Late this past summer, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe became the first Indian community in the United States to host Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the recently appointed secretary of Health and Human Services.

Just weeks into her new job, Secretary Burwell visited my Tribe because of the strides we’ve made in our family wellness programs, particularly those related to foster care and adoption.

In 2012, my Tribe became the first in the country to gain the right to independently manage our own program governing guardianship assistance, foster care, and adoption, also known as Title IV-E.

Even though before the official designation was granted or even applied for, PGST did have a similar program in place, it was an uphill battle to meet the federal statutes, as they don’t take into account differences in culture. For example, federal code has a much narrower definition of “family” than what exists in the PGST community where several generations might be living under one roof.

During Secretary Burwell’s visit, Andrea Smith, PGST’s Child & Family Services attorney, explained the importance of Tribes being allowed to manage programs like foster care and adoption, which so closely impact the well being of individuals, families, and Tribal culture.

“We have elders in our community who talk of being in foster care and they were taken out of their homes and lost their culture. We can’t let that happen again. This community and its families are invested and committed to its kids,” Smith said.

This statement is, as I see it, one of the most important facets of our foster care and adoption program: keeping our kids in the community.

For at least a generation, children were removed from their homes and placed with families outside their Tribe. As you can imagine, while this might have helped with the immediate problem, it created a bigger one in these kids growing up to be adults who lost their sense of culture and identity.

Dennis and Kay Jones — a shining example of our foster care families — attended the secretary’s visit. Dennis said, “Keeping the kids in our community is one of the main reasons my wife and I decided to become foster parents. We’re such a tight-knit community and it was importance to us to help support that.”

Sadly, one of the main reasons PGST kids end up needing foster care is because of substance abuse. Certainly, this isn’t a problem isolated to our Tribe or Tribes in general; it’s a frustrating dilemma that affects child welfare throughout Kitsap County, not to mention the rest of the country. Understanding that treating the disease is usually more effective than simply dealing with the symptoms, we have put in place a number of programs to help our families stay healthy.

For example, we have our own chemical dependency program, which includes an outreach component to intervene before situations become critical. We also put together an annual “healthy youth” survey, which looks at, in part, what substances our kids are using and at what age.  All of this intervention is working: rates of drinking (excessive and otherwise) have gone down among the PGST community.

Illegal drug use, too, continues to be a problem all over, including on our reservation. To help combat the problem, our Tribe actively works with other tribes to drive out drug dealers that prey on our communities.

Whenever possible, PGST Child & Family Services tries to keep families together and parents in the picture. We do what we can to intervene in family problems before they reach crisis level. Sometimes, though, despite our best efforts, other measures have to be taken for the welfare of our children and I’m proud of my Tribe for being able to take care of our kids, now and for the future.

— Jeromy Sullivan is chairman of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. Contact him at jeromys@pgst.nsn.us.