Many of the programs in the American Indian/Alaska Native Program Branch
are implementing mental health services for children and families. The
services range from mental health professionals on staff to partnerships
with local health departments and mental health agencies. The Red Cliff
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Early Head Start is attempting to meet
the mental health needs of families through a new Fatherhood Project.
The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa live on the Red Cliff Reservation
in northwest Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior. Young families
must overcome problems with unemployment, financial difficulties, alcohol
and substance abuse, lack of education and job skills training. Unemployment
on the reservation is 40%, and 33% of those families who work are employed
in jobs that pay well below the Federal poverty level. Twenty-six percent
of births at Red Cliff are to teenage mothers. Young fathers are often
not present in the home and are not actively involved in rearing their
children. They also struggle with cultural heritage and role model issues.
Although it is a small reservation, the tribe has a Head Start program,
an Early Head Start program, a health clinic, a youth services program,
and a community center. These programs serve 95 children and their families
on the Red Cliff Reservation. The Red Cliff Early Childhood Center (ECC)
serves all 75 children through Early Head Start, Head Start, or Child
Care. All age-eligible children on the reservation and all tribal families
within ten miles of the reservation may apply to one of the programs at
the Early Childhood Center. The Center provides comprehensive services
to pregnant women
and children birth to five through strong collaborations and community
partnerships.
Traditionally, the mother and her family are responsible for child rearing
among the Red Cliff Chippewas. Through programs like Head Start and Early
Head Start however, families
recognize the need to involve fathers more meaningfully in the lives of
their children. Unfortunately, there are few role models because fathers
have not been involved in child rearing for many generations.
Young fathers, who are often struggling with issues of survival, have
not had an easy transition to active involvement in raising their children.
They often feel guilty for not being involved in their children's
lives, but have little access to opportunities to improve involvement.
Given this history, the Red Cliff Early Head Start applied for funds for
a Fatherhood Initiative to help meet the needs of the fathers on the reservation.
Dee Gokee-Rindal, the Red Cliff Early Childhood Center Director, has worked
for several years to develop mental health services to meet the needs
of the families at Red Cliff. The goals for serving families at Red Cliff
Early Childhood Center include increasing social competence of children;
enhancing a child's social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development;
supporting parents as primary nurturers of their children; and providing
continuity of care for children and families. The program has established
partnerships with the Red Cliff Community Health Center and the Bayfield
County Birth to Three Program to provide support services to families.
In addition, the program has been working with a mental health consultant
for the last two years.
Dawn Nixon is completing her work in a doctoral program and provides services
as the Early Head Start/Head Start mental health professional to families
10-15 hours per week. She provides therapeutic intervention on-site for
children and meets with families on-site or in their home, depending on
their preference. Dawn has worked with the program to try to identify
additional support for families.
Red Cliff was recently awarded a Fatherhood Demonstration Grant. The grant
will utilize the Touchpoints program developed by Dr. T. Berry Brazelton
(1992) to strengthen the parenting of young parents, with a focus on young
fathers. The goal of this grant is to work with young fathers to increase
their involvement in the lives of their young children. Although both
Dee and Dawn are working on this project, they are currently in the process
of hiring a father to coordinate the grant.
Specific components of
the grant will consist of:
- Prenatal education that will include fathers;
- Newborn assessment;
- Home health care visits;
- Postnatal support groups for mothers and fathers;
- Home health visits through Indian Health Services.
The Red Cliff vision of Touchpoints includes a community-wide approach. Staff from
the Health Center and other community agencies will be trained along with
the Early Childhood Center staff. Five staff members and community services providers
attended training at the Brazelton Institute in January 2001 and
returned to the program to train other staff. The goal of the program is
to create a new tradition where men become equal partners in raising their
children [by] blending Chippewa traditions with the Touchpoints
program.
Touchpoints will be a program-wide initiative, working with families in
both center-based and home-based settings. The work of the Touchpoints
trainers will increase staff and family knowledge of child development,
help young parents understand the behaviors and cues of babies from their
first day home through their infancy, and work with pregnant mothers and
their partners to build a working relationship that will carry them through
the Head Start years.
The goal of the Red Cliff Early Childhood Center is to work with families
in a respectful manner at all times, understanding culture and heritage
and integrating the values of the culture into their work with families.
The fatherhood grant is one of many initiatives the program will utilize
to support families in their community.
References
Brazelton, T.B. 1992.
Touchpoints: The essential reference. Reading,
MA: Addison- Wesley/Lawrence.
Cecelia Godfrey
is a Senior Early Childhood Associate at the American
Indians Alaska Natives Program Branch. T: 202-401-5140; E: cgodfrey@acf.hhs.gov.
