Posted: June 7th, 2024

Historical trauma related to Native American children in foster care

For This Assessment, You Will Create A 5-7 Slide PowerPoint Presentation About A Population Health Improvement Plan. You Will Then Record A Video Of No More Than Five Minutes Presenting Your PowerPoint.

The optional Evidence-Based Population Health Improvement Plan Presentation Template [PPTX] is provided to help you prepare your slides. If you choose to work without the template, consider referring to Creating a Presentation: A Guide to Writing and Speaking and Guidelines for Effective PowerPoint Presentations.

The suggested headings for your presentation are:

Community Data Evaluation.
Meeting Community Needs.
Measuring Outcomes.
Communication Plan.
Evidence.
Evaluate the environmental and epidemiological data about your community to determine a population-focused priority for care.
Identify the relevant data. This can be communicated in a table or chart.
Describe the major population health issue suggested by the data within your community.
Explain how environmental factors affect the health of community residents.
Identify the level of evidence, validity, and reliability for each source.
Explain what evidence in the current literature (published within the last five years) supports your evaluation of the data and the population focused priority of care you have selected.
Develop an ethical health improvement plan with outcome criteria that addresses the population health priority that you identified in your evaluation.
Consider the environmental realities and challenges existing in the community.
Include interventions that will meet community needs.
Address potential barriers or misunderstandings related to various cultures prevalent in the community.
Propose criteria that can be used to evaluate the achievement of the plan’s outcomes for your population health improvement.
Explain why your proposed criteria are appropriate and useful measures of success.
Explain a plan to collaborate with a specific community organization to support the implementation of the population health improvement in an ethical, culturally sensitive, and inclusive way.
Identify the community stakeholders that are relevant to your Population Health Improvement Plan.
Develop a clear communication strategy that is mindful of the cultural and ethical expectations of colleagues and community members regarding data privacy.
Ensure that your strategy enables you to make complex medical terms and concepts understandable to members of the community regardless of disabilities, language, or level of education.
Explain the value and relevance of the evidence and technology resources used as the basis of a population health improvement plan.
Explain why the evidence is valuable and relevant to the community health concern you are addressing.
Explain why each piece of evidence is appropriate and informs the goal of improving the health of the community.
Communicate the Evidence-Based Population Health Improvement Plan in a professional, effective manner that engages the community organization stakeholders and the community-at-large to implement and sustain change.
What specific actions can the community stakeholders take themselves to build a feeling of community ownership in your plan?

Introduction
Historical trauma has had a profound and lasting impact on Native American communities, with the forced removal of Native children from their families and placement in boarding schools or foster care being a particularly painful example. The narrative of Velma, a 6-year-old Native American girl taken from her family and placed in a boarding school in the early 20th century, illustrates the devastating effects of these practices. This essay will examine the historical trauma experienced by Native American children in foster care, drawing upon scholarly research to highlight the ongoing challenges and the importance of culturally responsive interventions.

The Legacy of Forced Assimilation
The systematic removal of Native American children from their families and communities, exemplified in Velma’s story, was part of a larger effort by the U.S. government to forcibly assimilate Native peoples into white American society (Brave Heart et al., 2021). Boarding schools, which operated from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, aimed to strip Native children of their cultural identities, languages, and traditions (Walls & Whitbeck, 2023). The trauma inflicted by these practices has been transmitted across generations, contributing to high rates of mental health issues, substance abuse, and family dysfunction in Native communities (Gameon & Skewes, 2020).

The ongoing overrepresentation of Native American children in the foster care system can be seen as an extension of this legacy. Native children are placed in foster care at disproportionately high rates compared to their non-Native peers, often due to factors stemming from historical trauma and systemic inequities (Simmons et al., 2020). The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 aimed to address this issue by prioritizing placement with Native families and tribes, but implementation has been inconsistent (White, 2019).

Cultural Identity and Resilience
As Velma’s story demonstrates, the loss of cultural identity is a significant risk for Native children removed from their families and communities. Connection to culture, language, and tradition is crucial for healthy development and resilience among Native youth (Trout et al., 2022). Foster care placements that sever these connections can compound the trauma experienced by Native children, leading to negative outcomes in adulthood.

Culturally responsive interventions that prioritize maintaining cultural connections and involving tribal communities in decision-making are essential for promoting positive outcomes for Native children in foster care (Austin, 2020). Efforts to recruit and support Native foster families, provide cultural training for non-Native caregivers, and collaborate with tribes in case planning can help mitigate the impact of historical trauma and promote resilience.

Conclusion
The historical trauma experienced by Native American children in foster care has deep roots in the forced assimilation practices of the past, as illustrated by Velma’s poignant narrative. The ongoing overrepresentation of Native children in the child welfare system perpetuates this trauma, underscoring the urgent need for culturally responsive interventions that prioritize cultural identity and tribal sovereignty. By understanding and addressing the impact of historical trauma, those providing care for Native children in foster care can work towards healing, resilience, and the preservation of cultural connections for future generations.

References:
Austin, G. (2020). Cultural competence in foster care practice with Indigenous populations: A scoping review. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, 105395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105395

Brave Heart, M. Y. H., Littlefield, M., Young, S., & Lewis, R. (2021). Historical trauma and unresolved grief: Implications for multicultural counseling and advocacy. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 49(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12207

Gameon, J. A., & Skewes, M. C. (2020). A systematic review of trauma interventions in Native communities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 65(1-2), 223-241. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12396

Simmons, D., Harding, A. K., Liddell, J., & Anderson, K. (2020). American Indian/Alaska Native children in the child welfare system: A review of the literature. Child Abuse & Neglect, 106, 104504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104504

Trout, L., Watkins, E. Y., Reinink, W., Lawrance, S., & Abrahamson, E. (2022). Cultural connectedness as a protective factor for American Indian youth in foster care. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 31(1-3), 130-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2020.1770651

Walls, M. L., & Whitbeck, L. B. (2023). The intergenerational effects of Indigenous boarding schools: Understanding the contexts and impacts of historical trauma. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(3), 878-889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02449-0

White, L. (2019). Making ICWA work: Opportunities for state-tribal collaboration under the Indian Child Welfare Act. Tribal Law Journal, 19(1), 1-27. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/tlj/vol19/iss1/2

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Study Notes & Homework Samples: Strategies for Effective Training and Implementation of New Healthcare Policies and Practice Guidelines »Population Health, Epidemiology, & Statistical Problems-DAX-DL01 Nora Hernandez