Training Institutes 2012 - National Technical Assistance Center for ...

NATIVE AMERICAN SERVICES TRACK
NATIVE AMERICAN WORKSHOP #2 10:30 AM SATURDAY • DAYTONA 1-2
Strategies for Improving Access to Services for Native Children and Families
OBJECTIVES—Participants will learn:
1. To identify strategies to improve access to mental health services for their children
2. How to use practical tools from families that can help other families to access mental health services
3. To examine common barriers to access to mental health and/or disability services for families
4. To implement strategies for families to use their “Voice” to make their communities hear their needs
5. To implement strategies for mental health providers to engage families and understand family perspectives
This Workshop will focus on practical strategies for today’s Native families to access mental health and/or disability
services in a system that is difficult to navigate for families. The strategies to be highlighted are a compilation of
methods utilized by Native families, in both urban and rural settings, to overcome barriers experienced when attempting
to access mental health and/or disability services and to create a “family voice” within communities. The information
and strategies to be highlighted are based on the experiences of two families, one that navigated children’s services
agencies in Alaska and Oregon, and the other that navigated the children’s services system in Arizona.
Specific topics to be covered include:
• Statistics on the disproportionate diagnoses of mental health disorders among American Indian and Alaska Native
(AI/AN) youth
• Assessment of the challenges AI/AN families face when attempting to access services for their children
• Strategies for AI/AN families to navigate the system, in both urban or rural settings, to be successful in accessing the
mental health and disability services their children need
• Discussion time for family participants to share their own stories about how they were able to successfully navigate
the child-serving agencies to get their own children services in their communities
• Discussion time for providers to share their strategies for improving access to mental health and disability services
Participants will have an opportunity to engage in a discussion to share strategies they have used to successfully
improve access to services from both the family’s and provider’s perspectives. The faculty team for this session will
offer the perspectives of a Native family member, youth, and a community development specialist.
MODERATOR/PRESENTER: Mark Anaruk, M.Ed., Community Development Specialist, Community Development,
National Indian Child Welfare Association, Portland, OR
Patricia Ocano, Pascua Yaqui Tribe—Sewa Uusim Program, Tucson, AZ
Jasmine Ocano, Pascua Yaqui Tribe—Sewa Uusim Program, Tucson, AZ
92 Training Institutes 2012