Child Care and Development Fund, Report to Congress for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
COORDINATION WITH TRIBAL PARTNERS
The CCDF statute and regulations require CCDF Lead Agencies to—
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Consult with appropriate representatives of local government
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Coordinate services with other Federal, State, and local child care and early childhood development programs, including those serving Indian children
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Coordinate with other State and Tribal agencies responsible for public health, employment, education, and TANF
These State-Tribal child care collaborations have increased over the past few years. For example, the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa operates a child care resource and referral service through collaboration with the State of Minnesota and on behalf of the 11 Tribal grantees of Minnesota. The Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona contracts with Arizona's lead CCDF agency to provide Tribal training and assistance to Tribes in the State. Following several years of negotiations with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, the State of Oregon agreed to outstation two full-time case workers and a part-time TANF case manager on the Warm Springs reservation.
The Tribes also coordinate with Tribal colleges and universities (TCU) to develop professional development and training opportunities for child care providers. Many Tribal child care programs partner with TCUs and local community colleges for training classes that will eventually lead to a professional child care credential or other child care-related training courses, such as health and safety.
For those Tribes not located near an existing TCU, distance learning technology is emerging as a vital resource to provide culturally relevant training to students in remote areas. For example, the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho has a distance learning agreement with the Northwest Indian College (NWIC) in Washington State to provide early education services to the Nez Perce Tribe Early Childhood Development Program. In December 2003, the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) in Bismarck, North Dakota, received accreditation to grant a 2-year early childhood education degree online.