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Ayukii,
I hope this finds everyone well and recharged! We are already into February and it seems like the time is speeding by faster and faster every year! I had a wonderful opportunity to Washington DC to present at the STAC (Secretary Tribal Advisory Committee) meeting on December 4. The purpose of the meeting was to present the FACES study , a project with the TRC (Tribal Early Childhood Research) with Jackie Haight –NIHSDA past president, Michelle Sarche PHD,, University of Denver, Jessica Barnes PHD, University of Michigan, Maria Woolverton from OPRE, (Office of Program Research and Evaluation), Captain Robert Bialas, Region XI Manager, and WJ Strickland, Senior Program Specialist for Region XI. None of this would have been possible if not for the advocacy of WJ, to whom we owe a giant THANK YOU. The presentation went well and was well received. We came away from the meeting with a good feeling and also want to highlight this historic moment in AIAN history.
While in DC, both Jackie and I had an opportunity to “walk the hill” and visit our State Senate and House Representatives/staffers. I visited the office of Doug LaMalfa, who happened to be there, Senator Diane Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer. I shared the challenges of our Tribal Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and how they can support us in their legislative work. Most were very receptive. NIHSDA is working hard to ensure that our issues remain in the forefront as we get nearer to reauthorization.
Thank you for the hard work you do every day, and the support you give to NIHSDA.
Patty Brown
President, NIHSDA
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L to R: W. J. Strickland, Sr. Program Specialist, AIAN/OHS; Patty Brown, President, NIHSDA; Cathy Abramson, Tribal Council, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; Brian Cladoosby, Chairman of STAC and President of NCAI, Swinomish Indian Tribe; Jackie Haight, Immediate Past President, NIHSDA; Jessica Barnes-Najor, Associate Director, Community Evaluation and Research Collaborative, University Outreach & Engagement; Michelle Sarche, Associate Professor, Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Colorado School of Public Health; Maria Wolverton, Child Welfare Research Team Leader/Senior Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation; Capt. Robert Bialas, Region XI Program Manager, OHS
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AI/AN FACES Study
By now, we hope that many of you have heard about the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES). Since March 2014, Drs. Michelle Sarche and Jessica Barnes and members of the AI/AN FACES Workgroup, including NIHSDA President Jacki Haight and past-President Patty Brown, have been sharing information about this study with stakeholders throughout Region XI at OHS tribal consultations and with tribal leaders from across the country at the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes (MAST) and the Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC) meetings.
FACES is the premier source of information on Head Start programs and the children and families they serve. At its core, FACES provides information about children’s school readiness and cognitive and social-emotional growth in Head Start. FACES information plays a central role in determining how Head Start policies and practices change over time in response to the evolving needs of Head Start children and families. FACES has been conducted every three years since 1997 with programs in Regions I-X. To date, however, FACES has not been conducted with Region XI programs. NIHSDA and tribal Head Start leaders have long advocated for the meaningful inclusion of Region XI in FACES. Starting this fall, 22 randomly selected Region XI programs will participate in the first-ever American Indian and Alaska Native Family and Child Experiences Survey. The AI/AN FACES Workgroup – which consists of tribal Head Start directors, child development researchers with experience in tribal communities, federal partners at the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start and Office of Planning, Research, and Mathematica Policy Research – represents a seminal national collaborative planning process for research with Region XI Head Start programs and communities. The AI/AN FACES Workgroup has worked diligently to design a study that puts the needs of Region XI Head Start children, families, programs, and communities at the forefront and to design a study that will yield data that will be critical in advocating for policies and practices that best serve the needs of Region XI Head Start. If you have any questions about the AI/AN FACES study, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Michelle Sarche at michelle.sarche@ucdenver.edu.
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