Thursday, March 13, 2025
3/13/2025
Abstract: Wichita and Affiliated Tribes Circles of Care Initiative The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, a sovereign Native nation, proposes to convene an inter tribal planning group, the Tribal Wellness Work group (TWW), to complete a Blueprint to address unmet need for Native children’s mental health services in Caddo county Oklahoma. The county is a mental health shortage area and has no psychologist, psychiatrists, or mental health facilities for Native youth. This will be an intensive three year culturally appropriate planning effort. A large sample of over 6,000 Native youth surveyed in the 2018 Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment (OPNA) survey in the Caddo County region, found that in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 American Indian children reported substantially higher levels of anxiety, depression and early initiation of substance use than Non Native students. In addition, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has determined that both youth and adults in Caddo county are in the top 20% of Oklahoma counties needing mental health treatment. Native poverty in the county is more than double the rate for White Non-Hispanic citizens, alcohol and drug related crime by Native youth and adults is higher than for Non-Natives and there are no mental health professionals to serve this large group of children. The challenges are many and include 1) assessing the actual needs of Native children in the county, 2) finding funding streams to provide services, 3) integrating mental health screening with primary care, and 4) providing culturally appropriate services that will resonate with Native youth and their families. Children’s mental health is a family and a community issue. Many Native children live in homes where one or more adults have substance abuse or mental health disorders. Circles Of Care provides the space and resources needed for Native people to plan and design a holistic, Native friendly, evidence and community based system to support mental health in Caddo county for our families and our youth. Circles of Care is designed to increase the capacity of mental health systems in Native communities which are currently fragmented into separate Tribal programs. Through an intensive three-year process, the Tribal Wellness Work group (TWW) will identify and implement strategies to reduce the gap between the need for mental health services and the availability of children’s mental health services. The TWW will use Inter agency Agreements, parent and community training, strategic planning of a service delivery structure, and inter tribal cooperation to 1) develop a mental health delivery system designed by Tribal members, 2) to train Tribes to strengthen their ability to evaluate their own services, and 3) to develop a Native body of knowledge that assists all child serving groups in the County. Each year we will serve between 100 and 150 Native community members through training and participation in the Gathering Of Native Americans program for youth and adults. Over the life of the program between 300 and 450 American Indian youth and adult persons will be served.
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