Tuesday, December 3, 2013
By Graham Lee Brewer | Published: Dec. 2, 2013
When Christi Gonzalez tried to gain custody of her nephew, the lines of communication between the American Indian tribe her nephew belongs to and the state Department of Human Services weren't open enough, she said.
Gonzalez said DHS workers were unaware of how to handle the situation and would often refer her to the tribe, saying they should take care of the problem internally.
“But yet, we really needed outside sources to help us find the right avenues to take,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez, the Indian child welfare social services director for the Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma, is now lauding an executive order issued recently by Gov. Mary Fallin. The order is intended to open the lines of communication between tribes and DHS to help better resolve child welfare cases.
The order, issued Nov. 12, allows DHS and tribal workers to openly share information and work collaboratively on cases involving things like child neglect and foster care.
Jacque Hensley, American Indian liaison for the governor's office, said the problem is ongoing and needed to be addressed.
“A lot of kids are falling through the cracks, a lot of cases are falling through the cracks,” Hensley said. “There's some cases that DHS has that the tribe does not know they have until way down the line. And so, things are just off kilter.”
Hensley and Jeffrey Cartmell, deputy general counsel for the governor's office, said some cases hit road blocks when workers don't recognize what information they are able to share or who they can share it with.
“I think part of the problem was the DHS workers worrying about potential lawsuits from transferring information to people that maybe weren't authorized to it under the statutes,” Cartmell said.
Hensley said educating workers in both DHS and tribal agencies is the key to removing barriers and confusion over jurisdiction.
Cartmell said the governor's office sees the executive order as a jumping-off point. Now, it's up to agencies to not only educate their workers, but to also ask them to identify problems and offer potential solutions. From there, tribal governments and the Legislature can take any necessary action.
“Over the next year I anticipate DHS and the state and as many tribes as possible entering into individualized tribal state agreements regarding child welfare and how we're going to transfer the information, how we're going to communicate with each other,” Cartmell said.
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