Systems Change Process
& Breaking Out of the
Box
Deb Painte, NATI
Joseph Walker, NATI
TRIBAL PERSPECTIVE
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National Indian Child Welfare Association
(NICWA), Overview of Relational World View
Originally presented by Terry Cross, NICWA at
the Western Pacific CWIC Regional Forum,
San Francisco, March 2009
(slide excerpts used with permission)
Linear Worldview
Social Work/Medical Model
Cause g Effect g New Cause g New Effect
Social History g Presenting Problem g Assessment g Treatment g Outcome
Relational Worldview
Native and Tribal Thought
Context
Mind
Spirit
Body
BALANCE
Relational Worldview
Native and Tribal Thought
• Fluid, cyclical view of time
• Each aspect of life is related
• Services aim to restore
balance
• Interventions may not be
directed at “symptoms”
• Underlying question is
“how?”
From Individual to Organization
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The model of balance can be
applied to organizations and
communities.
Each element of the
individual model has a
parallel in an organization.
This is the basis for NICWA’s
approach to agency climate.
Relational Worldview
Organizational Level
Policies/Procedures
Mgmt. Structure
Physical
Economic
Political
Social
Mandate
Personnel Mgmt.
Fiscal Mgmt.
Service Design
Strategic Plans
Environment Infrastructure
Mission
Org. Spirit
Values
Purpose
Vision
Mission
Resources
Human Beings
Leadership
“Champions”
Information
Funding
Coalitions
Relational World View
Theory of Change
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Change is a constant, inevitable,
cyclical, and dynamic part of the
human experience that occurs in
natural, predictable patterns and
can be facilitated to promote
desired and measurable
outcomes.
RWV-Based Practice
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A change agent joins with the natural forces,
and with purposeful intent, impacts the
quadrants to restore balance and promote
harmony.
Interventions do not necessarily target
symptoms but rather impact balance and
facilitate harmony, and are frequently designed
to impact multiple quadrants.
Change can be measured by observing key
indicators of balance and harmony and by
recording change across time in relationship to
the intervention(s).
Essential Elements for
Systems Change
Financing
Policy
Standards of Practice
Data
Accountability
Dependability of
Institutions
Environment InfrastructurePartnerships
Communication
Needs
Community Readiness
Strengths
Political will/urgency
External Relationships
Values
Mission
Shared Vision
Cultural Integrity
Sovereignty/Governance
Respect for ancestral
wisdom
Alignment of principles
Resources
Leadership
Family and youth voice
Staffing
Training/TA
Vertical buy-in
Funding
Change Processes
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Create a sense of urgency
Core leadership team
Broad participatory planning
Shared vision and strategy
Leadership empowering
others
Vertical buy-in
Short term wins and
persistence
Adapted from
Sustainability
Kotter, 1997
Other tribal considerations
 Impact
of Historical Trauma,
Intergenerational Grief &
Secondary Trauma on Tribal
Systems
 Need to understand how this
may impact your systems
change process
Historical Trauma
Trauma upon trauma that occurs in history to a specific
group of people causing emotional, mental and spiritual*
wounding both during their lives and in the generations that
follow.
Intergenerational Grief
Grief that is passed down from the generation experiencing the
trauma to their children (the next generation) even though
they may not be aware of or have direct experience of the
actual traumatic events.
Definitions
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Secondary Trauma – “a cluster of symptoms nearly
identical to PTSD which results from the stress of
working with or intimately knowing somebody who
has been traumatized or is suffering. “ (Perron & Hiltz, 2006, p. 217)
Secondary Trauma Stress – “an acute stress
reaction to a traumatic event experienced indirectly.
(Phipps & Byrne, 2003, p. 139)
Breaking Out of the Box
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Practice Model and Standards of the
Lakota Oyate Wakanyeja Owcakiyapi
(LOWO) Agency, a tribally chartered
child welfare agency on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
See MPCWIC Toolkit