Invisible children, invisible families: a blueprint for supporting the child care needs of American Indian and Alaska native families
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Fabre, Barb, author Grunewald, Rob, author Smith, Linda K., author Osborn, Caroline, (Of Bipartisan Policy Center), author
- Contributor(s):
- Bipartisan Policy Center, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : Bipartisan Policy Center, November 2023
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- American Indian or Alaska Native Child Health Services Accessibility Healthcare Disparities Indigenous Peoples Social Determinants of Health United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- During the first webinar of BPC’s four-part webinar series that addressed tribal sovereignty, tribal-state relations, and child care, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), former chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, said, “Every American should understand that children deserve our assistance, our investment, but in many circumstances, Native American children fall far behind.” Sen. Dorgan’s statement aligns with those we heard from tribal leaders, federal and state government officials, and leaders of nongovernmental organizations, as well as data that highlight disparities between American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and the overall U.S. child population on health, child welfare, and education outcomes. The interviews and data that inform this report (see Methodology) coalesce around three core issues that affect AI/AN young children and their families, particularly regarding child care. First, relations between state and tribal governments play a key role in AI/AN families’ access to high-quality early care and education. States and tribal governments receive funding through the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) to help low-income families pay for child care and invest to improve child care quality. Effective state and tribal government coordination and collaboration can leverage those resources to improve AI/AN family access to child care on and off reservations as well as support initiatives to boost the quality of AI/AN child care programs. Second, most AI/AN families live off reservations, and among those families, most live in a metropolitan area. Like AI/AN families who live on reservations, AI/AN families living in large cities face disparities in education, income, and use of social services compared with the general population. But whereas tribes can tailor services for members and their descendants who live on reservations, federal policies limit the ability of tribes to provide child care support to members who live off reservations in metropolitan areas and outside of service areas. Third, federal funding for tribal members and AI/AN populations has always fallen short of their needs, including access to early care and education. According to a recent BPC national survey of AI/AN parents, 54% of respondents reported difficulties finding child care within their budget. In the case of federal child care funding, states receive funding based on the population of young children in low-income families. A percentage is set aside for tribes. However, the methods used to determine the tribal set-asides are inadequate in part due to a lack of data to accurately assess AI/AN population needs. Based on multiple interviews, webinar discussions, and data, the authors make the following recommendations for tribes, states, and the federal government to improve child care and other services that impact AI/AN communities. The recommendations respond to the three core issues introduced above.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (33 pages, 1 unnumbered page)) : illustrations
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918750687606676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918750687606676