Cheyenne Grandmother, Joyce Wounded Eye, and daughter, Roxanne were two participants who completed a three day foster care training on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Photo by Clara Caufield
Northern Cheyenne decry lack of foster parents
Too many children forced off reservation due to lack of local foster parents
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Today Correspondent
nativesunnews.today LAME DEER, Mont. –– On the Northern Cheyenne reservation there is a desperate need to recruit foster parents to handle a large case load of children determined by the tribal court to be in need of care, said Addy Baker Foster Care Licensure staffer for the tribal Human Services Department (NCHHS). Presently that tribal program handles an average of 60 foster care placements per year while the Indian Child Welfare Act program has additional cases as does the Bureau of Indian Affairs Social Services Program. In addition, the Tribe operates the Rosebud Lodge, an emergency shelter for children who are removed from homes, often due to drug and alcohol problems. Due to privacy requirements those programs could not release the number of foster care placement cases they handle, but Baker says it is an “alarmingly high number." Baker also said there are only a limited number of licensed foster care parents on the reservation forcing the program to place many Northern Cheyenne children off the reservation. Thus, she says there is a critical need to recruit more tribal foster care parents. “Our preference is to keep the children on the reservation, but often that is just not possible due to the small number of licensed foster care parents. That is why we are continually trying to recruit more Cheyenne people or local people into the program.” To that end nearly thirty community people from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation participated in a three-day Parent Training workshop held on the reservation in late December, 2016, sponsored by the NCHHS. The workshop targeted existing and potential foster parents but was also for people who work with children such as day care workers, foster parents, foster grandparents, educators, those seeking reunification with children and college students. Chief Dull Knife College offered one college credit for those who completed the entire workshop.
Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: Northern Cheyenne decry lack of foster parents (Contact Clara Caufield at acheyennevoice@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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