Tiospaye Teca: working with young native American families in the Dakotas - Indian teen parent program in Rapid City, South Dakota - includes related information on Rural America Initiatives

Children Today, Sept-Oct, 1989 by Anne Floden

TIOSPAYE TECA: Working With Young Native American Families in the Dakotas

While Indian lifestyle has changed a great deal since traditional times, "children are still considered precious by the family, even when born to young parents unprepared for parenthood," declares Donita Loudner, Teen Parent Advocate for Tiospaye Teca (Young Families), an Indian Teen Parent program in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Tiospaye Teca is a major component of Project Takoja II, a program funded in 1987 by the National Center Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, to provide a range of services for young families. Takoja II is administered and staffed by Rural America Initiatives (RAI), an organization that serves Indian and rural families in the Dakotas (see accompanying box).

The need for programs and services in the Dakotas for pregnant teens and adolescent parents is great, particularly for Native American families, who make up about 10 percent of the population. Most Native American families live on one of the 13 reservations in the two states. Distances are great: Many families must travel a minimum of 100 miles roundtrip to obtain basic services.

South Dakota has 10 of the poorest countries in the nation, all encompassing reservations,[1] and its infant mortality rate recently ranked 50th in the nation.[2] In 1986, the statewide infant mortality rate was 13 per 1,000 live births - but among non-whites, mostly Indian, the rate was 27 per 1,000 live births.[3] RAI estimates the teen pregnancy rate on Dakota reservations to range from 40 to 60 percent - and few teens receive early prenatal care.[4]

To help address these concerns, a teen parent program - the first in South Dakota for Native Americans - was established in 1985 at Red Horse Lodge, an adolescent treatment center on the Crow Creek Reservation. Takoja I, which received initial funding through the Administration for Children. Youth and Families, served an average of 10 teen parents and their children a year in both residential and non-residential settings. With technical assistance from RAI and additional funding from the Bush Foundation, Takoja I developed an independent living skills curriculum, a parent aide handbook, a peer support group manual and other materials. The teen parent program has now been incorporated into the ongoing services provided through Red Horse Lodge.

Takoja II was designed to help other communities throughout the Dakotas - both on and off the reservations - develop similar programs for teen parents and their children. RAI staff worked with teen parent program experts and interested organizations to analyze local needs and assist in program planning. Staff members also worked to raise awareness of some of the special aspects of Native American culture among non-Indian participants - that the extended family has a major influence on the young parent and child, for example, and the native American teens often dismiss abortion or adoption as options to childbearing because of their traditional belief in the child's value to their family.

Tiospaye Teca

Tiospaye Teca was established with the support of the West River Community Health Center, a public health facility administered by the South Dakota Department of Health. The Health Center selected a Teen Parent Advocate, a RAI employee who is a Native American, to coordinate the program, and contributed office space and equipment, use of its van and car when needed and resource materials.

Following the principle of making the best use of existing resources, Tiospaye Teca coordinates supplemental funding from the South Dakota Departments of Health, Education, Vocational Education and Labor, as well as private contributions. The project also receives technical assistance from the Aberdeen Area Maternal Child Health Program, an Indian Health Service program.

The result is a comprehensive year-round program offering a wide range of services for pregnant teens. adolescent parents and their children.

The teen parents are strongly encouraged to remain in school. Some are able to participate in an alternative school program offered by the public schools, which gives them the flexibility to spend time with their children. However, since there is space for only a limited number of students in the alternative program, most young parents follow a regular school schedule. Thus, during the school year, the Teen Parent Advocate primarily provides individualized services to meet the schedules and special needs of each young family.

The Teen Parent Advocate gives parents a handbook describing community resources and refers them to agencies that offer the required services. In addition, the advocate serves as the case manager and makes sure that the parents actually gain access to these services by providing them with transportation, support and encouragement. The community agencies that serve teen parents include:

* Sioux San Hospital, an Indian Health Service program that provides prenatal care, parenting classes, postnatal health care and follow-up home visits, nutritional counseling, and mental health and social services for Native American clients.