Cherokee Connections

Cherokee Connections is a program of the Cherokee Nation Child Care and Development Department, Child Care Resource Center. It focuses services on relatives who are caring for children while the parents work or go to school. Cherokee Connections strives to improve the quality of child care for children who are cared for in relatives’ homes, through a variety of learning opportunities for the relative caregivers and the children in their care. Program components include a year long home visiting program, quarterly meetings of caregivers who are interested in learning more about providing care for children, play and learn groups where staff travel to sites throughout the service area and set up learning activities for the providers and children to share together. Some services focus specifically on enriching the Cherokee language and culture, such as language incentives and “Cherokee Only” play and learn groups.

Mission Statement

Working together (ga-du-gi) to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for children that promotes Cherokee language and culture.

Cherokee Connections has three main components:

1. Home visiting: Available to relative (license exempt) child care providers in the 14-county service area who are registered and contract with our Cherokee Nation Child Care Licensing Program. Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Educators make monthly visits to the homes of providers who are caring for their grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews or siblings. This program serves all children in the home through 12 years of age. Using the Parents as Caregivers Curriculum, “Supporting Care Providers through Personal Visits,” educators work with providers to encourage the school readiness skills that begin in infancy through six years. Each visit lasts approximately one hour.  Providers choose 12 topics of interest, one for each month. The educator takes materials and information about the topic to the home, along with learning activities, toys, music, and children’s books that correspond with the topic for that month. The next month the educator exchanges those activities and brings a new topic and themed activities to correspond to the next topic.

Incentives—Participants in the home visiting program may earn financial incentives.  The program has four areas to earn incentives:

1.  Improving health and safety

2.  Providing school readiness skills

3.  Strengthening Cherokee Connections (including language & culture)

4.  Completion of 25 hours of training

Points may be earned for completing activities in each area, a total of $550 available to the provider for completing various activities related to the focus areas.

Material Check Out—After completing the 12 month home visiting program providers can continue in the program by coming to a designated site and picking up activities to be used in their homes with the children. A variety of kits and materials may be checked out including learning activities, books and toys. Activities may be kept for one month and returned to the lending library.

Mentors—Graduates of the home visiting program may assist in mentoring new caregivers at Network Meetings and Play & Learn Groups.

2. Language Incentive Program: Without a major focus on the Cherokee language, in two generations the language will be lost. Language speakers, who are caring for children in their homes, have an ability to help the Cherokee language continue. Cherokee speakers who want to work with the children in their care to teach them the Cherokee language. Relative caregivers, who contract with Cherokee Nation Licensing Services to care for children in their home, can earn an incentive of $50 per month through the Cherokee Connections Language Program for working with the children in the Cherokee language a minimum of 7-9 hours per week. An incentive of $100 per month is available to speakers who work with the children 90% or more of the time that the children are in their care.

3. Play & Learn Groups: Relative providers, parents, and children come together to enjoy fun play activities. Staff arrives at the play and learn site, set up a variety of learning centers, and children and their caregivers are free to explore the different activities together. Snack and a large group time are part of the activities. Culture and Cherokee language are incorporated in the activities. We are offering four groups in three different counties: Cherokee, Adair, and Sequoyah. New attendees will receive a welcome kit for visiting a Play & Learn Group. We encourage you to come and participate with your children at one of these sites listed below:

Tahlequah, Kids Connections Office

816 South College Avenue

Monday and Wednesday—9:00-11:00 a.m.

Sallisaw, Sequoyah County Health Department

612 North Oak

Monday & Wednesday—1:30-3:30 p.m.

Stilwell Public Library

Corner of Division & Sixth Street

Tuesday & Thursday—9:30-11:00 a.m.

AND

Cherokee Only Play & Learn Groups

Tuesday & Thursday—1:00-3:30 p.m.

For more information on any of the Cherokee Connections programs contact: Arlene Greenawalt, Program Coordinator, (918) 453-5056, toll free at: 1-888-458-6230, or email agreenawalt@cherokee.org

Additional resources to Family Friend and Neighbor Care

Sparking Connections

www.sparkingconnections.org

Contact: Ellen Galinsky

National Alliance for Family, Friend and Neighbor Care (NAFFNCC)

Contact: Carol Begnoche

cbegnoche@bankstreet.edu

Human Services Policy Center, Washington D.C.

Contact: Erin Maher

Phone: (206) 221-3370

emaher@uwashington.edu