Native Children’s Agenda- A Shared Vision

1. Native Children’s Agenda- A Shared Vision 15th Annual Summer Public Health Research Videoconference on Minority Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, June 9, 2009, www.minority.unc.edu Healthy Lifestyles, Successful Students, Safe Environments, Stable Communities

2. What is the Native Children’s Agenda? • The Native Children’s Agenda (NCA) is an initiative of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the National Indian Child and Welfare Association (NICWA), the National Indian Health Board, (NIHB), and the National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH), to set forth specific recommendations to improve the social, emotional, mental, physical, and economic health of children and to improve their learning capacity and developmental potential.

3. Guiding Themes of the NCA Healthy Lifestyles Successful Students Safe and Supportive Environments Stable Communities

4. Healthy Lifestyles Our children must have the resources they need to develop strong self esteem and the life skills needed to usher them into adulthood. One of these resources is good health. Children who are physically and emotionally healthy are more able to play, learn, and work.

5. Successful Students Children who are healthy, safe, and nurtured achieve to the best of their abilities. Our children need skilled teachers, sound curricula, and family involvement so they can gain the abilities they need for present and future fulfillment.

6. Safe and Supportive Environments Children who have their basic needs met, including love, shelter, food, clothing, and play, are children who are more likely to go on to thrive, explore, learn, and dream. Our children must be protected from unsafe environments and supported by our communities.

7. Stable Communities In order to invest in children and the community structures that support them, tribal governments must have options for economic development and flexibility to channel tribal and federal funds into programs that best support their members. The objective is to foster economically self‐sufficient communities which can support community programs that provide basic support for children and families.

8. State of Native Children’s Health “The American Indian and Alaska Native people have long experienced lower health status when compared with other Americans. Lower life expectancy and the disproportionate disease burden exist perhaps because of inadequate education, disproportionate poverty, discrimination in the delivery of health services, and cultural differences. These are broad quality of life issues rooted in economic adversity and poor social conditions.” - Indian Health Service Fact Sheet www.http://info.ihs.gov/Disparities.asp

9. State of Native Children’s Health • American Indian and Alaska Native infants die at a rate of nearly 12 per every 1,000 live births, as compared to 7 per 1,000 for the U.S. all races population (2002-2004 rates). (IHS) • American Indians and Alaska Natives born today have a life expectancy that is 9.6 years less than the U.S. all races population (67.3 years to 76.9 years, respectively) (NIHB Budget Formulation Team) • American Indians and Alaska Natives die at higher rates than other Americans from tuberculosis (750% higher), alcoholism (550% higher), diabetes (190% higher), unintentional injuries (150% higher), homicide (100% higher) and suicide (70% higher). (IHS)

10. State of Native Children’s Health • 13% of Indian deaths occur in those younger than 25, a rate 3 times higher than the U.S. population. (NIHB) • Suicide is ranked as the second leading cause of death for AI/ANs aged 10 to 34 as reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (CDC)

11. American Indian and Alaska Native Students Background Information • There are about 624,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students in the U.S. K–12 system (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics 2005b). • About 90 percent of all American Indian and Alaska Native students attend regular public schools, and 7 percent attend schools administered by the U.S. government’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics 2005b).

12. American Indian and Alaska Native Students Background Information • Studies indicate that American Indian and Alaska Native students often experience difficulty establishing relationships with their teachers and other students; additionally, they are often subject to racist threats and frequent suspension (Clarke 2002; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 2003). • Studies suggest that the cultural discontinuity between the average public school and the American Indian communities it serves is partially to blame for the gap between American Indian and white students’ academic achievement (Reyhner 2001).

13. American Indian and Alaska Native Students and U.S. High Schools • The national graduation rate for American Indian high school students was 49.3 percent in the 2003–04 school year, compared to 76.2 percent for white students. (EPE Research Center 2007) • Only 44.6 percent of American Indian males and 50 percent of American Indian females graduated with a regular diploma in the 2003–04 school year. (EPE Research Center 2007) • American Indian and Alaska Native high school students who graduated in 2000 were less likely to have completed a core academic track than their peers from other racial/ethnic groups. (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics 2005b)

14. The Dropout Crisis • About 1.2 million high school students drop out of high school every year—or 7,000 students every school day. • Only 70 percent of all students graduate on time and with a standard high school diploma. • The percentages are far worse for many racial and ethnic minority groups. In 2004… • 58 percent of Hispanic students, • 53 percent of African American students, and • 49 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native students graduated on time.

15. Native Children’s Agenda Policies and Strategies • Develop programs to recruit and train Native people in health professions and to attract skilled health care practitioners to tribal communities, especially in rural and remote areas. • Incorporate wellness programs in health clinics and facilities. While health care is often used to refer to disease prevention and treatment, wellness encompasses daily lifestyle choices, environment, emotional and spiritual well‐being, and health education. Through wellness promotion, the incidence of health problems can be reduced, along with long term health care costs.

16. Native Children’s Agenda Policies and Strategies • Improve outreach services and health education. For example, a tribal diabetes patient education program, which focuses on teaching people how to manage their disease on a daily basis, is an important tool for reducing diabetes‐related complications. These programs can also be directed to helping children manage their diabetes from an early age. Similarly, community outreach services can help educate people about the availability of health benefits and teach children to make healthy choices early in life. • Develop school‐based health clinics. Students perform better in class when they are healthy and ready to learn. School‐based health centers bring the doctor‘s office to the school so students avoid health‐related absences and get support to succeed in the classroom.

17. Native Children’s Agenda Policies and Strategies • Develop culturally relevant school‐based counseling programs to provide schoolchildren with immediate access to mental health services. School counselors should be trained in crisis intervention, provide general counseling services, and be equipped to refer students to other providers for more in‐depth treatment. Other school employees and child care professionals should also receive appropriate training. • Ensure that community food programs, especially youth breakfast and lunch programs, incorporate healthy food choices and locally produced or traditional food options. • Construct community water and wastewater systems in tribal communities. Ensure that water and wastewater systems are consistently and properly operated and maintained.

18. Native Children’s Agenda Policies and Strategies • Work to ensure that schools in Native communities provide comprehensive physical education and organized sports opportunities. Elementary schools should be required to incorporate at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity and should be prohibited from using recess as a form of punishment or reward. • Construct sidewalks, community playgrounds, and sports facilities to help increase overall physical activity and organize youth sport leagues in Native communities. • Recruit, train, and retain qualified teachers in tribal communities. A key tool to recruitment and retention is to offer financial incentives, housing assistance, and student loan repayment programs to those deciding to teach in Indian Country.

19. Native Children’s Agenda Policies and Strategies • Develop educational degree programs, teacher certification programs, and educational research projects at tribal colleges and universities. • Develop Indian Head Start and Early Head Start centers to offer federally assisted early childhood education in Native communities. • Encourage partnerships between Head Start programs and tribal colleges for teacher certification and graduate higher education programs to ensure that adequate teacher training is available. • Promote strong parent involvement and active school board participation in all schools that tribal students attend, including tribal, public, charter and parochial schools.

20. Native Children’s Agenda Policies and Strategies • Ensure that teachers are qualified in both subject matter competence and knowledge of tribal traditions and beliefs. If possible, engage elders and other cultural experts to assist in the classroom. • Integrate Native content into curricula– including contemporary tribal issues and information on local tribes. • Work on the development of tribal curricula and standards. School curricula should ensure that the unique cultural and educational needs of Native students are met within tribal and local schools. • Improve classroom buildings and dormitories to bring them up to current standards. Regularly check to make sure that textbooks, lab equipment, computers and other supplies are kept up to date.

21. Native Children’s Agenda Policies and Strategies • Ensure safe bus routes are available for children to get to and from school, including construction, maintenance, and repair of roads where buses travel. • Construct, maintain, and repair sidewalks and crosswalks on roads frequently used by children. Employ crossing guards during school hours.

22. Contact Information Lillian Sparks, Executive Director, NIEA lsparks@niea.org, (202)544-7290 National Indian Education Association- www.niea.org National Congress of American Indians- www.ncai.org National Indian Child Welfare Association- www.nicwa.org National Indian Health Board- www.nihb.org National Council of Urban Indian Health- www.ncuih.org