By:Kara Pasqua
Something special just launched for everyone working to protect and strengthen Tribal children and families. The National Tribal Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement (NTCWCIA) has officially gone live with its brand-new website — www.ntcwcia.org. If you’ve ever searched for resources or training to better serve Native children and families, you know how hard it can be to find information that’s both useful and culturally relevant. The NTCWCIA team created the website to be a gathering place — a one-stop hub for connection, collaboration, and innovation in Tribal child welfare.
The website is built for the people doing the work every day — frontline workers, child advocates, clinicians, policy leaders, and program managers. It’s full of resources designed with Tribal communities in mind, combining best practices in child welfare with cultural wisdom and community-driven solutions.
REQUEST SERVICES
Need help strengthening your case management system? Looking to improve collaboration between agencies? Want guidance on trauma-informed practices that reflect Tribal values? At the top of the homepage, you’ll find a “Request Services” button that connects you directly to the NTCWCIA team. With just a few clicks, you can ask for training, technical assistance, or consultation — all at no cost.
RESOURCE LIBRARIAN
One of the most unique features of the website is an actual Resource Librarian, a real person whose job is to help you find what you’re looking for. Maybe you’re with a Child Advocacy Center (CAC) trying to locate a culturally specific victim advocacy toolkit or a training on how to work more effectively with Tribal partners. The librarian can help point you to the right materials, saving you hours of searching and helping you find information that fits your community.
RESOURCE LIBRARY
The Resource Library itself is another feature. It’s not a static list of links — it’s alive and growing. Visitors are encouraged to contribute their own tools, templates, or success stories, building a collective pool of knowledge that reflects real-world experience. This means Tribal agencies, CACs, and advocates can learn from one another, share what works, and celebrate progress together.
What makes it all come together is the heart behind it — a deep commitment to centering Tribal values in every resource. Everything on the site is curated through a Tribal lens, ensuring that it respects sovereignty, community traditions, and cultural ways of caring for children.
There’s guidance on things like integrating traditional healing practices into service plans, building culturally safe forensic interviewing approaches, and fostering stronger partnerships between Tribal child welfare programs, law enforcement, and CACs. For those working in Child Advocacy Centers, this is huge — it means being able to serve Native children and families in ways that honor their culture while still following national best practices.
ABOUT THE NTCWCIA
The NTCWCIA officially opened its doors in January 2025, becoming a national hub for technical assistance and capacity-building in Tribal child welfare. Its mission is to help strengthen Tribal child welfare systems through culturally grounded, community-led approaches. The National Native Children’s Trauma Center partners with the Center to ensure that every service provided is trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and rooted in healing.
The team is deeply committed to the communities they serve. They believe culture is not just part of the solution — it is the solution. Every training, every consultation, every resource is designed to lift up Tribal voices and honor the traditional knowledge that has sustained families for generations.
When Tribal programs, child advocacy centers, and partners across the country work together, we create something stronger than any one system alone. We create a future where every Tribal child and family is surrounded by care that honors their history, their culture, and their strength.
We invite you to visit the NTCWCIA website at: www.ntcwcia.org .
At the Native Child Advocacy Resource Center (NCARC), our role is to:
- Facilitate and support these calls
- Gather resources and assist with any needs voiced by participants
- Grow a network of professionals dedicated to improving services for Tribal families
The Tribal Peer Call is always open to new participants, where we welcome fresh perspectives, ideas, and experiences. Together, we continue to build a strong, culturally responsive community dedicated to improving the wellbeing of Tribal children and families.