources based on a preliminary needs assessment we conducted last year, as well as in response to specific requests from MDTs and CACs. Our experienced staff members are always ready to schedule onsite or virtual support tailored to your MDT’s, CAC’s, and community’s needs. For those wondering what this support might look like, I thought I would describe some of the trainings I have provided in the past couple of months.
In October, I had the opportunity to provide two trainings at the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Oklahoma’s (CACO, the state CAC chapter) Leadership Retreat in Tulsa. The first, “Understanding Historical Trauma and its Current Impact Within Indigenous Families,” provides CAC staff and partners with insight into the ongoing effects of the traumas our communities have experienced collectively, along with strategies for offering support. The second training I provided to the Oklahoma chapter was “The Role Children’s Advocacy Professionals Play in Supporting the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA),” which focuses on the historical traumas that have occurred in child welfare and related settings, provides CAC personnel with a working knowledge of ICWA, and identifies strategies to ensure that ICWA is being effectively implemented in cases that lead to involvement with CACs.
November was a whirlwind! Early in the month, I provided a training on “Developing a Culturally Responsive MDT" at the Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association conference, offering strategies for increasing the cultural responsiveness of the services we provide through our MDTs. Later that month, a colleague and I co-facilitated another training on ICWA and its connection to CACs for the National Children's Alliance staff in Washington, D.C. Then, at the end of November, I traveled to the Leflore County Child Advocacy Center in southeastern Oklahoma to provide trainings on “Mandatory Reporting” and “Understanding the Impact of Biases,” topics central to NCA accreditation that present unique considerations in Tribal communities.
As I look back on the work of these last couple of months, I find myself reflecting on how honored I feel to have been welcomed into gatherings attended by so many dedicated professionals. One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to hear firsthand about all of the challenges and accomplishments of people who work every day to improve the lives of children and families. Please reach out if you would like to hear more about what we at NCARC might be able to do to support you as you develop or improve the services you offer to Indigenous families and Tribal communities. As active partners in the CAC movement nationally, we are also happy to help you locate additional resources that may be available through your regional CAC and your state chapter. My colleagues and I look forward to continuing to walk alongside you as you serve children and families in 2024 and beyond.