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Tribal Child Care Technical Assistance Center (TriTAC)
Effective Program Strategies

State/Tribal Minnesota Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Tribal District

Demographic Information:
The State of Minnesota is home to eleven American Indian tribes, seven Ojibwe reservations and four Dakota communities. American Indian and Alaska Native people make up approximately 1.6% of Minnesota’s nearly 5 million residents¹.

Type of Program:
Minnesota’s Child Care and Development Fund program, operated through the State’s Department of Human Services, provides funding for the Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network.

Effective Program Strategy:
Since July of 1999, tribal Head Start, Child Care, and Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) program staff in Minnesota have been meeting on a quarterly basis to share information and resources; identify common issues and concerns; and provide opportunities for networking and relationship building. These meetings have been convened by early childhood and child care staff from the Minnesota Departments of Human Services and Education.

In September of 2001, the Minnesota child care resource & referral (CCR&R) programs began a 2-year long process of planning and self-evaluation of their service delivery process. A new service delivery model was developed and approved by the Department of Human Services in June 2003. This model includes funding 19 CCR&R programs throughout the state to deliver services on a local basis; six programs to provide services in six geographically-based districts that cover the state; and one statewide Tribal Service District to provide services to the seven Ojibwe reservations and four Dakota communities in Minnesota.

The White Earth Child Care Program and the Leech Lake Early Childhood Development Program were integral to designing a process that brought together interested tribal programs to develop the Tribal Service District model. In November 2003, tribal Child Care Programs came together to decide which program would receive the contract for the Tribal Service District. The White Earth Child Care Program and the Leech Lake Early Childhood Development Program both made strong presentations to the group demonstrating their experience and qualifications to provide services to tribal programs. After the assembled programs reviewed both presentations, the Leech Lake Early Childhood Development Program was selected as the site of the statewide Tribal Service District.

Tribal Service District duties include three functional areas: provision of child care resource and referral services; support of tribal Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) grantees; and participation as a partner in the Minnesota Professional Development Resource Network.

Resources:
The Minnesota Department of Human Services, Partnerships for Child Development Division, has allocated $220,000 to fund the Tribal Service District for the contract period January 1, 2004 - June 30, 2005. It is anticipated that future funding for the Tribal Service District would be allocated through a two-year contract beginning July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2007.

Results:
The Minnesota Department of Human Services sees the results of this strategy as having specific benefits for both the State and the Tribes.

Tribes will benefit by:

• Being served by a CCR&R that understands the needs of tribal programs;
• Being supported in maintaining tribal identity;
• Being served by a CCR&R that is responsible for identifying and responding to the training and technical assistance needs of tribal programs;
• Having the opportunity to come together with representatives from all 11 reservations and communities to express different and shared perspectives;
• Having a way to share information and resources with each other and with CCR&R agencies, state agencies, and other groups;
• Having an opportunity to educate the State, CCR&Rs, and others about tribal issues such as licensing, sovereignty, etc;
• Having an opportunity to learn from other Tribes;
• Being able to be open and honest within the tribal child care group;
• Developing strategies to strengthen tribal programs collectively; and
• Having an opportunity to participate in a statewide tribal advisory committee to identify issues, share resources, develop strategies and problem solve.

The State benefits from:

• The opportunity to learn from and collaborate with tribal programs;
• Increased knowledge and understanding of tribal child care issues such as licensing standards, training needs, sovereignty, etc;
• Enhanced connections between tribal child care programs, CCR&Rs, state agencies, and other early childhood organizations;
• The development of a culturally relevant approach to providing technical assistance and training for tribal child care programs;
• Identification and sharing of resources related to culturally responsive caregiving practices for American Indian families and children;
• Access to culturally-specific information and resources, such as the Positive Indian Parenting curriculum;
• Increased data sharing between tribal programs, CCR&Rs, and the State;
• Improved availability and accessibility of quality tribal child care services throughout Minnesota; and
• Increased voice for tribal programs, through the tribal child care advisory committee, in terms of policy development, strategies to address infrastructure issues, etc.

This strategy has the potential to create far-reaching change within the state and CCR&R systems, making them more responsive to tribal programs.

Contact Information:
Carolyn M. Carr

Address:
MN Department of Human Services
444 Lafayette Road North
St. Paul, MN 55155-3860

Phone: 651-297-3876
FAX: 651-296-7731
Email: carolyn.carr@state.mn.us

1 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1, Matrices P7 and P9.

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This page was last updated May 28, 2004.