Terry L Cross

National Indian Child Welfare Association

This chapter reviews a broad array of disparities experienced by American Indian and Alaska Native populations and more specifically examines disproportionality in child welfare. It differentiates disparities from disproportionality and discusses the complex and mutually reinforcing relationship between them. The chapter discusses several factors t...

This chapter summarizes the complex history of colonization of the Indigenous peoples of what is now the United States from the perspective of leadership education. The authors review the dilemmas and challenges of bridging fundamental cultural differences regarding leadership education and concrete steps toward decolonizing leadership education.

When Congress passed the landmark Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 1978, many Native Nations responded with significant legislative work of their own, backing up ICWA's affirmation of tribal authority with tribal law. Some of this work has been enormously innovative: as Native nations have designed rules and systems that reflect their preferences...

A member of the Seneca Nation and a Lakota youth call for equitable child welfare for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

This article reports findings from three qualitative studies exploring supports for positive transitions of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth to adulthood. Community-based participatory methods were employed through a research partnership involving a culturally based community agency, the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), th...

This article documents how culturally appropriate research methods were used to develop and construct a valid and reliable assessment tool to measure program outcomes in an agency providing services to urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youths and families. The tool was developed to provide a psychometrically sound way to assess Native you...

This chapter describes the activities and results of a practice-based evidence project designed to develop a framework for culturally responsive effectiveness evaluation within a community agency serving urban American Indian and Alaska Native youth and families. This response to the demand for “evidence-based practice” includes a community-based p...

This article reports on the development of a culturally grounded method for measuring outcomes and demonstrating the effectiveness of culturally specific services for Native American youth. This method was developed out of a community-based participatory research project involving Native elders, families, youth, and community partners, as well as t...

The poor quality and quantity of data collected in tribal communities today reflects a lack of true community participation and commitment. This is especially problematic for evaluation studies, in which the needs and desires of the community should be the central focus. This challenge can be met by emphasizing indigenous methods and voice. The aut...

This study details ethnic disparities that exist between American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth and White, African American, and Hispanic/Latino youth based on secondary data analysis of Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey from surveys conducted in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Items were selected for secondary analysis based on their relevance to...

Tribal sovereignty is a theory that has gained credibility over the past few decades, but one that the child welfare field has still not fully embraced. A mainstream reluctance to understand or accept customary adoption, unique to tribal culture, illustrates the lack of credibility given to tribal child welfare beliefs and practices. Roger Paul, a...

At best, mainstream mental health services are often ineffective with Native American clients, and, at worst, they are a vehicle for Western colonization. As such, the authors explore the notion of abandoning the Western therapeutic project and rebuilding the helping process on the basis of indigenous knowledge foundations. To this end, they discus...

This paper will describe systems of care as a cultural phenomenon by highlighting western versus indigenous models of thinking. Inherent within the system of care definition are biases and assumptions that result in a highly linear and culturally bound process for understanding a "reality" that is not necessarily shared by all. Overarching concerns...

This article is based on the author's address at the National Multicultural Conference and Summit III in Los Angeles, California, in January 2003. The author focuses on culture as a resource--a resource for theories that can inform one's understanding of human behavior; a resource for healing, self-help, and positive emotions; a resource for clinic...

Reports show that mental health services for Indian children are inadequate, despite the fact that Indian children are known to have more serious mental health problems than all other ethnic groups in the United States. This monograph examines five American Indian childrens mental health projects funded by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMH...

This paper presents findings from an NCCAN-funded study of family functioning in neglecting families and in a comparison group of low-income families with no prior referrals for child neglect. It examines a sub-sample of a larger study of 77 Native American families from two states: Iowa and Oregon. Data were gathered through structured interviews...

This monograph provides a philosophical framework and practical ideas for improving service delivery to children of color who are severely emotionally disturbed. The monograph targets four sociocultural groups (African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans). The document emphasizes the cultural strengths inherent in a...

Describes the integration of formal child welfare services and natural or traditional child protection mechanisms in the development of American Indian (AI) child welfare programs. In 1978, the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed by Congress to protect and preserve the AI family and its culture. With the passage of this Act, Indian tribes regained...

the report summarizes findings from a 1985 study that investigated service delivery problems and successes with emotionally handicapped Indian children in the Northwest. The study attempted to (1) estimate the approximate number of Indian children in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho who are seriously emotionally handicapped, developmentally disabled,...

Although Native People have been able to maintain many of their traditional child protective mechanisms, these have been eroded over time by forces largely outside of tribal control. The passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 provided an opportunity to return the care of Indian children to their people. Yet, over twenty years later, there...