Abstract
The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST) operates as a full-service government, including a child welfare system in the Children and Family Services (CFS) Department and a Kinship Navigator Program, the Kinship Parenting Program. That program works with kinship families living on the reservation and enrolled PGST members living off the reservation but caring for kin. The program’s goal is to establish self-sufficiency and long-term stability to keep children out of foster care. It is effective due to its expansive definition of family, integration of community values and customs into services, and close connection to in-house tribal services and supports.
Key Words
Kinship Navigator, Kinship Care, cultural adaptation, tribal child welfare
The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST) Kinship Navigator Program, known as the Kinship Parenting Program, was established in 2016. The Kinship Navigator determines immediate needs and directs families through the often unfamiliar and intimidating public and private resource system that can help stabilize situations faced by kinship caregivers. PGST works with kinship families living on the reservation as well as enrolled PGST members living off the reservation who are caring for kin. The program serves those who are involved with child welfare and those caring for a child outside of the child welfare system to establish self-sufficiency and the long-term stability necessary to keep children out of foster care. The program is uniquely effective because of its expansive definition of family, its integration of community values and customs into its services, and its close connection to a breadth of in-house tribal services and supports for community members.
About Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
Port Gamble S’Klallam are known as the “Strong People.” The PGST is a federally recognized Indian tribe governed by a constitution adopted Aug. 5, 1939. The Tribe operates as a full-service government and oversees all departments, programs, projects, and facilities in accordance with its rights to self-govern. Accordingly, PGST operates its child welfare system within the Children and Family Services (CFS) Department. The Tribe’s children are our most important resource, and thus the Tribe plays a key role in caring for them. We believe that preserving a child’s connections to their family is fundamental to the child’s well-being. In S’Klallam custom, there are formal and informal ties that bind the community. Extended family ties are based on blood lines, marriage, friendship, and caring, and members of the Port Gamble S’Klallam community who are reliable, responsible, loving, and willing to care for a child may be considered family.
Eligibility and Outreach
The Kinship Parenting program uses an expansive definition of family and relative, defining family as “anyone who lives within the community” (Miller et al., 2022). Extended family ties are based on bloodlines, marriage, friendship, and caring. All women in the community become “auntie” or “grandma” when they reach a certain age, regardless of blood relationship. This expanded definition of family helps to consider all resources available within a community, which increases the Tribe’s ability to successfully place children served by the PGST Child Welfare system. This approach also minimizes the experience of trauma when children have to be temporarily placed outside their parental home. Termination of parental rights is not a practice used in the community.
‘Kinship navigator services are offered primarily through an in-home parenting support service structure.’
PGST staff advertise the program in the tribal memo and newspaper, sharing information about activities, support services, cultural events, and classes. The Kinship Navigator also does personal outreach, working with staff on referrals for any prevention needed to avoid court action and keep the children with family. The Kinship Navigator is closely connected to service providers who work with kinship caregivers and regularly staff meetings with providers located within and outside of the tribe, such as Together for Children (Maternal Home Visiting), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Youth Services, Elders, and Education. The Navigator also meets regularly with PGST Child Welfare staff and the Foster Care Coordinator. Kinship families can access services by calling, emailing, or texting the PGST Kinship Parenting Program. The PGST Kinship Navigator will receive the message and follow up with an intake process, which includes use of the kinship needs assessment to help identify the family’s needs and develop a plan to address them.
Program Description
Kinship Navigator services are offered primarily through an in-home parenting support service structure. Until a recent transition, this program was developed and implemented by a trusted tribal elder who is highly regarded in the community. The parenting skills component of the program emphasizes core values and the values of the community, including togetherness and care. The Kinship Navigator helps facilitate the S’Klallam Positive Indian Parenting curriculum, along with a mental health counselor and graduates of the program. The parenting curriculum was developed through the tribe’s IV-E Waiver, incorporating S’Klallam values and traditions. The Kinship Parenting program already has been approved in the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), one of the few Kinship Navigator programs to earn that approval.
The Kinship Navigator provides Kinship Care families with assistance in applying for tribal, state, and federal benefits as well as providing information and referrals for services to address their specific needs. These services promote knowledge and awareness of available resources for health, mental health, financial, legal, and other support services such as local support groups, concrete goods, and cultural and school-related activities.
This program has helped me care for my niece and nephews in so many ways. Our family was able to flourish.
In addition to providing information and referral services, Kinship Navigators also help to reduce barriers faced by Kinship Care families through problem-solving and collaboration across various sectors of the Tribe’s social services infrastructure, located in a one-stop-shop community setting. The Kinship Navigator’s office is in the Children & Family Services building, allowing a wraparound service approach with other service providers, such as PGST Child Welfare, TANF, Child Support, Together for Children (Maternal Home Visiting), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and other support services.
PGST offers numerous cultural activities, during which PGST staff organize a speaker to talk with kinship caregivers and their children about challenges they face and help them find solutions. Speakers in the past have included a mental health counselor, a speaker who explained child development, someone who addressed working with children who have behavioral challenges, or other topics caregivers would like to learn about. This creates a support system between service providers and kinship families and addresses the needs of the families to promote stability and success. Past cultural activities include cedar weaving, wool weaving, and drum and rattle making.
The program includes an evidence-based case management component that was adapted to align with PGST’s cultural values. PGST worked closely with Washington State to redesign a non-tribal version of a kinship needs assessment to align with PGST values and practices. Part of this adaptation included omitting questions from the assessment tool which were deemed not necessary to assess a family’s need for support. The adapted needs assessment asks about income assistance the household receives, information about the PGST children in their care, and the caregiver’s rating of their own health and their children’s health. The assessment also asks caregivers about the services they use and the services they need to support themselves and the children in their care. After completing the assessment, the caregiver works with the Kinship Navigator to set goals that align with the service needs of the caregiver and the PGST children in their care.
Impact & Sustainability
The Kinship Parenting Program helps families who otherwise may not have been able to receive assistance, such as families who are caring for children outside of the child welfare system. For example, the Kinship Navigator Program helped a grandmother raising her grandson, who is wheelchair bound, to modify their bathroom to allow him access, making it handicap accessible. Another caregiver shared, “This program has helped me care for my niece and nephews in so many ways. Through guidance, encouragement, goods and services. Our family was able to flourish. I feel incredibly blessed to have an amazing support system.”
The program, along with other prevention efforts, also has reduced the number of children in the child welfare system. The number of open child welfare cases has dropped dramatically since implementing the Kinship Navigator Program: In 2016, PGST had 48 open child welfare cases, and by 2024, that number has reduced to just 6 open child welfare cases. We believe this is because the program offers supports to families to help them sustain their placement and prevent court or child welfare involvement. By working with the community and establishing a trusting relationship with caregivers, caregivers reach out for help before their situation reaches crisis levels. Everyone in the tribe benefits from this.
Cheryl A. Miller, MLS, is director, Children & Family Services, for the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe in Kingston, WA Joylina J. Gonzalez, MLS, is program manager in the Child Welfare Department at PGST Children & Family Services in Kingston, WA. Star Hagen is Kinship Care Program coordinator, also at PGST Children & Family Services in Kingston, WA. Sierra Wollenhall, MSW, is a research scientist at the University of Washington, School of Social Work in Seattle. Angelique Day, PhD, MSW, is an associate professor, also at the University of Washington, School of Social Work.
Photo caption: S'Klallam Tribal Center, Sequim, Washington.
Photo credit: Panas Wiwatpanachat
Reference
Miller, C., Jones, S., & Smith, A. (2022, Summer). The power of community-based services: Using the strengths of community and parents to improve child welfare outcomes. Family, Integrity, and Justice Quarterly, 81–87.
