November 2011
Ask NCFY: How Can My Organization Reach Out to Native American Youth?
Q: I think it's important for my youth-serving organization to be culturally competent in its dealings with all young people. But when it comes to Native youth, I'm not sure where to start.
A: For Tribal and non-Tribal organizations alike, cultural competency is essential to serving young people with respect and dignity. But with 564 Federally recognized Tribes in the United States, each with its own culture and history, building your organization’s ability to work with Native youth can feel overwhelming.
Ending Youth Homelessness by 2020: What RHY Providers Can Do
Ending youth homelessness by 2020 is a key goal of Opening Doors, the federal government’s program to end homelessness, which was launched last year. Earlier this fall, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Barbara Poppe spoke directly to staff of runaway and homeless youth programs in a webinar meant to introduce them to Opening Doors and inform them about what they can do to help the government reach its goal.
Primary Sources: Are Researchers Equipped to Study Substance Use Among Native Youth?
“Community, Family, and Peer Influences on Alcohol, Marijuana, and Illicit Drug Use Among a Sample of Native American Youth: An Analysis of Predictive Factors,” Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, Vol. 9, Issue 4, 2010.
What it's about: Researchers investigated whether three theories commonly used to study teen drinking and drug use could be used to study substance use among Native American young people. They tested the theories using data collected from Native American middle-school and high-school students in Montana.
Bright Idea: Peer Outreach Programs Provide a Stepping Stone to Future Employment
It’s a common dilemma for young people looking for a first job: How to land a position when they’ve got no employment experience. Three runaway and homeless youth programs in Washington, DC, are solving the problem by hiring young people to work on their street outreach teams.
Right on the Money: New Charity Ratings Provide Blueprint for Transparency and Accountability
The largest U.S. charity evaluator, Charity Navigator, has for the past ten years rated nonprofit organizations based on their financial health. This year, the evaluator added measures meant to rate “accountability and transparency,” a charity’s willingness to explain its actions to the public and make available information about its inner workings.
Q&A: Barbara Poppe, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
Last week, we highlighted a recent webinar by Barbara Poppe, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Titled “Ending Youth Homelessness by 2020,” the webinar detailed the efforts of Opening Doors, the first federal program aimed at preventing and ending homelessness.
After the webinar, NCFY spoke with Poppe to learn more.
NCFY Recommends: Cultivating the Next Generation of Native American Health Professionals
With only 2,400 practicing physicians in the United States, Native Americans are among the least-represented minorities in the health care field. Several initiatives are trying to change that. They’re good projects to know about if you work with a Native American young person who’s interested in learning more about a career in health care.
NCFY Recommends: McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Toolkit
The National Center for Homeless Education's Local Homeless Education Liaison Toolkit will help you understand the federal act that mandates access to education for homeless children and youth and how it's being put into practice.
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