Bridging Sectors & Programs in Support of Native Children & Families
A Collaboration with Native Americans in Philanthropy and Early Childhood Funders Collaborative
About the Tribal Early Learning Initiative
Tribal early childhood development programs that serve young children and their families, including Head Start/Early Head Start, child care, and home visiting, have historically been developed in “patchwork” fashion in response to specific needs. They frequently have separate funding sources, standards, regulations, and governance structures. Early childhood grants to Tribal Nations generally originate with the federal government. Three of the primary programs, Head Start, the Child Care and Development Fund, and the Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program, are administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Over the past decade, ACF has created a Tribal Early Learning Initiative to support more coordinated early childhood systems in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. Two cohorts of Tribal early childhood leaders worked together in peer cohorts on early childhood systems building in 2012 and 2017. In 2022, ACF solicited interest in a third TELI cohort from all Tribal grantees of the Child Care and Development Fund (the program with the widest reach). Forty-nine Tribes expressed interest in working on system-building activities and eight opted into intensive technical assistance provided by ACF which created the ECFC/NAP/ACF Public Private Collaboration.
ECFC/NAP/ACF Public Private Collaboration
As ACF launches a third cohort of intensive technical assistance and peer networking, Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) and the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative (ECFC) pursued a public- private partnership collaboration to support the Tribal Early Learning Initiative Grantees. NAP and ECFC are also co-convening an Indigenous Early Childhood Work Group of approximately 10 funders who are working on indigenous early childhood, which serves as a collaboration incubator for this effort.
The partnership is designed to:
- Support tribes to coordinate Tribal early learning and development programs;
- Create and support seamless, high-quality early childhood systems;
- Raise the quality of services to children and families across the pregnancy-to-kindergarten-entry continuum; and
- Identify and break down barriers to collaboration and systems improvement.
The Administration for Children and Families has dedicated staff time and significant contributions from their technical assistance providers. In collaboration with ECFC/NAP Indigenous Workgroup Members, ECFC supported an in-person convening of TELI grantees to strengthen the opportunity for peer sharing and learning in November 2023.
Native Americans in Philanthropy has committed to conduct pre- and post-interviews with each Grantee, develop interim and final reports, and engage in creative dissemination strategies to ensure that successes, highlights, and lessons learned are shared broadly. Together, ECFC and NAP are seeking to provide equitable supplemental mini grants to each grantee that provide flexible funding to support program activities.
Located in the Bristol Bay area of Western Alaska, BBNA is a Tribal consortium made up of 31 Tribes and is organized as a non-profit corporation to provide a variety of educational, social, economic, and related services to the Native people of the Bristol Bay region of Alaska.
It has been a long-term goal of BBNA to strengthen collaboration between departments in order to provide comprehensive, streamlined services to families, particularly those with young children. Additionally, we work with external partners to provide and/or improve existing early education programs and to create training opportunities is ECE to high school students in preparation for career paths in ECE.
The Chickasaw Nation is five distinct ecoregions within 13 counties in the state of Oklahoma. A diverse economic portfolio generates funds to support a variety of quality programs and services in the areas of education, healthcare, youth, aging, housing, and more, which directly benefit Chickasaws and their communities. The Chickasaw Nation continues to be dedicated to the preservation of family, community, and heritage.
Through TELI, we strive to improve partnerships and collaborations among child-serving programs within the Chickasaw Nation service area. We currently provide many programs and services for our children and families. Collaboration with TELI will enhance our opportunities to expand our partnerships with other tribal and community programs to better serve our children and families.
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is a union of three tribes: Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla. Our current day reservation is located at the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon. We are over 3,100 strong in membership and our nine-member governing body is elected by general council members to oversee the operation of the Tribal government which is served by roughly 520 employees.
The Tribal Early Learning Initiative provides an opportunity for the Ataw Miyanasma Early Childhood Proposal to enhance and expand high quality services in a phase approach. We intend to strengthen partnerships with various agencies to support children and families through a coordinated application, referral, and intake system.
The Gila River Indian Community is located south of the Phoenix metropolitan area and has approximately 23,000 enrolled members of the Community. The Community is divided into seven districts, each with its own Service Center that houses services available to Community Members and provides a location for events and gatherings. The Gila River Indian Community is home to the Akimel Gotham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) tribes. Each tribe has its own unique language and cultural beliefs.
Gila River Indian Community recognizes the importance of Early Childhood Education and we believe in a comprehensive approach that addresses the whole child. Our Community Leadership and other Early Childhood programs are excited to participate in the TELI because it will help to further our sovereign objectives as a Native community.
Located at the foot of the Black Mesa, in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, the Pueblo of San Felipe, is a federally recognized Native American Tribe. Traditionally named Katishtya, the Pueblo is one of the 19 Pueblos in New Mexico and is considered to be very much traditional. San Felipe Pueblo is located between Santa Fe and Albuquerque and has approximately 3,700 enrolled community members.
After two years of being separated by the pandemic, the TELI collaborative presented itself as an opportunity for us to come back together to collaborate on how to enhance and raise the quality of services for our children and families across all our programs.
Santo Domingo Pueblo is located along the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. The tribe is often referred to as the “Capital” of the 19 Pueblos in the state, as it is one of the most culturally conservative tribal nations in the country.
We want to build meaningful partnerships with our stakeholders in a way that recognizes and honors our sovereign right to define our version of “Indigenous early childhood education.”
With a proud and rich history, the Seneca were the largest of six Native American nations which comprised the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, a democratic government that pre-dates the United States Constitution. The Seneca Nation of Indians currently has a total of nearly 8,000 citizens. The territories are generally rural, with several residential areas. Nearly half of Seneca citizens live off-territory, some are located across the country, as well as in other countries.
We have a dynamic program that is rich in culture and quality. We saw an opportunity to learn ways to enhance and continue to offer quality care to the children and families that we serve as well as our surrounding community. We feel our diverse area, demographics, and community needs make us a program that also has a lot to offer the other partners of the TELI program.
