[Senate Hearing 107-758]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 107-758
PROBLEMS FACING NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTHS
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
OVERSIGHT HEARING ON PROBLEMS FACING NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTHS
__________
AUGUST 1, 2002
WASHINGTON, DC
82-753 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2003
____________________________________________________________________________
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COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman
BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado, Vice Chairman
KENT CONRAD, North Dakota FRANK MURKOWSKI, Alaska
HARRY REID, Nevada JOHN McCAIN, Arizona,
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
PAUL WELLSTONE, Minnesota CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming
BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
Patricia M. Zell, Majority Staff Director/Chief Counsel
Paul Moorehead, Minority Staff Director/Chief Counsel
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Statements:
Biggs, Vincent M., M.D., American Academy of Pediatrics...... 9
Campbell, Hon. Ben Nighthorse, U.S. Senator from Colorado,
vice chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs................. 1
Cook, J.R., executive director, United National Indian Tribal
Youth, Inc................................................. 11
Dorsett, Teresa, member, Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. 13
Lewis, Dan, chairman, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Native
American National Advisory Committee....................... 19
Lowery, Nick, Native Vision.................................. 15
McCaleb, Neal, assistant secretary, BIA, Department of the
Interior................................................... 5
Mehojah, Bill, director, Office of Indian Education Programs,
BIA........................................................ 8
Walters, John P., director, Office of National Drug Control
Policy..................................................... 2
Appendix
Prepared statements:
American Psychiatric Association............................. 34
Biggs, Vincent M. (with attachment).......................... 38
Cook, J.R.................................................... 46
Dorsett, Teresa (with attachment)............................ 53
Lewis, Dan (with attachment)................................. 62
Lowery, Nick................................................. 66
McCaleb, Neal................................................ 31
Walters, John P. (with attachments).......................... 73
PROBLEMS FACING NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2002
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m. in room
485, Senate Russell Building, Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell
(vice chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Senator Campbell.
STATEMENT OF HON. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, U.S. SENATOR FROM
COLORADO, VICE CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
Senator Campbell. Welcome to the committee hearing on the
problems faced by Native American youngsters today. I thank our
Chairman Senator Inouye for allowing me to schedule and chair
this hearing because I believe it is extremely important.
A number of weeks ago this committee convened a hearing on
the condition and circumstance of Native American elders and I
remarked at the time that we often get caught up in the furor
of the day with very high profile issues like trust fund
reform, housing, education, and gaming. As a committee and as a
Nation, we have to step back once in a while and take stock of
things that are really important and worth talking about and
fighting for. Elder health care is one of those issues and
making sure that our Indian kids get the chance to improve
themselves, their tribe and their country is also one of those
issues.
Many of us who come from Indian backgrounds suffer the same
problems such as dysfunctional homes and troubled lifestyles as
youngsters. In my day, like many young kids of mixed blood
ancestry, I was a bona fide, honest-to-God juvenile delinquent.
Some people say I haven't grown out of that being here in the
Senate but I'm still working on it.
Indian youngsters today face many of the same problems I
and many in my age group did, family alcohol and substance
abuse, joblessness and all too often a feeling of hopelessness.
There are also new problems facing Indian youngsters today.
Gangs are growing where tribes and family once ruled and like
all American kids they are not getting enough exercise, often
have poor diets, become overweight too soon, and for a
population that suffers from diabetes the way we do, obesity is
an alarm bell which should certainly prompt us to act.
There always seem to be Federal responses to the problems
we face in America but in my mind, they are not always
effective. I believe much of the responsibility for effectively
answering these problems lies with the parents and families of
American Indians themselves, with the private and nonprofit
world and with the individuals themselves. The decisions we
make as young people can determine how we live the rest of our
lives and those decisions also determine whether we will even
have a life to live.
I want to thank the witnesses for appearing today. Our
first panel will be John P. Walters, Director, Office of
National Drug Control Policy and Neal McCaleb, Assistant
Secretary, Indian Affairs. We will go ahead and start with Mr.
Walters who I have worked with a number of times through the
Treasury Subcommittee of Appropriations, on while I serve.
STATEMENT OF JOHN P. WALTERS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG
CONTROL POLICY
Mr. Walters. Thank you for your leadership here and on the
issue of drugs. I've been in office less than 8 months and I
don't think there is another member of Congress I've had a
chance to talk with more. I appreciate your energy, your effort
and your attention because I know it is a busy schedule you
have.
I would ask my prepared statement be entered in the record
at this point.
Senator Campbell. Without objection.
Mr. Walters. I'll just offer a summary and be guided by the
issues you want to followup.
I'm going to discuss the Youth Antidrug Media Campaign and
the Native American ads we have developed. The Campaign, as you
know, is a comprehensive public health communications campaign
designed to help prevent and reduce youth use of illicit drugs.
The Campaign uses multimedia advertising and public
communications strategies to promote anti-drug attitudes and
behavior. It is one of the most powerful tools we believe we
have to support the President's national drug control strategy,
and makes a significant contribution to our goal of stopping
drug use before it starts.
The Campaign is particularly relevant to today's
discussions of American Indian youth because of its
considerable multi-cultural outreach effort. For each year of
the past 3 years, the Campaign has delivered more than $30
million worth of drug prevention messages that are tailored to
reach the country's African-American, Asian, Pacific Islander,
American Indian, and Hispanic communities. The media campaign
has invested more than $5 million in designing, developing and
placing the Federal Government's first ever antidrug
television, radio and print advertising specifically tailored
to reach American Indian elders, parents, and youth.
These ads are a culmination of 2 years of research to gain
a detailed understanding of the pro and antidrug attitudes
among American Indian youth and adults and to gain cultural
insights that would aid in the development of antidrug messages
and community outreach efforts.
Beginning in the spring of 2000, the Campaign conducted 46
focus groups in urban and rural venues. Some of the comments
from the focus groups were many parents were aware that their
children are being raised in a world different from the one
they inhabited as young people. They acknowledge that their
kids face problems specific to growing up American Indian,
including increased exposure to drug and alcohol abuse, racism
and violence and they are unsure how to parent effectively
without the guidance of traditional ways.
American Indians spoke of the negative portrayal of the
people in the general media, some of which is unintended. They
felt these misrepresentations in popular culture stigmatize
them as a community and strongly suggest that any anti-drug
advertising depict communities and families in a positive way.
Such insight became the foundation for the Campaign's first and
ever ads for American Indians.
American Indian youth emphasize the importance of the role
that elders play in their lives, grandparents were especially
important as they are often responsible for passing on culture,
language, stories and ceremonies. For some, they provide
safety, security, and continuity if parents are dealing with
their own substance abuse problems.
Our current advertising consists of print, radio and two
television executions entitled, ``The Promise'' and
``Adventure'' which are currently running in television markets
with a large American Indian viewership and are also in
American Indian publications and American Indian radio
stations. The new messages, even more than before, pay homage
to traditional cultures and values modeling healthy, antidrug
attitudes and behaviors. You have two examples of the print ads
in the packet I provided with my testimony. I'd like to show
you the TV ads and one ad that is designed to help enlist
community coalitions that has added dimensions of various
different cultural ethnic content.
[Viewing of ads.]
Mr. Walters. I view this, having come to the office when
this process was under production and some of it was already
executed, as an effort by us to look at the nature of the drug
problem in this country and to see how specific populations at
higher than average risk that may need tailored messages as
well as programs specifically designed to provide resources
that we provide broadly to the needs in those circumstances and
to see if we can we do that effectively. I certainly would not
claim to be an expert on these issues and I have begun the
process of meeting with Native American leaders as well as
others around the country as we review the drug control
policies and programs of the Government, with people in this
room, we have worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and
others for suggestions, comments, even criticisms of what we
are doing now are more than welcome from where I sit because we
want to get this right. I think this can be a valuable and
important tool in getting messages that maybe for the general
population will not work in specific populations that we need
to reach and have an obligation to reach.
We're at the beginning and while this is new and goes
further than the Federal Government has gone in this area in
anti-drug advertising before, I by no means think we are
entirely where we want to be.
I would also be remiss if I didn't admit candidly that the
efforts to currently appropriate this money, especially in the
bill that came from the House, would involve earmarks that
would simply not allow us to do this kind of advertising
because it would force us to drive the bulk of the program
money into running the more broad audience advertising. Some of
the things like the segmented parts of the program would not be
possible under the earmarks in the House appropriation at the
current time.
I would ask to the extent you and your colleagues feel it
is appropriate, if we could remove those earmarks, it would
allow us to continue this important work at whatever level of
appropriation is finally decided.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Walters appears in appendix.]
Senator Campbell. Did I understand you to say there were
earmarks in the House bill that do not allow you to specialize
your ads like this one?
Mr. Walters. Yes; the money that this program has used to
develop these specialized ads is in addition to the, we're
using it as a portion of the money used to run the general
public ads as well as the evaluation and administration of the
program. Our estimate of the current earmark in the House
appropriations bill would require us to maintain the
administration of the buy for the large general advertising
ads, plus the evaluation mandate and then sets a $150 million
ceiling for what must be used by advertising would not give us
the ability to do segmented buys in this way.
I'm not trying to hold the Washington Monument hostage
here, but I'm telling you that the effort there is potentially
to say we ought to run more general purpose ads with more of
the money. We think we're getting a good mix and this is a
balanced and appropriate investment, although I recognize
regional people can differ about how to balance it.
I have provided in the back of my testimony graphic
evidence of what we see as the disproportionate impact of drug
use in different parts of the American population. We want to
reach those people that are at risk that may not be reached
when we look at it with general purpose advertising as
effectively as we could. We think this investment of a small
amount of the dollars to reach special populations is not only
appropriate but necessary to do what we want to do. I want to
preserve it so I regret the House made its decision. I hope
that when Congress finally acts, we'll be able to preserve this
and move on.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Walters appears in appendix.]
Senator Campbell. Assistant Secretary McCaleb, please go
ahead.
I might tell the panels they tell us we have two votes
scheduled at 2:50 p.m., which doesn't give a lot of time.
Otherwise, we're going to have to recess and come back after
about one-half hour or 40 minutes. I don't think anyone wants
to do that. So it might serve us all well if we can abbreviate
our testimony.
STATEMENT OF HON. NEAL A. McCALEB, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR
INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. McCaleb. Message received and understood, Mr. Chairman.
I will paraphrase my testimony and ask that the testimony as
submitted be incorporated in the record.
Senator Campbell. Without objection.
Mr. McCaleb. I am delighted to be here today to speak on a
subject that is important to all of us and our future and that
is Native American youth, their activities and their future.
The problems encountered by Native American youth as they
grow up on reservations clearly have to do with the prevalence
of alcoholism and substance abuse, and the consequent social
dysfunctions that derive or are created by substance abuse.
These problems, in my opinion, are a result of sustained
economic deprivation and the hopelessness of having little
expectation of having a career or meaningful employment on the
reservation.
These are long haul solutions, the creation of economic
opportunity has been something I've heard about for the 35
years that I have been involved in Indian affairs, so there is
no revelation here. We are doing some things we hope will make
a meaningful difference in a fairly short period of time such
an economic summit we are sponsoring this fall to focus
attention on the opportunities and mechanisms for business
development on the reservations.
We need to be doing some things in the immediate short term
that will have long term effects. One of the things that I
think the Bureau of Indian Affairs has earned bragging
privileges about, not because of me but because this program
has been underway since the early 1990's, is our Family and
Child Education Program. It is a unique program that provides
family literacy services to American Indian parents and their
children from birth through the third grade. It is an early
childhood development program that strives to involve the
parents with their child in both classroom situations and in
home situations because the first teachers the child knows in
their most formative years are their parents. By the time they
are 4 years old, 80 percent of their cognitive or brain
capability is formed before they ever walk through the doors of
a school building.
In this program, they come through the doors of the school
building in their mother's or father's arms and they spend time
together. The program has proven very effective. It started out
with a pilot program in 1991 with only 6 funded schools; we now
have 32 programs and beginning the school year 2003-04, we will
have 39 programs which is still not adequate for all 180 Bureau
operated schools. We think we're getting good results from the
program, not only for the children but for the parents because
the parents are having their own self-image enhanced. In many
cases, it is changing lives in terms of the way they perceive
themselves and their behavior, especially as it relates to
substance abuse. They are developing a real sense of parent
responsibility to these youngsters that transcends their
perception of their problems and desires.
I recently visited a FACE program in Arizona. It was a very
compelling scene, moms, dads, grandparents, and youngsters of
all ages from birth to the first grade were there together at
the school. You could tell the kids were buying into it and
that the parents were proud of themselves. I talked to one
young man who had his first full-time continuous job in his
life and attributed that change to the literacy skills he
learned in the FACE Program. He was excited about it and
obviously an advocate for it.
As a direct result of participation in the program, we have
1,500 parents who have gained job skills that resulted in
employment; 600 have completed their GED or gained their high
school diploma; 60 percent of the program adults improve their
reading and math skills; 91 percent of the parents report
reading to their child every day.
I have with me today Bill Mehojah, who is the director of
our Office of Indian Education Programs; he is something of an
expert on this and during the question and answer period, Bill
may be a more useful respondent to your questions than I. I am
a convert on the FACE Program and I think it truly is a program
that is changing lives in Indian country. I am so pleased the
Bureau of Indian Affairs has taken the lead on this.
That is not to say that we don't need to do things in the
full span of youthful development. One of the things we prize
that is not done by the Bureau but is done by private parties
who we try to leverage or partner with is the work done by J.R.
Cook and the Unity Program. I've known J.R. for these 30 years
and watched him work with great determination and tenacity in
this area with ever increasing success. Dan Lewis will talk to
you about the Boys and Girls Clubs. We are great advocates of
that. We are doing five pilot projects with the Boys and Girls
Clubs on Indian reservations for Indian youngsters in school.
I hope that through these efforts, there will be an
opportunity for self-realization of an individual's self
potential as it develops within the cultural influence of the
Indian community, that the social dysfunction and dependency
will diminish, and that our Indian youth will experience a new
and brighter future.
Thank you.
[Prepared statement of Mr. McCaleb appears in appendix.]
Senator Campbell. Thank you.
The youngsters have the help of a lot of good people and
good programs which have come a long way but certainly you
still have a long way to go. I know they face some cultural
differences. Mr. Walters is involved with trying to reduce drug
use among teenagers. As an example of how Indian kids can
sometimes get caught in a cultural crossfire, most of them
recognize what drugs are, some are involved in things like
paint, glue and hardware supplies, oven cleaner, that kind of
stuff which may not come under the heading of drugs but still
blows their minds.
The other problem culturally is I think many of them have
parents or relatives, grandfathers or someone who belong to the
Native American church which uses peyote as you know, not
called a drug in the Indian community, but ``medicine''. If you
talk about it in the outside community, you call it a
hallucinogen. I think things like that, the cultural crossfire,
creates some problems too.
Maybe the proximity to urban areas too. I know there has
been an increase of gang activity with those on reservations
close to big urban areas. Phoenix is an example where the ones
further out away from big metropolitan areas, the gang movement
doesn't seem to seep out quite as fast, although I'm sure it is
there too.
Mr. Walters, I've always been a big believer in doing
things with tribal consultation. When you have been dealing
with tribal communities, were there any ideas presented that
helped you in developing this program or addressing drug
problems with youngsters on the reservations?
Mr. Walters. The ads that I showed you were in fairly
advanced stages when I took office, so the conversations that I
have had with Native American leaders which will continue this
year, I'm going to meet with the people associated with White
Bison in the coming weeks which works on recovery as you no
doubt know, as well as treatment. What I've asked them to do is
to educate me about the contours of the problem as I do in
other areas when I travel around the country looking at how
these work, but particularly because I don't have as much
personal experience and in addition, how the programs we
provide work. I think the keys are that for a number of these
communities and others, they are not connected to some of the
usual distribution sources for Government resources or even
some of the partnerships the Government makes with non-
government agencies because they don't have the same presence
in Indian country. It varies if they are closer to metropolitan
areas, there is overlap and so what we have tried to do is
begin a conversation. In some places, these are working. I
don't mean to make it all sound negative, but other places we
want to drive these resources where they can be used.
As you know, across the board, largely the Federal
Government in these areas provides resources. Other people do
the work. I try to say thank you when I'm out there and
encourage others to. What we accomplish is entirely dependent
on the effectiveness of the people who do the work and whether
our contribution is effective depends on whether it gets there
and whether it's in a form that is usable to them.
I think some cases, particularly in the area of drug
treatment and support for recovery, in addition to the large
support for prevention, we're looking at how we can deliver
these resources more effectively. Nationally, on the drug
treatment front, the President is committed to spend an
additional $1.6 billion on Federal treatment spending. We want
to try to provide that where the need is and we have a large
block grant program. In some places, that is working very well.
We are also trying to use a targeted capacity expansion program
that allows us to look at places where there is a particular
need and driver resources there where there is a plan.
Senator Campbell. Have you given block grants to Indian
tribes?
Mr. Walters. I believe most of the money in this regard
goes to through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and not separately
although I presume some State agencies do provide assistance
that comes from the block grant but I don't have the
information.
Senator Campbell. If you could find that out and share it
with the committee, I'd appreciate it.
How has this media campaign been received on the
reservations? Have you been able to track it or evaluate it?
Mr. Walters. These ads were just released, at a center in
Los Angeles with Native Americans. The individual response was
very positive. People were very happy to see this problem was
being addressed and the content seemed to be something they
found useful and acceptable. We want to evaluate that because
one of the problems is how do we cost effectively create both
content and deliver it in areas where we know one size doesn't
fit all even though we're trying to deal with segments of the
population. I'm very concerned as we do these in sub
populations that they are done in a way that has a positive
effect.
We will not have the same kind of evaluation of these
segmented parts of the campaign that we do for the overall
campaign you are familiar with because it is simply not cost
effective to run the expensive evaluation mechanism in these.
We are depending on feedback from the viewers on a more general
basis, we'll also try to bring in some of the leaders in
addition to the ones I see and get some sense of what they
think is happening and how we can go from here to capitalize on
what is good.
Senator Campbell. I understand it will be difficult to
measure something that doesn't happen. If a youngster does not
do drugs because he was influenced by this kind of media, it
might be difficult to measure he didn't do it because he saw it
in this media but hopefully it will do some good.
Mr. McCaleb, you mentioned the FACE program which I am very
supportive of. Has there been any indication that program has
had a positive impact on the issues of FACE?
Mr. McCaleb. Yes; there has been. It's anecdotal at this
point because the programs started in 1991 with only six
schools and next year we will have 39 schools. The anecdote I
participated in was in New Mexico at a Navajo school, which was
very impressive. The comments I got from the parents was the
level of commitment and excitement they had and it was making
them better parents, changing their behavior. That has to
accrue, those kinds of contacts, that kind of relationship,
reading every day to a child, I doubt there are many of us in
this room that can say they read every day to one of their
youngsters. That is so important.
Bill, do you have any quantitative information you would
like to add to that?
STATEMENT OF BILL MEHOJAH, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF INDIAN EDUCATION
PROGRAMS, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
Mr. Mehojah. We've evaluated the program since its
inception 11 years ago and we have a lot of data that
demonstrates the program does work and it is effective.
Children who enter school are ready for school, they do better
in math and reading in their standardized achievement tests,
and they remain in school. One of the things we are really
focusing on is reading and making sure our kids are proficient
in reading and literacy by the end of the third grade. That
supports the goal we are trying to attain.
The other thing we know is that parents who come out of the
Family and Child Education Program are much more involved in
meaningful ways in the school. They are involved with parent/
teacher conferences, they show up for them, they are asking
questions about what their children are learning, if they are
learning, they are asking about homework assignments, so they
are actively involved with the school and the education of
their children.
We have a lot of data. In fact the Goodling Institute at
Penn State has approached us about doing a research study on
our program because it is one of the most comprehensive family
literacy programs in America.
Senator Campbell. Certainly it's beneficial.
I think I will submit the rest of my questions in writing
to you. I have two or three more but in the interest of time,
we'll go on to the second panel. Thank you for appearing.
The second panel will be Dr. Vincent Biggs of the American
Academy of Pediatrics; Dan Lewis, one of our former staffers
here with the committee years ago, of the Boys and Girls club
of Scottsdale; J.R. Cook, executive director, United National
Indian Tribal Youth, Inc.; and Nick Lowry, Native Visions, Inc.
If you would give us your written testimony and abbreviate
your comments, I would appreciate it.
We will start with Mr. Biggs.
STATEMENT OF VINCENT M. BIGGS, M.D., AMERICAN ACADEMY OF
PEDIATRICS
Mr. Biggs. My name is Vinny Biggs. I am a pediatrician from
Amherst, MA. I've been working with American Indian and Alaska
Native issues for nearly the last 10 years. I worked on the
Navajo Reservation at the Northern Navajo Medical Center
clinically as a general pediatrician and I currently serve on
the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Native American
Child Health.
On behalf of the Academy I am honored to be here to discuss
the serious health challenges facing Native children and youth.
For the last 3 decades, the Academy has worked on behalf of
children and youth which has included efforts to improve the
health and development of Indian children. Over the course of
this time, the challenges that face this population have
significantly changed. Today I am going to focus on three of
the most serious challenges, health disparities and unmet
health care needs, unintentional injuries and death and Type II
diabetes.
Today more than one-third of the American Indian and Alaska
Native population is under the age of 15. In some tribes, this
is nearly one-half of the population. There are twice as many
5- to 14-year-olds in this population than in the white
population. The birth rate is 63 percent higher than the birth
rate for all United States races. Clearly this is a population
of vulnerable children that continues to grow.
While the general health status of these children is far
better than their parents and grandparents, significant health
disparities continue to affect these children and their
families. The current infant mortality rate for Indian children
is 22 percent higher than the general population and 60 percent
higher than whites. More than twice as many of these children
die from SIDS than other United States races despite a growing
understanding of SIDS and how to prevent it. Overall, Indian
children and youth are more than twice as likely to die in
their first 4 years than their non-Indian peers. This statistic
remains true through the age of 24.
The poor health status of American Indian children is
related to some degree to the extreme poverty in its
population. As I am sure this committee knows, more than 40
percent of these children live in households with incomes below
the poverty level as compared to 20 percent of children other
races.
The serious health problems associated with poverty and
rural isolation are compounded in the Native community by
limited access to pediatric health care. Over the last decade
the average number of well child visits which are the visits
where children are assessed for their physical, developmental
and mental health has dropped by 35 percent. Outdated
facilities and persistent vacancies for health care providers
within the Indian Health Service also limit an Indian child's
access to pediatric care. Recent data from the Indian Health
Service shows that vacancy rates for dentists are 25 percent,
for nurses, 15 percent and for physicians, 10 percent. The
average Indian Health Service facility is three times older
than other facilities serving other populations. It is
obviously difficult to meet the need given such disparities.
These children living in urban areas face similar
challenges accessing pediatric care. These children often
receive their care through urban Indian health programs. These
programs are funded in part by the Indian Health Service and
are dependent upon Medicaid reimbursement to function. While
most States currently receive 100 percent of FMAP for these
services that are provided at Indian Health Service and tribal
facilities, at the Urban Indian Health programs they receive
their regular FMAP rates, which is less. As a result, the
programs that serve these children receive lower reimbursements
which limits their opportunity to provide services.
The Academy calls on Congress to follow this committee's
lead in ensuring that all Indian children and youth have timely
access to needed pediatric health care services. We join with
the Friends of Indian Health in requesting at least $3.09
billion for Indian Health Service for the fiscal year 2003 and
urge swift passage of legislation to eliminate the FMAP
disparity that threatens the effectiveness of urban Indian
health programs.
Another significant challenge that I'd like to talk about
is unintentional injury and death. The data tells us that
Indian children experience the highest rates of injury,
mortality and morbidity of all United States ethnic groups. The
overall injury death rate is nearly twice that of children of
the general population. Indian children are three times more
likely to die as a result of motor vehicle occupant injuries
than white or black children and fire and burn injuries cause
death of nearly three times more of these children and youth
than among the white population.
Many factors contribute to these alarming statistics which
may include poverty, substandard housing, limited access to
emergency care, alcohol abuse and rural residences. While it is
clear that Native children have not benefited to the same
degree from injury prevention techniques as other children, we
know that carefully crafted injury prevention programs work.
Examples of this are the Alaska program to promote winter coats
with flotation devices to prevent drowning or the Navajo
Occupant Safety Program to increase seatbelt use.
In order to combat the high rate of injury, morbidity and
mortality among Native children and youth the Academy urges
continued support for the implementation and expansion of
broad-based, injury prevention programs for this population.
The Academy also supports the development of programs to
provide incentives to Native communities to provide the use of
well established safety mechanisms such as seatbelts and child
restraints. Congress' continued support for the Indian Health
Service Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Program as another
essential tool.
The last topic I'd like to touch on is Type II diabetes,
which I think the committee is very familiar and has recently
emerged as a significant health threat to Indian children and
youth.
Today, the prevalence of Type II diabetes among Native
children is higher than any other ethnic group. Indian Health
Service data indicate the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes
among 15- to 19-year-olds has increased 54 percent since 1996,
which is a dramatic and overwhelming increase.
For pediatric patients, Type II diabetes means that they
will have likely earlier onset of heart disease, vision
impairment, renal disease, limb amputation. Children and
adolescence with chronic conditions such as Type II diabetes
are also at higher risk for depression and behavioral disorders
which will make it more difficult to take care of these
patients.
Given the serious and lifelong health consequences of Type
II diabetes, timely medical intervention and research are
critical to the future of health of Indian children and youth.
As part of a coordinated, comprehensive effort to reduce Type
II diabetes among Indian children and youth, the Academy
recommends continued Federal support for community-based,
multidisciplinary Native diabetes prevention and treatment
programs. These efforts should include proven strategies to
help overcome the barriers unique to these communities,
including the use of trained professional interpreters,
cultural competency training, and community member
participation in the design of these clinical services.
Continued support is also needed for the Indian Health
Services' diabetes programs.
Despite the notable achievements in many areas, significant
disparities still exist for Native children and youth and
tremendous gaps in health care, access, delivery and research
clearly will need to be bridged before disparities can be
eliminated.
On behalf of the Academy, I encourage Congress to remember
the health needs of these children in your deliberations both
in securing adequate support for the Indian Health Service and
in developing public health campaigns for the U.S. population.
Your dedication to the Indian children and their families is
commendable and we look forward to working with you in the
future.
Prepared statement of Dr. Biggs appears in appendix.]
Senator Campbell. Those are terrible numbers. I thought I
knew most of them but you spoke to a number of them I did not
know were that bad in some of those areas. One you didn't
mention was fetal alcohol syndrome which is terrible on
reservations also, as you know.
We'll go on to Mr. Cook.
STATEMENT OF J.R. COOK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONAL
INDIAN TRIBAL YOUTH, INC.
Mr. Cook. I'm privileged to be invited to represent United
National Indian Tribal Youth Inc., also known as UNITY. The
heart of UNITY is its affiliated youth councils. The UNITY
network currently consists of 234 affiliated youth councils in
34 States. Today, more than 60 tribes are sponsoring youth
councils.
UNITY does not attempt to speak for the youth but instead
to listen to the youth. We think youth have many of the answers
that need to be heard. One of UNITY's primary goals is for
youth to have a voice at every level, locally, State and
nationally and even internationally.
Through a process involving members of the UNITY affiliated
youth councils recently, a survey was conducted where youth
identified and prioritized their concerns and issues. I will
list them: No. 1, alcohol, drug and substance abuse; No. 2,
teen pregnancy, sexuality, STDs, HIV/AIDS; No. 3, education
dropout rate; No. 4, peer pressure; No. 5, cultural
preservation; No. 6, diabetes and other health issues; No. 7,
gangs and crime; No. 8, spirituality; No. 9, strengthening
Native families; No. 10, a tie between suicide and the lack of
physical activity and poor nutrition.
At the recent National UNITY Conference in Palm Springs
where more than 1,400 participated, action planning sessions
were held to see what the youth would recommend to resolve the
problems. These recommendations will be posted on our website.
Their recommendations pertain to how youth can affect change in
their communities.
I would like to recognize some Federal agencies for their
support to help youth in resolving the problems. The
Administration for Native Americans [ANA] has been providing
grants to UNITY through competitive competition for 14 years.
Our current project is ``Linking Native Youth'' utilizes modern
technology to connect youth from the most remote areas to share
and exchange ideas, help resolve problems and mainly to get in
touch. I know ANA is short of staff, they serve more than 400
grantees and have a staff of 7.
Indian Health Service has been very supportive for a number
of years. It makes sense because so many of the youth concerns
are health related that IHS should be a partner. We appreciate
their support.
The Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention within
the Department of the Interior is partnering with UNITY to
conduct a Substance Abuse Prevention Among Indian Youth Summit.
That will be done in conjunction with the Healing Our Spirit
Worldwide Conference in Albuquerque in September.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has provided UNITY with
funding for an exciting project called ``Celebrate Fitness,
Tribal Youth Lead Promotion of Active Living.'' This is unique
because we're asking the youth to be the leaders in their
respective communities to promote physical activity and improve
nutritional practices.
Nine youth councils from seven States are working to
improve health and we are asking youth to be the catalyst to
generate, stimulate, maintain interest and to be the conduit to
reach out to all age groups from Head Start to senior citizens.
This is a new approach.
We have several recommendations to offer to the committee
for consideration. Anything that can be done to keep schools,
tribal facilities, and community centers open after school and
on weekends will allow youths to participate in constructive
activities. Youths have a lot of energy and enthusiasm and they
are going to be doing something with their time. If we don't
provide them with some constructive activities, then how can we
criticize them for getting involved in negative, destructive
activities?
More funding is needed for Native youth opportunities.
Collaboration is a must. I recommend reconsideration of the
executive order that was proposed by Indian Health Service and
the Department of Health and Human Services during the previous
Administration which proposed making it simpler for tribes and
others to apply for funding and not have to go to every agency
and sometimes different applications within one department to
look for funding; simplify through some type of collaborative
process.
Without reducing funds available to tribes and making
additional funds available to support Native youth, we would
ask that you consider adjusting wording in some of the
legislation. Very few agencies at the moment make it possible
for regional, national non-profit organizations to apply for
funding. I think it is very important that we have such
organizations to help.
We think there should be a hearing established for youth to
be the witnesses and would invite the committee to consider at
our mid-year UNITY meeting, in this area in February, to work
with the committee and invite a cross section of youth so
different agencies and the committee could hear them.
I would like to introduce Teresa Dorsett who accompanied me
with a nod. She might just make a couple of remarks. I think we
need to hear from young women and she is submitting some
written testimony. Could she?
[Prepared statement of Mr. Cook appears in appendix.]
Senator Campbell. Sure, that would be fine. Could you
identify yourself for the record.
STATEMENT OF TERESA DORSETT, MEMBER, CHEYENNE-ARAPAHO TRIBES OF
OKLAHOMA
Ms. Dorsett. My name is Teresa Dorsett. I'm a member of a
Oklahoma tribe. I am working part-time with UNITY while
pursuing a second Masters' Degree from the University of
Oklahoma.
I want to thank J.R. Cook and the committee for this
opportunity to share with you briefly some of my concerns.
Without reading this and trying to make it brief, I feel
the biggest problem that Native youth face and Indian people in
general is the mental health issues. I don't feel like we are
addressing those to the extent that needs to be done. I feel
all the other problems, the education, the health issues, the
substance abuse, the economic issues, tribal government issues
stem from a very unhealthy mental state of Native people.
In doing some research prior to coming here, I did find
some research that has been done by the American Indian, Alaska
Native Mental Health Research Program. In reading that, I found
a term I felt kind of summed it up. They use historical,
unresolved grief as a term of kind of why we're where we are
today.
Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, our youth are
struggling; our Native people are struggling; our tribal
communities are struggling; and I see a serious need,
especially in tribal communities and even among the Cheyenne
Arapaho people for mental health facilities.
I know Indian Health Service provides mental health
services but I don't think it begins to address the need. I
know we have the substance abuse campaigns but why do we have a
problem with substance abuse? Again, I feel it is because of
the state of the mental health that I don't feel is being
addressed.
Another area of concern is education. I am in education and
served as the tribe's education director of the last 6 years
and there are issues involving Native youth and public school
systems. I know we can address this again and again but the
teachers and communities, and school administrations lack
cultural sensitivity. I don't want to throw out the terms we
have been throwing out for years, but that's basically what it
is.
You used the term earlier a cultural crisis type deal and
again, it's directly involved with the mental health issues of
Native people. They have lost their identity. I don't think I
have to tell everyone the history of what has happened to our
Native people but we're still dealing with that. That on top of
putting our Native youth in public school systems that are
insensitive to their needs, and in my opinion, that are not
looking out for Native youth or minority children in general,
but that is going to cause problems with our Native youth, and
lead to the high drop out rate and all the other problems we
are discussing with Native youth.
As J.R. mentioned, we do need more programs for Native
youth to participate in positive activities. In Cheyenne-
Arapaho country, we lack opportunities, facilities, and as we
all know sports and athletics is sometimes what keeps Indian
students going through school. We lack opportunities for them
to participate in summer programs. After school programs are
often race related in my opinion and aren't afforded as many
opportunities as non-Indian students.
Last, the lack of cultural identity among Native youth and
the lack of positive relationships of tribal youth or tribal
organizations and governments are significant problems. Our
youth must begin to identify, learn about and engage in
activities related to their culture. Our youth are not provided
these opportunities and learning experiences.
I feel public school systems should have the responsibility
of teaching our Native youth about their culture, history,
tribal governments, et cetera because as it is, the moment they
either drop out of school or high school, they come to the
tribe for a job. That is when they begin to learn who they are
and their tribal governments. In my opinion, that is too late.
I address each of these issues in more detail in the
written testimony that I will be submitting through the
electronic mail. I would hope that sometime through this
process, I would love to discuss each of these in detail with
anyone that is interested.
Senator Campbell. Thank you. You are a teacher by
profession?
Ms. Dorsett. No; I am the tribe's education director. I
oversee the Federal programs which I could talk about tribal
education department issues right now but I won't go there.
Senator Campbell. You might be interested in looking at a
bill that this committee just reported out, a bill I
introduced, S. 210 which authorizes tribes to integrate
alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services so they can
streamline the process and not duplicate efforts and letting a
lot of people fall through the cracks.
It hasn't passed the Senate and we may run out of time
since we only have a few more weeks before we're out. We'll be
back in a few weeks and then we adjourn for the year but it is
something that is very important to me. You might take a look
at that. If we don't get it through this year, I'm going to
reintroduce it next year and try and go on with it.
You mentioned the importance of schools having some
cultural sensitivity programs. As many Indian kids and families
as there are in Oklahoma, don't the public schools provided
those kinds of programs?
Ms. Dorsett. No.
Senator Campbell. Even the ones that are near large Indian
population bases?
Ms. Dorsett. No; another issue which is addressed in the
testimony is the teacher preparation programs in Oklahoma. To
me it is common sense that if you're going to work with a large
Native population, you should be prepared for that and our
teachers aren't prepared for that. They are going into
communities, specifically northwest Oklahoma because that is
where I've worked the last 6 years, cultural sensitivity is not
there.
Senator Campbell. Don't the universities that train
teachers offer programs in Indian cultural sensitivity?
Ms. Dorsett. No; this October, I will be assuming duties as
the president of the Oklahoma Council on Indian Education and
that is one area that will be addressed. They are a State
Indian education organization.
Senator Campbell. Thank you. Perhaps I'll have some
questions for you too if you will stay there a while.
Why don't we go on to Nick Lowry, please?
STATEMENT OF NICK LOWERY, NATIVE VISION
Mr. Lowery. It is my impression that we are in a bit of a
rush so I'll dispense with showing a video that we had. I don't
believe we have time to show that. It is a video about Native
Vision which is a program we started 7 years ago. The first
year of that program, Mr. Chairman, you actually spoke on
behalf of the concept behind Native Vision which was that
sports and the mentor relationship of professional athletes is
one way to access youth and help inspire them to think about
their capacity for greatness.
I wanted to thank you for helping us inaugurate that
program 7 years ago. It has grown by leaps and bounds every
year. Unfortunately, I don't believe we have time to show the
video right now. In the interest of time I'll move on to my
written testimony.
Nine teenagers committed suicide on the White Mountain
Apache Reservation last year out of a youth population of
6,000. We've already heard some of the remarkable statistics.
We are so aware of all these different subjects that are two to
five times worse than urban conditions. One other statistic I
might add is that alcohol related deaths of ages 15-24 is 17
times higher than other United States races in general.
I'd like to summarize my key points. Programs like Native
Vision, like UNITY which I have a tremendous amount of respect
for and which needs to continue to grow, and a new program
called The Life Skills Center for Leadership are crucial to
accelerating the initiation process of Native youth into adult
roles serving their communities.
TYouth empowerment must be raised to a wholly new level of
importance. Tribal councils must incorporate youth programs
into the very heart of tribal governance and culture. For
example, the Gila River Youth Council, which is very much
involved with UNITY, Harvard's 2002 Honoring Nation's High
Honors awardee gives youth a permanent voice, a permanent
office and 100 percent support from their tribal council.
Nation Building for Native Youth, a program I've worked on for
the past year in developing a curriculum for Native youth, and
similar training programs are essential to closing the gap
between the aspiration to lead and serve and the opportunity to
do so.
Last, one possible avenue for creating some funding will be
this McCain Bayh Americorps bill which might provide the
crucial investment in these new Native youth leadership and
self governance programs. The 1 percent set aside for American
Indians in Americorps could help inspire this timely new vision
for Native youth.
Seven years ago, I helped found Native Vision with Johns
Hopkins for American Indian health and my friend, Clark Gaines,
from the NFL Players Association. Johns Hopkins has spent 25
years attacking the symptoms of ill health that we have heard
about today on reservations from diabetes, meningitis, to
teenage suicide which is becoming an epidemic in some places.
Native Vision added a more positive focus of youth and
sports and healthy family lifestyles, but while it has had
success, focusing on symptoms and healthy youth and families is
only part of the answer.
Speaking of mental health, just as Freud helped us
understand what the components were of mental ill health,
Abraham Maslow, the father of modern psychology, helped us ask
one more equally important question: What are the qualities of
the high achieving individual? Mr. Chairman, we must ask this
question now of our young people. What is your highest capacity
for greatness? We must even shout it and then we must listen.
We must finally give youth the training and the power to call
attention to their own issues in their communities.
Senator Campbell. I have to interrupt you because I'm
fascinated with your comments. Some day we will also have to
have a discussion about the use of Indian names for pro
football since you used to play for the Chiefs but that is not
in the purview of this hearing.
That is the second call to vote which means I have 5
minutes to get over there and then they close and we have two
votes which means I'll be gone maybe 20 minutes or one-half
hour. I don't want to hold up this hearing because I think it
is extremely important to get all your comments on the record
and I do have some questions.
For the next few minutes until I can get back, I'll
authorize our lead counsel, Paul Moorehead, to go ahead with
the hearing if that is acceptable. Otherwise, you will have to
wait here. Paul, if you'll take over, I'll be back as quickly
as I can.
Mr. Moorehead. Please continue, sir.
Mr. Lowery. Native culture has much that we can learn from,
such as the notion of the wholeness and the balance of health
symbolized by the medicine wheel. We must now consider the
symptoms of ill health and weigh them against a new paradigm:
What is your capacity for a legacy of meaning and contribution.
Then we must follow through with meaningful participation in
revitalizing communities through programs such as Americorps
and UNITY that place youth at the center of the community's
decisionmaking life.
At Gila River near Phoenix, AZ, the youth council has a
permanent voice in the life of the council reporting twice a
month with issues of their concern at all seven district
meetings. Regular training, which actually is going on right
now for their program at Gila River, allowing the youth to take
real ownership in running programs is the essence of Gila
River's true empowerment. In fact, the concept of youth
empowerment, which I'm sure Mr. Lewis knows a lot about, is
great rhetoric but rarely is followed through. Most adults do
not equip their students with the skills to run their own
program let alone have the opportunity.
My friend J.R. Cook will tell you it is no coincidence that
a few weeks ago when we were in Palm Springs for the UNITY
conference, a number of the top national leaders for UNITY are
from Gila River because they possess the confidence, the
experience, the vision, the organizational skills and in short,
the leadership.
I'd like to leave you with a couple statistics. We took
some surveys of the 500 youth that came to Native Vision this
year. It would have been 800 but we had the worst forest fire
in Arizona history 6 miles away so that hamstrung us a little
bit.
One of the interesting statistics is that only 2.3 percent
of the 200 that filled out these surveys said they go to the
community center after school. It seems to me some of the
things Mr. Walters and Mr. McCaleb talked about the theme of
the full community participating, whether it is the tribal
council or the principals and the teachers, and indeed the Boys
and Girls Clubs which have shown significant leadership on
Indian reservations, we need to have much more coordination
because obviously for many youth, highly motivated you, many do
not recognize the community center as indeed the community
center.
Native American youth are taught too often that their
problems are hopeless. They are so frequently approached by
those outside and inside the reservation, well meaning as they
might be who seek to help them with their so-called issues,
that they begin to see themselves as problems. They see the
reservation only as a source of despair and not of greatness
and vibrant living traditions and culture.
Profound new steps must be taken so that youth own their
own future. Boys and Girls Clubs on the Gila River Reservation
in Arizona, on Boys and Girls Clubs on the Wind River
Reservation in Wyoming, YMCA's in Sioux country and other
community centers throughout Indian country truly must become
the centers of life on the reservation for our young people.
This will only happen by raising the social value of youth and
their initiation into an adult role in the community. It does
make an immense difference, Mr. Chairman that a Senate
committee takes the time to underscore this is a new, important
priority.
Professor Joe Kalt and Andrew Lee at the Harvard Project,
whom I know you know quite well, have distilled five
fundamental concepts that would be part of this program which I
think underscore this empowerment. They have to do with: No. 1,
sovereignty; No. 2, capable institutions of self governance;
No. 3, cultural match, something Teresa talked about, having
sensitivity that the match exists between the formal governing
institutions and the informal traditions of our power is
appropriately organized and exercised by a particular tribe:
No. 4, strategic orientation, having a long term plan and
vision; and No. 5, leadership, a set of persons able to
articulate that vision, win support for that vision from the
community, demonstrate public spirited behavior and inspire
such behavior in others.
Nation Building for Native Youth is the first attempt to
transform the Harvard Project's mature nation building
principles into lessons transparent for adolescents. Developed
as a pilot curriculum at Harvard this past year and
administered by my foundation with assistance from the Kellogg
Foundation and the Pequot Tribe, it teaches self governance and
leadership through a combination of trust building exercises,
nation building principles such as those just mentioned, and
mock tribal councils.
In conclusion, Native youth are inundated by often well
meaning but misdirected messages from community programs that
aim to help them out with their problems. Youth grow up
believing they are the problem and not the answer. The answer
is staring at each one of us and the outstanding people like
J.R. Cook, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Biggs, and Teresa who are here today
that have spent any time working with youth. We have to give
youth a taste of power and the insight into how to use it
effectively. We must repair the immense tear in the social
fabric in Indian country that represents the yawning gap
between the ages 11 and 21 are the years that comprise coming
into adulthood and by definition, into meaningful participation
and leadership in the community.
The single most effective way to develop a cycle that
generates greater social capital is by engaging youth at the
earliest age in the problem solving of its community by
teaching involvement and service as the highest value. In so
doing, an education system unleashes the imagination and energy
of its true clients, its students.
In those communities in Indian country where teenage
suicide, substance abuse, illiteracy and apathy dance together
in morbid fascination, there is only one answer. I challenge
every tribal council in America to create within their own
culture and community a meaningful, fully integrated role for
its youth council.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to share
these thoughts with you.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Lowery appears in appendix.]
Mr. Moorehead. Thank you, Mr. Lowery.
Mr. Lewis, if you would like to proceed.
STATEMENT OF DAN LEWIS, BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS
Mr. Lewis. It's a privilege to be back again and to focus
on youth issues.
I have the privilege of serving as chair of the Native
Advisory Committee to Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Before I
begin my testimony, I also want to acknowledge a fellow member
of that committee, Gary Edwards, also employed full time with
the U.S. Secret Service. He has been a great asset to that
committee.
Also in the room is Robert Calloway our senior vice
president for Boys and Girls Clubs and Steve Salem, also of the
same office.
Let me begin by giving a brief overview of my testimony. I
certainly agree with a number of the comments made here about
the issues facing Native youth but certainly I think one of the
issues or problems would be lack of a comprehensive,
sustainable program that has local control. That has been
highlighted in a number of different testimonies this morning.
I never expected to see in the 8 years I've been involved
with Boys and Girls Clubs the actual explosion of these clubs
in Indian country which is testament to the fact that there was
nothing there before for the kids to engage in; 8 years ago,
there were only 12 clubs, today there are 120 with 26 in
progress.
The nice thing about the Boys and Girls Club is it provides
those three critical factors of being comprehensive in terms of
the programs it offers, focusing on sustainability both from a
financial standpoint to make sure that these are not just
around as long as a Federal grant is available but can be
sustained through a combination of resources be they Federal,
tribal, State, non-profit or private sector is really the only
way to make those effective, and local control which was a
critical factor as we started the program eight years ago that
self determination be the way in which we deliver these
programs to Indian country.
The map I've prepared for the committee illustrates the 120
clubs we have today and those are all based on each of those
tribes electing to pursue a Boys and Girls Club, one or more,
on their reservation. There are notable gaps. California,
obviously, but as the word begins to spread of its
effectiveness, I have no doubt that our new goal of 200 clubs
by 2005 will be achieved.
Second, comprehensive, a lot of times although they start
out being well intentioned, the programs are not comprehensive
and only focus perhaps on one aspect, athletics. That is fine
if you enjoy athletics but if that is not your focus, and
perhaps arts and crafts and computers, you're left out and you
feel left out and that adds to some of the frustration our
Native youth feel. That is why Boys and Girls Clubs want to
focus on making it comprehensive so everyone is engaged and
everyone feels empowered as Mr. Lowery said.
I was meeting with the Bureau of Indian Affairs this
morning and there on the table was a 2001 Youth Risk Behavior
Survey published by the Bureau on their high school students.
It lists a number of areas in which there is concern, violence
on school property, sexual behavior, drug use, alcohol use,
physical activity and so forth.
Interestingly as I just looked at those contents, in every
one of those areas, Boys and Girls Clubs offer a curriculum to
address those situations but more important, I think we allow
each of those clubs and each of the different tribal cultures
to adapt our programs so they are more focused and get more
involved in the community, the elders and the parents as well.
I learned this morning of the FACE Program which sounds
very interesting and am pleased that is being pushed by the
Administration. As well intentioned as it is, the obvious
concern is they are only reaching 30 schools. Yet the Bureau
has well over 185 schools as you know, boarding, dormitory
schools and so forth.
Second, it goes up to age 8. If you're 9, 10, 11, and 12,
you are left out again and what happens if you were not
involved in that particular program? Boys and Girls Clubs
again, we want to empower the students by ensuring that we
provide those literacy type programs, computer skills and so
forth. There are opportunities here that I see where we can be
an extension of the FACE Program once those kids graduate from
that particular curriculum.
In addition, my friend J.R. Cook serving our teenage years
is a very important program, it testifies to the depth of the
councils around the country but also I think we can be a feeder
to UNITY as well and have been in many cases, Gila River, Salt
River are examples.
There has to be, as I mentioned, in terms of
sustainability, involvement by the tribe, involvement by the
Federal Government, involvement by the private sector and local
organizations and we are seeing that. I think that is critical
to making sure we have a sustainable program.
I know the committee, in other issues, has talked about
consolidation. I would certainly agree there. Where we can
consolidate programs so that tribes and other youth programs or
Boys and Girls Clubs don't have to spend excessive amounts of
time on paperwork and those types of issues, that would be
critically important.
Where consolidation is not possible, certainly strong
language by the committee or the Senators on this committee to
make sure our tribal communities are included in programs that
go forward. Unfortunately and all too often the Congress waits
until there has been some horrific incident within the Nation
before they develop a comprehensive program. We don't really
have that time to wait.
I think of all the other tribes that don't have a youth
program, don't have a Boys and Girls Club, are not part of
UNITY, what are their kids doing. As I present this issue to
tribes, the issue here as tribes are concerned, as this
committee is concerned, is equally important in terms of
sovereignty. As tribes face external threats to sovereignty, be
it legislation or issues before the court, there are equally
and perhaps even more dangerous issues of internal threats to
sovereignty, the erosion of sovereignty which come through,
tobacco use, alcohol use, and all these other matters we have
talked about this morning.
The difference is when external threats to sovereignty
arise, tribes band together and have effectively fought off
those issues they feel strongly about. The internal threats to
sovereignty are different because it depends solely on that
tribal community to face up to the issue and then to address
it. If they don't, erosion as it occurs naturally, if something
gives away, you can't repair what has been damaged, it is gone.
So to our smaller tribal communities, our Alaska Native
villages, and the Native Hawaiian homelands that we're reaching
out to, those are absolutely critical aspects. I hope as we go
forward the committee will keep those in mind, consolidation as
well as a strong proponent of tribes being included in other
national programs.
Our Bureau of Indian Affairs program with the number of
schools out there making these programs effective requires a
facility where kids can really feel it's their own. The issue
of not feeling a community center is their own as borne out by
Mr. Lowery is exactly that. When an issue arises within a
community, who gets kicked out first? It's the youth. So I
think that is where the Boys and Girls Club has been so
effective by ensuring we're meeting the needs of the age range
between 5 and 18.
Let me also mention that the issues J.R. pointed out, the
recommendations of after school consolidation, direct funding
and nonprofit issues, are all ones I thoroughly agree with.
Again, I appreciate the committee's time on this issue and
look forward to working with you to address these.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Lewis appears in appendix.]
Mr. Moorehead. Thank you, Mr. Lewis.
As we wait for the vice chairman to return, maybe we could
proceed with some of the questions he had for the panel.
To Dr. Biggs, in his opening remarks, Senator Campbell
expressed a concern with the increasing prevalence of diabetes
in Native youth circles. That combined with increased obesity
and related health issues causes him and the committee and the
Congress generally to look for answers.
One of the slow evolutions here is in the focus on
prevention, not treatment. He, I think, would be interested in
finding out what your estimation is of the largest contributing
factors to the rise in diabetes and what suggestions the
Academy may have to address those.
Mr. Biggs. As you know, there is not a huge amount of data
as relates to effective strategies to treat diabetes in
children. There is a substantial amount of data that exists in
adults. A lot of that data has been carried over in terms of
treatment for children.
Clearly it's been established that obesity and sedentary
activities contribute to the onset of diabetes and programs
that address those issues seem to be most effective. As noted
the written testimony I supplied, the programs that seem to
have been effective in the past or that have been used are
multi-disciplinary and incorporate the community. They involve
nutrition, the behavioral health providers as well as the
clinical providers. I think the data from the pediatric age
group is in evolution. We talked a bit about the funding for
diabetes programs for Indian Health Service. Research has to be
a piece of that funding and obviously that research needs to be
culturally sensitive and appropriate. The tribes have to have
some say in the process of that evolution so that data can be
generated for Indian children so we can use the data as we go
forward.
Mr. Moorehead. In a related question, one of the phenomena
that the tribes have related to this committee is that the
programs and services are often disparate and uncoordinated
which makes their ability to bring some discipline to them very
difficult. Is that your experience across the Federal
Government that the programs are often untied, nonintegrated
and often don't know what each other are doing, for instance?
Mr. Biggs. It's a difficult question to answer. I think
when these programs are developed in different tribes, and
there being over 500 tribes, they have to be very tribally
specific. Because of that, the programs may be different and
there may be a little less coordination that way.
I believe making it tribally specific with tribal ownership
is going to ultimately be more effective as I think most of the
people at this table have alluded to.
Mr. Moorehead. Mr. Cook, UNITY has worked to promote
leadership skills among Indian youth. Do you have an indication
for those young people who have gone through and participated
in UNITY programs have gone on to leadership posts on tribal
councils, in State government or the Federal Government?
Mr. Cook. One of the alumni is chairman of the Aroostook
Bank of Micmacs in Maine; another is vice chair of the Yavapai-
Apache Tribe in Camp Verde, AZ and several others are serving
on councils. In addition to those types of roles, many have
gone on to become professional men and women. Of our 10 member
council of trustees, 5 are former UNITY members, a medical
doctor, a communications expert, a youth program coordinator,
two attorneys, and two of the current UNITY copresidents of the
National UNITY Council serve as trustees. So 7 of the 10 are
past or current UNITY members. I can't give you any specific
percentages but we're seeing many who are going on to become
leaders in their chosen professions.
Mr. Moorehead. Is there any demand under the label of
leadership skills in terms entrepreneurship in young Indians
wanting to learn business skills, start businesses and what
have you?
Mr. Cook. Some are. One of our goals is to promote self
sufficiency, to promote entrepreneurship. We're trying to
include that. We don't have any partnership really with such a
group other than the National Endowment for Financial Education
which collaborated with us in producing a booklet on ``Weaving
Your Future with Wisdom and Money.'' We think that is an
important first step.
Also, at conferences and on the Internet, we want to start
exposing the youth to more business opportunities and
entrepreneurship.
Mr. Moorehead. Ms. Dorsett, would you have any comments on
those issues?
Ms. Dorsett. I just wanted to share one experience. While
we were at the Palm Springs UNITY conference this year in
California, we had a 2-day meeting for Celebrate Fitness
projects. We were sitting there in discussion and the question
came especially with regard to diabetes and all the other
health issues that Native Americans have, why aren't we making
a change? There is a reason things don't seem to be getting
better. Why is that?
Again, through discussion we went back to the mental health
aspect of it. If you don't feel good enough about yourself to
care about your health physically or mentally, I feel that
needs to be addressed. They have to work together. Health
issues in my opinion could and oftentimes are the result of a
person's mental health. If those things are working together, I
don't know but I just wanted to add that to your question on
diabetes.
Thinking back to the people in my community, they know they
have diabetes but they continue to eat the wrong foods, don't
exercise and they don't get off the couch. Why? They know but
they are not doing it. I think looking at that question, maybe
some solutions can come from that.
Mr. Moorehead. Based on the meetings and discussions you
have had, are there any preliminary patterns or preliminary
reasons that you can determine?
Ms. Dorsett. As to why they are not addressing it? That's
what we came up with. We felt possibly the mental issue is the
big problem. We don't feel good enough about ourselves to make
our health a priority and it's almost an acceptable thing--not
acceptable, but it's not important--I don't even know how to
say that but we're used to it as a comfortable type mentality,
even though we know the consequences. Something has to be
brought to their attention or through the media campaigns or
whatever. Again, I go back to the mental health issues. That
has to be dealt with or at least work in collaboration with the
health aspect.
Mr. Moorehead. Mr. Lowery, your testimony talked about the
need to develop leadership skills and activities among Native
youth and professional athletics is a very glamorous job, most
of what we see is winning or on TV. Does the disciplined side
of athletics come through in your experience in working with
young people and do you find that to be a helpful and
unintended consequence as a result of training and physical
regimens?
Mr. Lowery. Absolutely. There is a relationship. The 19
Nation Building for Native Youth participants for this year who
were not selected for their athletic ability went through 4
days of training and then literally as we drove toward the
forest fire on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, they made
it clear they wanted to do several more things than what we had
asked of them. We had asked them to talk to the White Mountain
Apache Tribal Council. What we got was a meeting in the midst
of this forest fire with the chairman. They asked, can we also
participate in the sports. What we did not realize was that
almost every one of these young people who represented nine
different tribes from around the country were excellent
athletes as well. I think it's common knowledge that some of
the data that have been released on early childhood development
show that those young people that engage in athletics at an
early age learn socialization skills, self confidence, self
esteem, have the ability to relate to others and have a
perspective that is more mature and more advanced. You see this
self confidence.
The difference we're talking about today is to take these
raw materials and create training programs like Greg Mendoza
has done on Gila River where he literally lets the youths speak
for themselves. When I was there with Danny Glover 3 weeks ago
in Palm Springs, to hear the caliber of these young people,
these are not people with voices of 17-, 18-, and 19-year-olds.
These are people that sound like they're in their late 20's,
have multiple degrees and have an articulation and an ability
to help organize group consensus that is far more mature than
anything I've witnessed in my life working with youth.
Mr. Moorehead. That discipline and those lifestyles are
mutually reinforcing in other areas I take it in terms of diet,
exercise, and frame of mind and what can be imported into other
areas of one's life?
Mr. Lowery. I think that's absolutely true and I think it's
also this notion of what is a role model. If Native Vision
began by using pro athletes as the catalyst for role models,
the idea was not that the pro athlete was the quintessential
role model. The idea was the best role model is the Native
American like Mary Kim Titla, who J.R. was indirectly
mentioning, who was Ms. UNITY a long time ago and who now is
the chairman of UNITY and one of the foremost, full-blooded
indigenous reporters in this country. It's remarkable what kind
of effect this has.
It becomes a catalyst to help these young people look at
themselves as role models and the effect they have immediately
within their own family and also the sort of elder relationship
that actually Mr. Walters talked about, focusing on the elders.
When you do these programs, you have to have a vital
involvement by the elders of the community which is part of
Native culture anyway. That's when you have a wonderful synergy
of role models where kids develop a sense of who they really
are.
Mr. Moorehead. In a related question I think we could ask
all the panelists, you mentioned families, Mr. Lowery. Is this
a generational issue? Americans across the country in the last
generation have become more aware of exercise, good diet, and
what have you. Is there a generational issue here at work too
with Native youngsters that smoking is a bad thing no matter
what the circumstances, alcohol generally is a bad thing no
matter what the circumstances, and is this a unique phenomenon?
Mr. Lowery. We all know and I think all of us have
different perspectives on this, but actually, I worked with Mr.
Walters in the Drug Abuse Policy Office in 1988 for Donald Dan
Macdonald and the patterns of learning, what your behavior is
and how it affects your life, is very complex. We know there
are immense problems that continue to exist today but those
young people who look at themselves for what they are capable
of, as the glass being half full, that initiates a pattern that
changes their framework and inspires many others around them.
Mr. Biggs. I would only say that working clinically, the
adolescents that you see who have that positive self esteem
about them, you can pick them out as they come through the
door. They are very different than some of their peers. They
are often involved in activities such as people have presented
around the table. I think that self esteem really makes a big
difference in terms of the choices they make whether it be
exercise, to smoke or not to smoke or to drink or not to drink.
I believe that is a very powerful piece.
Mr. Moorehead. Mr. McCaleb testified that the first
teachers any young child has are his or her parents. Do these
programs and initiatives involve parents as well or is it more
narrowly tailored to youngsters? Mr. Cook?
Mr. Cook. I think I'd prefer to yield to the education
expert but if I'm understanding your question, we certainly
need to strengthen Native families. There are so many
dysfunctional families that there has to be outside help. We
can't rely totally upon just the natural parents. That's where
Boys and Girls Clubs, just committed men and women, coaches,
others who can help support the child come into play. Teresa?
Ms. Dorsett. I think the last two questions you asked maybe
I can address in one answer. You asked was this a generational
deal with smoking, I don't think it's oh, my mom smokes, so I'm
going to smoke or my mom drinks, so I'm going to drink. To some
extent it is that, but our kids just don't have anything else
to do, plus they're looking for something. When the positive is
not there, what else do they have but the negative and that's
the smoking, the drinking, the getting into trouble, and the
violence.
I was thinking in regard to the Boys and Girls Club, the
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes have one Boys and Girls Club program in
the whole northwest part of Oklahoma and I was thinking about
programs in our area specifically for Native Americans and I
believe that is the only one. That is one elementary school
that provides that program. It is like a godsend to that
community. It's a place for their kids to go after school, they
provide different programs, the arts and crafts and the
sporting stuff.
The family issues need to be addressed, the breakdown of
family in any community and I think I pointed out that funding
needs to be available for tribes to specifically have mental
health facilities right there for our Native people to walk
into. I feel like awareness campaigns on the effects of the
mental health status of our communities and the many different
areas in which--I just think people don't know. I think that's
an area that is overlooked.
I don't think that's only with Native American people but
it is a significantly bigger issue with Native people. Because
of this historical, unresolved grief, I love that term because
I feel we haven't resolved the grief from way back when and we
have a lot of sadness and anger and we don't know. Our kids are
lost and our parents are lost, and I feel the elders want to
help but most of the time, they are not asked, we don't go to
our elders and ask. I could talk forever on that. I'll let it
go.
Mr. Moorehead. Mr. Lewis, your testimony includes some
discussion of the GREAT Program with relation to gangs. Can you
describe for the committee some of the successes that the Boys
and Girls Clubs have had with GREAT up to now?
Mr. Lewis. One location comes to mind and that is Gila
River. When we started that particular club about 7 years ago,
there was significant gang activity there at Gila River largely
because there was no positive activities to participate in. So
that vacuum was quickly filled by gang activity and other
negative activities.
We introduced the Boys and Girls Club and we actively
welcomed those who participated in gangs. These are either
``wannabe'' gangs or gangs taking it to the next step and
involved in some petty crime and so forth. There are other
areas where we were getting more serious and you have the Crips
and Bloods and use of firearms and so forth.
In this situation, applying that GREAT Program along with
the comprehensive nature of the Boys and Girls Club, not just a
GREAT Program but also the other positive activities within the
club and the extracurricular activities outside the club that
allows these youth to have an alternative to say no the peer
pressure or to realize there is some positive alternatives they
can be exposed to.
So the gang activity has been reduced, not eliminated, but
substantially reduced. Graffiti has been reduced around the
club. It's not inside the club. When they come inside the club,
they know they are entering something that belongs to them in a
sense and to the youth of that community and has really had a
positive influence on the Salt River Indian community as well.
There is a focus on ensuring when we go into a community
that we assess what is critically needed and if there are
significant gang issues, then we have people who are trained
within our national organization to come and provide hands-on
training of how to detect youth gang activity as well as how to
arrest it and make sure we orient them to positive
alternatives.
Mr. Moorehead. In Gila River, for instance, are there
border security issues with the tribes of the southwest that
GREAT has begun to deal with as well or the Boys and Girls
Clubs have been forced to deal with or is that another issue
entirely?
Mr. Lewis. Border in terms of?
Mr. Moorehead. Border security, illegal immigration,
narcotics?
Mr. Lewis. Not with Gila River that I'm aware of. The only
one that perhaps might come into that circumstance and they
don't have a Boys and Girls Club at this time, would be
Banahabton down in southern Arizona.
Mr. Moorehead. In your testimony, you also mentioned local
decisionmaking and local control. In your experience, are we
now in a mid-phase between a Washington-oriented dictation of
programs to one more where the tribal councils and tribal
governments themselves tailor these programs and is that what
you attribute the success to?
Mr. Lewis. I contribute the success to the fact that
you've--when I say local control, I don't necessarily mean
tribal control. There certainly is a desire to partner with the
tribe but clearly we don't want this to be seen as another
Federal program or another tribal program. We've had enough of
those that are there one day and because of lack of funding or
lack of support, fade away.
Local control in terms of involvement of community members
who are volunteers that serve on the board, you have staff in
the community that serve there full-time to organize the
activities, they run the operation and then getting others
involved on an as needed basis for other extracurricular
activities as coaches, as chaperons to other activities. So
local control is centrally important, particularly in Indian
country where all too often someone arrives with a program in
hand that they don't allow any flexibility and they are seen as
the ones controlling that type of activity.
It definitely needs that because each of the tribes are
different, have a different issue, and certainly when it comes
to the cultural issues, it has to be locally controlled and
influenced.
Mr. Moorehead. You also mentioned the explosion in the
number of Boys and Girls Clubs across the country. I think the
number you mentioned was the target of 200?
Mr. Lewis. 200 by 2005.
Mr. Moorehead. Of those 200, would those use existing
facilities of the Bureau or new facilities? Can you describe
that a bit?
Mr. Lewis. It's a variety of all the above. You have some
that use Bureau school facilities, some that have used
abandoned HUD homes, some that have converted abandoned
facilities. I keep going back to Gila River but they had an
abandoned school facility that was converted to a Boys and
Girls Club. Salt River had an abandoned HUD house that was not
being used, about half the size of this committee room but
within that club is a computer, a library, a game room and the
staff offices. We have the brand new Sioux and Big Crow
facility at Pine Ridge which is an effort by a consortium of
Federal agencies that includes a state of the art gymnasium and
an olympic size swimming pool all indoors.
You have others that are fine facilities that no one knows
who has used it or they have been reluctant to turn over but
when they see the success with the kids--everyone obviously
would like a new facility like Sioux and Big Crow but they are
just as happy when they are able to convert something that has
been used that they could call their own.
For some that don't have facilities, that's why we're
pushing the use of Bureau facilities as well.
Mr. Moorehead. With regard to the idea in your statement
regarding consolidation of Native youth programs, can you
describe the kinds of programs that you have in mind? Would
they be facility construction programs, services or what kind
of programs are we talking about?
Mr. Lewis. I'm not an expert on all the youth type programs
that are available but certainly I talked in my testimony about
the Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Act where there are some
activities if formula driven and suddenly a tribe only ends up
with $10,000 or $15,000, hardly enough to afford a full-time
person to engage in a prevention activity, that same amount
would make a huge difference if you apply it to a Boys and
Girls Club that could run it on a consistent basis to a wide
audience of boys and girls and a wide age range as well.
Other programs that they might be eligible for but either
can't apply for it directly or have to apply for it through the
tribe, again that introduces a whole set of issues that
frustrates funding sources.
Certainly other national programs that we ought to be able
to tie into, in our case, Americorps has been excellent because
they send out staff on a short term basis but when they are
there for that period of time, they put in a lot of work to
help us redo facilities or help out with club work. More of
that is certainly necessary.
If we're to get serious about this issue, we need to
address it aggressively and consolidation is one answer but
targeting Native youth exclusively and giving them
appropriations over a period of years in the neighborhood of
$100 million is something that ought to be done. It can be used
in a variety of ways as long as you have a youth organization
with a proven track record and we're not going out again and
just doing pilot projects for the sake of doing more studies or
test this or that.
Indian country of all has been studied to death. We're past
that stage. We have outlined here in five separate testimonies
the issues. They are well known and documented. Now it is just
aggressively pursuing it. When you get the FACE Program that
only has less than $7 million reaching out to 33 schools and
have over 200 schools, they have a problem there and there's
going to be a negative consequence because of that.
If we can get more involved in UNITY, that's great but
again, without the resources that help us provide the facility
where they could come as well as the program, as well as the
staff and make sure they are not worried did I miss the
deadline for this particular grant, am I out of compliance or
I've got another report to fill out, the same report I had to
fill out for this agency, that's going to help tremendously.
Mr. Moorehead. What has been your experience in the demand,
the appetite, the interest of the private sector in these
programs? Mr. Lowery, has the professional sporting goods firms
been interested in youth initiatives and if they haven't, why
not?
Mr. Lowery. I think companies act in their self interests
as well as hopefully in the interest of the community.
Professional athletes at Native Vision can help bring the
spotlight where a company can see clearly we are making a
difference.
I think the theme of consolidation and coordination applies
here as well: Bringing the salient role models not just those
from professional sports who are not American Indian but those
that are actually American Indian, bringing those people for
the success stories. We certainly would like to make ourselves
available with the NFL Players Association and people from the
NBA that participate in Native Vision to make messages
available to say this is going on.
Speaking of messages, Mr. Lewis talked about the
comprehensive nature of the Boys and Girls Club programs. One
example that gets the attention of these businesses, to my mind
one of Native Vision's most successful programs, is on the Wind
River Reservation. It is a simple concept, a media program
where the youth work with a radio station. Companies like radio
stations and television stations to talk about what they do in
the community.
The simple relationship is the radio station helps provide
time where the youth write, produce and perform their own
public service announcements where they say, here I am on Wind
River, here are my problems in my life and here is how I choose
to try to solve them. We started that several years ago. There
have been 350 youth that have participated. It changes
permanently the way they look at themselves, to hear their
voice going all over the State of Wyoming, it changes the way
others look at them. It is a great model for empowering youth,
if you define empowering youth as increasing their capacity to
tell their own stories, ask their own questions and make their
own choices.
Those are the criteria that businesses need to focus on.
How can we give voice to youth. There is a win-win for a
company. Cause branding does work where the company allows
Native youth to say here is my life, here is how I try to solve
my problems, and they indirectly get some benefit from that.
Mr. Cook. I think one of our challenges is that we have
such a small staff and it takes professionals to write the type
of grants, costs a lot of money to contact the foundations to
follow up and somehow we need a stronger partnership with the
private sector that our only funding from the private sector at
this time is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It took
several years of effort to develop that partnership.
Somehow I know there is a need and I suppose other
organizations could use help in locating where grants are
available or where corporations are interested in helping and
to follow through. That's kind of our situation.
Mr. Lewis. Again, for corporations and now I put my hat on
as an employee of Bank of America, we look at is the program
sustainable? If it's a program where they know that essentially
their dollars are going to be used in a way where it is going
to be a repeat proposal, they don't get as excited about if
they can really see it is going to make a tangible difference.
Bricks and mortar are not as interesting an issue to respond to
as a specific program that is going to make an impact on the
kids, whether it be financial literacy, reading, computers and
so forth.
Second, as I said in my remarks, if we go forward and focus
on Native American youth programs, it has to be with
organizations with a proven track record. In the case of Boys
and Girls Clubs, with a 150-year track record, we come through
and they know what our symbol is, they know the comprehensive
nature of our program, you have a lot of corporations with CEOs
who went through a Boys and Girls Club. They have an idea of
what they are contributing to and know it can make a difference
as opposed to someone saying we contribute to my youth program.
I have no idea what that means, what that is, how many youth is
serves. Is it really being run in a professional manner and is
it accountable in terms of being financially accountable, are
the dollars being spent or has it excessive administrative
costs?
All those factors go into how a corporation will look at
it, how I will look at it on behalf of Bank of America and in
terms of our foundations as well.
Mr. Biggs. What everybody here is really talking about is
prevention activities, whether through the Boys and Girls Club,
Vision, UNITY. The Indian Health Service, as you know, has a
health promotion, disease prevention arm that works with them
and that funding comes through the Federal Government. That
program which is variably available in Indian country depending
on where you are, is designed to incorporate the local people
in coming up with ideas and ways to improve their health.
As we talked about how to engage families, these kinds of
programs came to mind--there's one in particular that exists on
the Navajo Reservation called the Just Move It Program, a
reservation-wide family exercise program, with an evening run
every week across the reservation. It has just blossomed and is
a huge event now. It engages families and engages youth. I
believe those are the kinds of programs in the community that
make a difference and that are available through health
promotion dollars through the Indian Health Service.
Mr. Moorehead. Thank you.
I have exhausted the list of Senator Campbell's questions.
I am unable to adjourn this hearing, so for lack of a better
word, we are excused.
I want to thank the panel, Ms. Dorsett, Mr. Cook, Mr.
Lowery, Mr. Biggs and our friend, Dan Lewis.
With that, on behalf of Senator Campbell, I want to thank
you all for coming and testifying. He undoubtedly will have and
the committee may have questions they would like to submit to
you in writing and if we could get those out to you in the next
couple of days, the hearing record will stay open probably for
a good month or so.
Mr. Moorehead. With that, have a nice day. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 3:55 p.m., the committee was adjourned, to
reconvene at the call of the Chair.]
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A P P E N D I X
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Additional Material Submitted for the Record
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Prepared Statement of Neal McCaleb, Assistant Secretary for Indian
Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am pleased to be here
today to discuss Native American Youth activities and initiatives
within the Office of the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA].
The problems encountered by Indian youth as they grow up on the
reservation are the prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse and the
consequent social dysfunction created by substance abuse. These
problems are, in my opinion, a result of sustained economic deprivation
and the hopelessness of having little expectation of having a career or
meaningful employment on the reservation. These problems are chronic
and seemingly intractable and will require a concerted and sustained
effort by the Federal Government in it's role as Trustee to cause a
measurable improvement.
Opportunities for economic development should be promoted and
nurtured by all agencies of the Federal Government through contracting
and economic incentives for businesses in Indian country in a well
coordinated fashion. We are sponsoring an Indian economic summit this
fall to focus attention on the opportunities and mechanisms for
business development on reservations. The objective must be the full
participation of Indian communities in the economic prosperity of this
country. It is our challenge to help Indian families overcome obstacles
related to poverty and isolation.
We have one such successful BIA initiative carried forward by the
Office of Indian Education Programs [OIEP] called the Family and Child
Education Program, otherwise referred to as the FACE program. This
unique program provides family literacy services to American Indian
parents and their children from birth through third grade. The goal is
to provide support to parents in their role as their child's first and
most influential teacher. Through the FACE program, families receive
services in their homes and at school. The FACE program is unique in
that it is one of the few Federal program designed to include the
collaborative efforts of Federal, tribal and private organizations to
achieve these objectives.
The FACE program began as a pilot initiative in 1991 was
implemented in six BIA funded schools and communities. Over the years
the program has expanded to the current 32 programs. Beginning in
school year 2003-04, the program will grow to 39.
The Parents As Teachers organization based in St. Louis, MO, and
the National Center for Family Literacy based in Louisville, KY,
provide on-going training and technical assistance to the staff to
implement this program. The training and technical assistance provided
to the local based FACE program staff is held at national meetings and
onsite in the community at a BIA funded school to ensure a high level
of quality implementation. The impact of the FACE program is measured
annually with formal evaluations conducted by the Resource and Training
Associates [RTA] of Overland Park, KS. The executive summaries are
available at the BLA/OIEP web site.
Recently, during a recent trip to New Mexico, I saw the FACE
program in action. It was evident that there is a family atmosphere. I
saw moms, dads, grandparents, and youngsters participating as partners
in their child's education as well as their own. The school and
community look with pride at their FACE program which, although it is a
model, is adapted to reflect the culture and community of the local
setting. It is impressive to see the program staff who are community
members speaking both English and their native language, during the
program.
Over the past 11 years, over 5,000 families have participated,
representing 15,000 adults and children. It should be noted that the
FACE program requires adult participation. For every child in the
program, a parent or significant caring adult must also participate.
Children are not served without an adult. Seventy-five percent of the
FACE program families are learning English as a second language. Sixty-
nine percent of the FACE program adults served are mothers, 21 percent
are fathers and 10 percent are grandmothers and/or other relatives.
Five or six individuals reside in the homes of most of the FACE program
families. The number residing in homes range from 2 to 16.
Participating families usually are comprised of two or three
individuals but the BIA OIEP records show there have been as many 8.
As a direct result of their participation in the program, 1,500
parents have gained job skills resulting in their employment, and 600
have completed their GED or gained their high school diploma. Sixty
percent of the FACE program adults improve their reading and math
skills. Ninety-one percent of the FACE program parents report reading
to their child everyday.
Parents who participate in the FACE program remain involved in
their child's education and demonstrate continued participation in the
school such as serving on school committees, attending parent teacher
conferences and volunteering in the classroom. BIA schools with the
FACE program report higher levels of parent involvement than BIA
schools without the FACE program. Ninety-one percent of the FACE
program parents report that the FACE program schools are welcoming
places for parents. This is particularly significant in that so many of
the FACE program parents did not have successful experiences in schools
and also for many they are returning to the same school in order to
participate in the FACE program. As a direct result in their
participation in the FACE program they increase their self esteem and
become empowered. They gain a voice to express their concerns and to
support or impact their child's education. Over the past 5 years the
FACE program has conducted a parent essay contest to encourage parents
to write about the impact the FACE program has made for them and their
families. There are three winning essays selected and these are posted
on the BLA/OIEP web site as personal stories or testimonies about how
their lives and families have changed through the support they received
through the FACE program. Overall, parents report that the most
important thing they have learned from participating in the FACE
program is improved parenting.
Children who participate in both the home based services and school
based early childhood program demonstrate higher proficiency in
language, literacy, personal, social, mathematical thinking and social
studies domains. The age of home based children is from birth through
age three. These children and their parents receive the Born to Learn
Curriculum, developed by the Parents As Teachers organization, which is
based on the latest brain based research from birth to age 3. At age 3
the brain is 80 percent developed which indicates how important it is
to reach children in those earliest years and support parents with
knowledge about child development and encourage their participation in
age appropriate activities which will enhance learning and future
academic achievement.
Children age 4 and 5 are served at a BIA-funded school with their
parents. The National Center for Family Literacy provides the training
and support for early childhood and adult education teachers. The early
childhood program is designed to implement a child centered active
learning approach and the adult education program is based on the
national standards for adult education. Each parent receives a program
designed to address their unmet academic needs and improve job related
or employment skills. Part of each day these FACE program adults
participate in their child's classroom and engage in an activity with
them. Part of each day is also set aside to discuss parenting and child
development.
A definition of early childhood includes birth through age 8, the
FACE program schools provide children in grades K-3 with a child
centered active learning approach. The K-3 teachers are trained by
certified trainers at national meetings and onsite to ensure the
quality of the FACE program implementation.
Sharon Darling, Founder and Executive Director of the National
Center for Family Literacy has stated that the finest examples of
family literacy programs are found implemented in the FACE program.
The FACE program is a quality program that has proven to support
parents in one of their most important roles; as teachers of their
children. This is an important program that impacts the critical early
years of children by improving academic performance which leads our
students to complete high school and improve their overall family
literacy. I encourage all of you to visit one of our FACE program
schools.
It's this type of program that provides opportunities to the whole
community by providing each individual with a role in shaping their own
destiny. As the opportunity for self-realization of an individual's
full potential develops within the cultural influence of the Indian
community the social dysfunction of dependency will diminish and Indian
youth will experience a new and brighter future.
3 I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
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