The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Reducing disparities through Indigenous social work education
2019-02-28
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The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Reducing disparities through Indigenous social work education
Published Date
2019-02-28
Publisher
Children and Youth Services Review
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Article
Abstract
This research addresses one of the most pressing and controversial issues facing child welfare policymakers and
practitioners today: the dramatic overrepresentation of Indigenous families in North American public child
welfare systems. Effective, inclusive education is one necessary component of efforts to reduce such disparities.
Yet recruiting students from various cultural communities to the field and educating white social work students
and professionals to practice in culturally responsive ways are ongoing challenges. In this ethnography, we
examine an apparently successful model of inclusive education: the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare
Studies (the Center) at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, Department of Social Work. For over a decade, the Center
has graduated Indigenous and non-Indigenous child welfare workers with MSWs now practicing within tribal
communities, as well as provided continuing education for child welfare professionals. At the Center, Indigenous
scholars and social workers, tribal leaders and their allies design and sustain a model of honoring and integrating
Indigenous worldviews with Western social work. Experiential learning – engaging the “heart and head” – is a
cornerstone of the Center's educational practices. Students and professional colleagues are approached with a
“good heart” as “relatives” with positive intentions. They learn about the spirituality, language, culture and
history of Indigenous people. The strengths-based curriculum also includes challenging content on the legacy of
genocide and historical trauma on Indigenous families and communities, as well as contemporary laws and
policies such as the Indian Child Welfare Act. The educational worldview and practices of the Center provide
understanding for social work, generally, and child welfare, specifically, that supports effective practice and
policy within diverse communities.
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Gamble-Skogmo endowment of the University of Minnesota, School of Social Work
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.045
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Suggested citation
Haight, Wendy; Waubanascum, Cary, B.; Glesener, David; Day, Priscilla; Bussey, Brenda; Nichols, Karen. (2019). The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Reducing disparities through Indigenous social work education. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.045.
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