THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY OF FAMILY SERVICES IS FAMILY FIRST
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
"The biggest takeaway from today is that Family Services is always going to be about family first," Health and Human Services Commissioner Nicole Anderson said. The Family Services Department is going through a major makeover to ensure its goal of family preservation. They are currently in active strategic planning to ensure a better future for the children and families of the Mille Lacs Band.
Anderson said they are currently working on stabilizing the department. The department holds weekly strategic planning meetings with Commissioner Anderson, Executive Director of Human Services Carmen Kalk, HHS Strategic Initiatives Coordinator Jamie Rancour, Director of Family Services Rachel Shaugobay, and HHS Executive Assistant Anna Davis. Among the topics of the meetings are statutory changes, any issues that have come up within the department, and progress made in areas of stabilization. They have also held work sessions to develop the strategic plan for “Year of the Child” and engage all of the staff in developing what they need to be successful in their jobs.
“I see progress,” Anderson said. “The work that Jamie is doing is gathering information, and with her past experience and expertise in working with DHS and others well-versed in Indian child welfare, we are developing training and bringing training in for our staff to get them up to where they need to be. They have never been truly invested in for training and have had minimal support beyond HHS, we now feel empowered by executive leadership to really dive deep to do the necessary work and bring forward the actuality of what we are dealing with. Before it was always “make it look nice” — nobody cared about how it was affecting the kids. Right now, kids’ and parents’ stories matter. We are meeting with the courts on things and we are pushing for family preservation and family first. That is our stance in the Family Services Department in the Executive Branch.”
Recently Band Assembly worked to get Title 8 amended to remove THC [testing] from Foster Care statutes. This legislation made it through Band Assembly and was signed by the Chief Executive. But soon thereafter HHS realized that there was another area that needed to be addressed. “The Chief Executive wrote a letter asking the Band Assembly to have all THC testing removed from all Child Protection cases because it is having a negative impact on our parents and families. Those are the big moves that are happening right now and I am so appreciative of elected officials who listen to our needs. This is set to be on the Band Assembly March 26, 2025,” Anderson said.
Family Services is taking a multi-prong approach to strategic planning. They are individually working with staff to find out what are the day-to-day items that need to be fixed. For example, staff was asked what they would make their work easier. One person said if they had a consolidated place to store all of the car seats so they don’t have to waste time looking for one in cars it would save them 45 minutes.
“It’s about delving in to figure out what is working and what is not working and how we do we do better,” Anderson said. “Family Services itself has great billing opportunity that has never been a primary focus. We are looking at what Family Services needs and do we need to have someone specifically designated for that billing? If there is, we will have that con versation at our upcoming budget meeting. If it is, then let’s make FTE specialized. This has never been addressed before. We were always told to ‘stick within the budget. You are not asking for any more money.’ Now we have the time we need to figure out what is happening in the department, collect the data, and put forward the recommended changes. But there has also been some empowerment given back to the department with recent leadership changes. Those are also having a positive impact on the department as far as openness and willingness to share.”
Rancour said getting feedback from the staff has been a big step forward. “Hearing from them in their own words allows them to be interactive and participate in this. We are doing things digitally as well as with an artistic twist such as dream boards,” she said. “[Staff] was asked to create dream boards about what their dream workplace would look like. Some were bare-bones photos of pictures with smiling children, coffee cups, the color they wanted their office, and how they wanted to run their cases. Getting that feeling and having them get involved is huge. One thing I am enjoying about this process is we have a good mix of staff who are veteran workers of five plus years as well as staff who are a couple of months in. It is a nice team-building experience to understand people.”
“Family Preservation is going to pick up steam this year, too,” Rancour continued. “Everybody’s heart is genuinely with the families. We want the families to do good and be happy, healthy, and strong. Family preservation is what strengthens that. We want to invest resources and time so that families can handle matters by themselves — we all need a little bit of help sometimes.”
Anderson feels they are starting to move the dial. “We are gaining momentum and hope. Staff feel like Family Services is finally getting the attention it deserves. The initial kickoff with team building and gathering information from staff to help re brand the department.”
They are working on the addition of cultural support work ing with Bob Eagle to help build a cultural program. Part of that is going to be having people designated to Family Services to bring people together. “We are tying all of the pieces together and making sure they are cohesive,” Anderson added.
Family Services is in the first stage. The first year is geared towards stabilization and as they build out, they are looking at what that five-year strategy is going to look like and what they want the department to be.
“Our focus will be building the cultural piece along with family preservation and what that is,” Anderson said. “There is a difference of opinion on what that is between the Family Services Department and the Courts as to what [family preservation] really means. We need them to know that our focus is on keeping our children with families. Our goal is to continue to fight for families first.”
Rancour added she feels it is it is an exciting time. “There is so much passion and optimism here it is a fun time to be in Family Services. It is always a crazy day, but you leave feeling tired and accomplished. I say that as an office staff. I am not out there working with the families, but I know I am working with the staff who are out there working with the families. That is how I am helping.”
The first theme of the department staff meetings was “Vision and Dreaming.” They learned how to make dream catchers. Each staff made a dream catcher and had a teaching on dream catchers. “I learned so much about our staff that day. The dream boards are here for us as a reminder. They will be displayed in the shared spaces within the department. Staff also made handwritten cards about what ‘Year of the Child’ means to each staff member.”
Family Services would like community buy-in on their evolution. “We have a negative perception in the community — we have a bad reputation. I get that feeling and that [feeling] is valid. But we are trying to do good and we really do want to help the families. We want the families to articulate to us how to make that happen.”
The bad perception of the Family Services Department is the result of the pure nature of the job which includes the removal of children from homes at times. “It is emotionally charged. Sometimes people don’t want to own that it may have been the drug use in the home or some other stuff,” Anderson said. “I will be honest. There have been people in the past [in the department] who have referenced ‘snatching kids.’ Sadly, and unfortunately, because of bad players in the past and half truths in the community, there is that feeling. Overall, Family Services departments as a whole get a bad rap. It doesn’t matter whether it is county or tribal when there are things that occur that are real.”
According to Band statutes, the Judge has the ultimate placement authority. “The department is not going to place a child in unsafe situations,” Anderson said. “Family Services is doing everything in its power to preserve families. The reality is, that our department is always family first. The team we have right now is going above and beyond to work with families. We are fighting for families. As long as the kids are safe, we want them to stay with their family.”
“To add to that, in our department we are all parents. We are all real people. We understand that we cannot expect perfection. We just want safety and stability for the kids and so much of the time our families can provide that,” Rancour said. “We want people to know we are working. We are trying to do good for the kids, for the parents, for the families. People don’t need to be afraid of us. We are here to help — we just need to know what is going on in the situation so we can know how to help. Be truthful with us. We will be truthful with you and we will try to connect you with services and programs that can help.”