Red Lake Nation's Ombimindwaa Gidanawemaaganinaadog Intergenerational Family Wellness Program awarded a 4-year grant for $1.5 million

We are excited to announce that Red Lake Nation's Ombimindwaa Gidanawemaaganinaadog Intergenerational Family Wellness Program was awarded a 4-year grant for $1.5 from the National Quality Improvement Center on Family Reunification (QIC-R) on March 23, 2022. The Red Lake QIC-R project, named Da'Ganamwendamoog - If they (our relatives) need to be taken care of, it will happen will employ approaches consistent with the Red Lake Ombimindwaa Gidanawemaaganinaadog Practice Model that supports program staff to engage as relatives with those who need services and to provide culturally meaningful support for lasting reunification success, family wellbeing and community healing.

The project, overseen by the University of Maryland-Baltimore with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families' Children's Bureau, will allow participating partners to engage with the National Quality Improvement Center on Family-Centered Reunification (QICR). The Tribal Law and Policy Institute will also provide support to tribal sites.

The intent of the project is to work with five to seven tribal or public child welfare sites nationally, to identify, assess, and implement promising and evidence-based practices that address the individual and collective needs of birth families with children in foster care. The interventions implemented through the QIC-R will support successful reunification of families by preserving, nurturing, and strengthening parent-child relationships and supportive community connections and resources, including the meaningful engagement of birth parents, extended family, foster families, youth, alumni of foster care, and other stakeholders. "The Children's Bureau Quality Improvement Center (QIC) model is the kind of work the Institute wants to be involved with on behalf of children and their families," said Michelle Zabel, assistant dean and director of the Institute.

Marlene Matarese, PhD, MSW, deputy director of the Institute and principal investigator for the grant expressed gratitude to the Children's Bureau for prioritizing the need to strengthen family relationships when a child enters foster care. "When the whole family receives the supports and services they need, they are more likely to achieve timely, stable, and lasting reunification. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to reimagine child welfare through a focus on comprehensive, culturally responsive, family-centered, community-based solutions."

Cheri Goodwin, MSW, Ombimindwaa Gidanawemaaganinaadog Program Director will oversee Da'Ganamwendamoog - If they (our relatives) need to be taken care of, it will happen and several of her staff will comprise a leadership team. Dr. Priscilla Day, Leech Lake band member, will serve as project director. A community-based event will be held this summer to help launch the project.

For more information, please contact Cheri Goodwin at Cheri.Goodwin@redlakenation.org or Priscilla Day at pday@d.umn.edu