The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) awarded $21.4 million to 26 Tribes and Native organizations to help improve their communities’ social and economic well-being and Native language programs in Fiscal Year 2024. This ANA resource announces the community partners who received funding for the Native Language Preservation and Maintenance programming, the Esther Martinez Language Immersion grant, Strategic Economic Development (SEDS), Strategic Economic Development — Alaska (SEDS-AK), and Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE).

The Environment Protection Agency developed this curriculum, Lead Awareness in Indian Country: Keeping our Children Healthy!, by collaborating with over 200 tribal partners. The curriculum creates a starting point to hold informed conversations within communities to teach parents and caregivers about lead. It also is a robust set of educational tools that provide practical, on-the-ground, community-based resources to reduce childhood lead exposure in communities.

In 2016, the Tribal Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (THV) became the first federal grant program to require a Continuous Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC) approach in Tribal early childhood settings. The decision to incorporate the CQIC approach stemmed in part from generally positive experiences of participants in similar initiatives for states, territories, and their local implementing agencies, and from THV grantees’ previous success conducting individual continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects. However, questions remained about the applicability of a CQIC approach in Indigenous settings as a required grant activity. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) conducted a process study of the THV CQIC approach as it was implemented from 2019 to 2022. This OPRE brief presents the findings of the following each research question and to provide implications for future implementation of CQICs in Indigenous contexts:
1. How was the THV CQIC approach implemented?
2. What were the outcomes of the quality improvement work?
3. Was the approach appropriate for Indigenous settings?
4. Was the approach feasible in Indigenous settings?

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse brief discusses some of the key issues facing American Indian/ Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Indigenous families in the United States, particularly fathers. The brief highlights three programs that are working with AI/AN fathers to strengthen their roles in Native families, includes an overview of each program, and provides a discussion of key takeaways to help other programs better serve AI/AN fathers and their families.

To address the critical need for support for Native American people who have experienced human trafficking, the Administration for Children and Families’ Office on Trafficking in Persons established the Demonstration Grants to Strengthen the Response to Victims of Human Trafficking in Native Communities (VHT-NC) Program. The program aims to build, expand, and sustain organizational and community capacity to deliver services to Native American people who have experienced human trafficking. In 2020, six VHT-NC projects received awards to provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed participant outreach and identification, comprehensive case management and service provision, and training to respond to human trafficking in their communities. This Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation brief provides examples of the culturally responsive approaches the VHT-NC projects took with regard to project staffing, education and training, outreach, and case management and supportive services. Within these four programming components, the brief describes the culturally responsive approaches used, identifies the challenges the projects encountered and potential suggestions to address them, and highlights the potential benefits and strengths of these culturally responsive approaches.

The Native Wellness Institute (NWI) is hosting a webinar on December 17 and 18, 2024. It is a two-day program designed for adults who seek to enhance their understanding of healthy relationships, as well as staff and workers who provide healthy relationships education and workshops to community members. During the training, participants will learn about and engage in NWI's Healthy Relationships curriculum that covers the essential elements of healthy relationships, as well as additional topics. There is a fee for participation.