Tribal Court Improvement Program - The Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau announces the availability of awards to provide Tribes and Tribal consortia the opportunity to compete for grants to enable Tribal courts to:

• Conduct assessments of how Tribal courts handle child welfare proceedings and to make improvements to court processes to provide for the safety, permanency, and well-being of children as set forth in the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) and increase and improve engagement of the entire family in court processes relating to child welfare, family preservation, family reunification and adoption;
• Ensure children's safety, permanence, and well-being needs are met in a timely and complete manner (through better collection and analysis of data); and
• Provide for training of judges, attorneys, and legal personnel in child welfare cases.

Eligibility Category: The government of Indian Tribes and Tribal consortia that: are operating an approved title IV-E program in accordance with section 479B of The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act, Pub. L. 112-34 (the Act); or plan to operate a title IV-e program and have received a title IV-E plan development grant, as authorized by section 476 of the Act; or have a court responsible for proceedings related to foster care or adoption (section 438(c)(3)(A)(iv) of the Act). Current Closing Date for Applications: July 09, 2012. Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.

The grant may be used for costs relating to the development of data collection systems, a cost allocation methodology, agency and tribal court procedures necessary to meet the case review system requirements under Section 475(5) of the Act, or any other costs attributable to meeting any other requirement necessary for approval of a title IV-E plan. Current Closing Date for Applications: July 10, 2012.  Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.

Education System Collaborations to Increase Educational Stability - The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Children's Bureau (CB) announces the availability of 24-month infrastructure building grants to support collaborative initiatives between State, local, or tribal child welfare agencies and education systems to improve educational stability and permanency outcomes for middle- to high-school aged children in the child welfare system. Educational services are crucial supports for many families adopting children from foster care, especially children who have special education needs or extensive mental health treatment needs. Through this funding opportunity communities can develop infrastructure to address barriers to permanency for youth, as well as implement multi-disciplinary interventions to improve the socio-emotional and behavioral well-being of youth in care.

Applicants will propose viable partnerships between child welfare agencies, local education districts, and identified critical stakeholders, such as courts and health and mental health agencies, to ensure youth in care are afforded the ability to succeed and thrive in educational settings to facilitate permanency, including adoption, and other post-permanency supports. Multi-system partnerships and meaningful collaborations between child welfare and education and other youth-serving systems are essential to ensure youth in care are afforded the ability to succeed and thrive in educational settings to facilitate permanency, including adoption, and other post-permanency supports. Application Due Date: May 29, 2012.

In August 2011, ACF issued its Consultation Policy in partnership with tribes. This policy will help our program offices and program office regional presence to better engage Federally Recognized Indian Tribes in the development or revision of policies, regulations, and proposed legislation that impact American Indians. ACF firmly believes that in order to create a good working relationship with tribes, it starts with requesting and receiving input from the tribes to ensure that we are meeting their needs and to establish a partnership that can carry us into the future.Show citation box

Testimonies may be submitted no later than February 24, 2012, to:

Lillian Sparks, Commissioner
Administration for Native Americans
370 L'Enfant Promenade SW.,
Washington, DC 20447
anacommissioner@acf.hhs.gov

However, this deadline does not preclude anyone from providing testimony at the session and we will, to the extent that time allows, hear your testimony.

If you plan on attending to present your testimony, please provide the name, title, and tribe of the individual who will be presenting to Kimberly Romine. Ms. Romine may be reached at Kimberly.romine@acf.hhs.gov or by phone at (202) 205-5603.

In order to facilitate the discussion, we ask that presenters provide a brief overview of the testimony and include the specific issues to be addressed at the session. For any tribe unable to attend to present testimony, please be aware that ACF will keep the testimony record open for 30 days after the date of the consultation. After 30 days, ACF will provide written responses to all testimonies received, including those that were presented in person.

To register for the consultation, please submit your name, tribe or organization, phone, and email address to Ms. Romine.

In addition to the Tribal Consultation session, ACF will be hosting a half day Tribal Training and Technical Assistance session to provide information about ACF programs, and ACF's Integration and Interoperability Initiative. The Tribal Training and Technical Assistance session will be held the morning of March 5, 2012, in the same room as the Tribal Consultation session.

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/01/19/2012-1009/tribal-consultation-notice-of-meeting#p-5

• February 15, 2012 at 1 p.m. EST call in: (888) 989–8183; Password: 368–9268.
• February 16, 2012 at 3 p.m. EST call in: (888) 673–9785; Password: 621–8061.

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Email: DSSComments@acf.hhs.gov. Please include ‘‘Comments on Tribal Consultation’’ in the subject line of the message.
• Mail or Courier Delivery:

• Wednesday, January 11, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EST) and 
• Thursday, January 12, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EST).

Questions for Tribal Consultation on the Tribal Court Improvement Program

1. What is the maximum number of grants that you think the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) should make?
2. In your opinion, what should be the minimum annual grant amounts awarded per tribe and what should be the maximum annual grant amount awarded per tribe? Please share the reasons for your recommendations.
3. In your opinion, what is the appropriate length of time for the project period for the grants (two, three, four or five years) before the grants are recompeted? Please share the reasons for your recommendation.
4. Do you foresee any challenges or obstacles to tribal courts applying for grants directly? (The law indicates that the applicant is required to be the highest court of appeals for tribes or tribal consortia).
5. Do you foresee any unique challenges or obstacles to tribal courts administering the grants?
6. Are there any other suggestions or concerns that you feel it is important that ACF take into consideration in implementing this new program?

Winning Innovations Selected by Secretary Sebelius

Supporting Tribal Grantees – ACF Makes it Simple 

Navigating grant requirements can be challenging, particularly when forms are complex and staff turnover is high.

The Tribal Child Welfare Team within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Region VI Children’s Bureau created a solution for improved accessibility to title IV-B grant funds (non-competitive grant to serve Indian families and children who are at risk of abuse and neglect). This process included developing improved relationships with Tribal grantees to better understand how the processes and forms could be improved to match their needs.

Without this streamlined procedure to apply for title IV-B funds, many Tribal directors would not have the time or resources to apply. The new templates are user-friendly, are written in clear and concise language and have helped improve transparency in the application process.

The new templates also allow Tribes to make updates into the same document each year. This process allows for any new directors to review an entire five year cycle and update the document with information about what has happened in their program each year. This new approach minimizes the risk of losing funding because of staff turnover.

Since implementation two years ago, nearly all of the 67 recognized Tribes within the states of Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico are taking advantage of title IV-B funding.  

Visit the Children’s Bureau website for more information about Tribal IV-B funding.