Friday, April 26, 2024
4/26/2024
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has experienced its disproportionate share of trauma. An author for The New York Times once described this land, home to the Oglala Lakota Nation, as little more than “a catalog of social ills: Unemployment exceeds 80 percent, poverty affects more than 90 percent of those living on the reservation and alcoholism is rampant. By some estimates, one quarter of children born on the reservation have fetal alcohol syndrome.” The students in our schools suffer from this trauma; it frequently takes precedence over academic learning. A representative sample of students who took the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire found terrifying results—all who took the test identified at least one childhood trauma, and more than half identified with more than four (of twelve total). A high score such as this does not bode well; it correlates to increased drug use and alcoholism, a higher chance of perpetrating an abusive relationship, and ultimately leads to an early death. Project AWARE will change this narrative. As a partnership between three schools on the reservation (Little Wound, Crazy Horse, and American Horse) and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Telehealth program, we will expand our abilities to provide needed mental, behavioral, and cultural health support to students, but also do so in a broader framework: the Trauma Informed School Model. This project will train school staff, students, and community members to understand trauma, identify its consequences, and respond properly to demonstrations of trauma-induced mental/behavioral health issues. Indian Health Services has two full time behavioral/mental health counselors for the entire eastern half of our reservation. While our schools try to compensate, adequate response is impossible without expanded funding—this grant provides the funding. This project will include a Project Coordinator, Project Co-Coordinator, and a Community Project Manager for each site. Additionally, each school will hire (a) a Trauma-Informed School Implementation Specialist, (b) a teca kin Lakolyakel wiyokihi wicaye (to provide cultural mentorship), and (c) two to three wayawa kin slolic’iya wicaye (depending on school size) to give one-to-one support for students in crisis and provide follow-up. The Trauma-Informed School will serve as our primary implementation text, providing a proven framework for schools to follow. Incorporating cultural elements is appropriate for this model and leads to improved student outcomes. Our schools and students are consistently, negatively impacted by outsized trauma in our communities—Project AWARE changes our schools’ response to this reality. Implementation of the proven model will demonstrably change student outcomes and provide needed supports for students experiencing trauma in their lives.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
