Blog

Since 2022, Help Me Grow Washington has been engaging with Tribal Nations to better understand Tribe-specific priorities and connecting with Native-serving organizations to learn more about the needs of the Native families they serve.

Over the past four years, these partnerships have helped shape how Help Me Grow can better support Native families and work alongside Tribal Nations. Here’s what we’ve learned and where this work is headed.

Centering Tribal priorities and family choice

In 2026, Help Me Grow WA’s work has focused on partnering with Tribal Nations to develop community-based Plan of Safe Care (POSC) pathways for pregnant and parenting Native families impacted by substance use.

This work centers:

• Tribal self-determination
• Family choice
• The unique priorities, practices, and approaches of each Tribal Nation

Help Me Grow is also working with Tribal Nations and Native-serving organizations to identify ways Help Me Grow WA tools, including the Help Me Grow WA ResourceFinder, can better reflect and support the needs of Indigenous families with young children.

Listening and learning together

In partnership with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), this work has included:

• Monthly Tribal collaboration meetings
• Statewide outreach
• Tribal listening sessions
• Individual conversations with Tribal Nations

DCYF-led listening sessions in June included representatives from more than a dozen Tribal communities. These conversations provided important guidance on referral pathways, communication preferences, culturally responsive supports, and how Tribes would like to be involved in supporting their families.

Building Tribe-specific pathways

More in-depth partnership discussions are also underway with individual Tribal Nations, including Lummi Nation, Makah Tribe, and Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

These conversations are helping identify how each Tribe would like to approach:

• Referrals
• Care coordination
• Notifications
• Resource navigation
• Tribe-specific support pathways

Looking ahead

Help Me Grow WA and DCYF look forward to continuing these conversations with Tribal Nations. Each Tribe will help define an approach that reflects its own interests and priorities, including referral processes, communication preferences, and family support models.

By continuing to listen, learn, and build partnerships, Help Me Grow WA can work alongside Tribal Nations to strengthen pathways to support for Native families with young children.