Port Gamble SKlallam Tribe Social Services at the

Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe

Social Services at the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe

Port Gamble S’Klallam history • The Port Gamble S’Klallam Reservation is located on the northern end of the Kitsap Peninsula within Kitsap county of Washington State. • The Tribe has over 1, 300 enrolled tribal members of which approximately 420 are children (under age 21). • Slightly more than ½ live on the reservation. The majority of the rest live near the reservation.

Port Gamble S’Klallam History • The Tribe is a signatory to the Point-No-Point Treaty of 1855. • The government and reservation was formed as part of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. • Social services are provided by a variety of government agencies that work together to serve the tribal community in a holistic fashion.

Children & Family Services Child Welfare • Port Gamble has been running their own Child Welfare Program since the mid-1980 s, and was the first tribe in the nation to run a federally approved Title IV-E foster care, guardianship and adoption agency starting in 2012. • The Tribe has an intergovernmental agreement with the State of Washington to provide services to our children in care. It was amended when we became a direct Title IV-E agency. .

We believe all of our children deserve to grow up knowing their heritage and culture.

Title IV-E waiver demonstration project • The Tribe has a Title IV-E waiver demonstration project, which started in 2015. Legislation authorizing these waivers expired in 2017, and has not been renewed. We are the only Tribe among numerous States (26? ) with a waiver. • Our project includes 2 child welfare interventions: a S’Klallam-ized version of Positive Indian Parenting ( a parenting skills curriculum originally developed by NICWA), and Family Group Decision Making, which is a form of family engagement. • The waiver provides flexibility for spending IV-E dollars (i. e. we can pay for food when we do a parenting skills class, or help with travel for family engagement. ) • It also lets us use our definition of “extended family, ” which is significantly broader than the federal definition. • In our last evaluation report, we compared “old” cases (started before 2015) with our new cases (2015 to present), and in our newer cases, the length of time cases remain open is shorter, and successful reunifications significantly higher.

All children deserve a happy growing up life. -S’Klallam Elder

Children & Family Services Family Assistance Program

• In 1998, the Tribe began a Tribal TANF program. It is under our “Family Assistance” umbrella. • Child Welfare can help a family apply for and receive Tribal TANF as a non-needy relative. We pay per child, as they can be considered a family of one.

• The Tribe pays the full rate of $349 for a child, and instead of paying $530 for 3 children, we can pay $1047. • Because TANF and child welfare both part of CFS, they can coordinate payment so there is little delay for the family. • TANF can also help pay for clothing vouchers, emergency child care, and food.

• TANF is the Tribe’s biggest program ($) in our 477 Program. It also includes individual planning and subsidized employment, among other services. • Family Assistance also runs LIHEAP, FEMA, a summer food program for the kids, and the food and clothing bank. Basic Food: • Family Assistance is also responsible for our Basic Food program. We provide SNAP benefits under an agreement with the State of Washington for our tribal community, and the wider community in northern Kitsap County. • We had to apply for a waiver from Food & Nutrition Services (FNS) to run the program, and have been running it since 2009.

Children & Family Services Child Support Program

• The Tribe was one of the original 9 Tribes to run a child support program (Title IV-D) under the interim tribal child support regulation, before the final regulation in 2004. We started in 2002. • The child support program is based on achieving agreements between the parties. • Our main focus is strengthening the relationship of the family. We will work with parents who cannot pay to provide other services or in -kind contributions. (i. e. , firewood, fish, clothing, etc. )

Other Children & Family Services programs: • Together for Children (our maternal home visiting program) • Foster care licensing, including kinship navigator funding • Youth department, which also includes ETV and Chafee funds, among others, and is where our Independent Living Skills (ILS) program is housed • Elder’s department

The Tribe has all TITLE IV programs • Part A - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) • Part B - Child and Family Services Subpart 1 --Child Welfare Services Subpart 2 --Promoting Safe and Stable Families • Part D - Child Support and Establishment of Paternity • Part E- Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance

Coordination between Tribal Agencies

Tribal Court includes: • Re-Entry, which works closely with all agencies within the Tribe, as well as with other agencies and employers outside of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Reservation. • A Healing to Wellness court. • A developing CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program. • Probation. • Civil and Criminal Court, and court clerks. • Domestic violence and sexual assault victim advocacy. Housing, Public Safety (including for Natural Resources), Culture, and Early Childhood/Head Start also collaborate with other Tribal agencies on a regular basis.