Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 1, 1 January 2021 — Ka Pili 'Ohana [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ka Pili 'Ohana

< E 'ONIPAAKAKOU >

By Melinda Lloyd Unpublished data from Hawai'i's Child Welfare Services show that Native Hawaiian (NH) kamali'i are over-represented in the child welfare system in Hawai'i and spend significantly longer time in foster care compared to non-Hawaiians. While removal from their families is sometimes necessary, youth who experienee foster care are less likely to thrive as adults, with lower than average educational attainment and ineome, and poorer physical and mental heahh. To help reduce the number of NH kamali'i entering foster care, and to help transition them more quickly to permanency with their 'ohana or other permanent caregivers, Lili'uokalani Trust (LT) partnered with Child Welfare Services (CWS), Family Programs Hawai'i, Child and Family Services, and other providers to develop Ka Pili 'Ohana (KPO). KPO is a communitybased, culturally grounded program designed to achieve better outcomes for NH kamali'i in foster care. KPO was piloted on 0'ahu's Leeward Coast between January 2019 and December 2020 and is currently expanding to serve kamali'i and 'ohana across the state. KPO supports kamali'i in foster care by: • Developing cooperative relationships among the biological and foster mākua and CWS social workers to facilitate consistent and increased support to the kamali'i while in foster care. • Increasing and enhancing visitations

with their biological mākua, siblings, extended 'ohana and others who are part of their supportive relationships. • Engaging in culturally relevant activities, individually and with their 'ohana, to build pride in their cultural identity and connect them to positive cultural role models and practices. • Helping kamali'i and their biological and foster mākua navigate the foster care system to access resources. Key outcomes achieved for kamali'i and their 'ohana include: • KPO kamali'i spent less time in foster care compared to similar CWS families. • Cultural approaches and programs promoted 'ohana engagement and facilitated healing and bonding. • Program success hinged upon supporting ea (self-determination, agency) and reducing dependency on systems and services. Key outcomes achieved in service delivery include: • Creating collaborative relationships with all partners (including 'ohana) allowed the hui to adapt programming and approaches based on lessons learned throughout the process. • Trust, transparency, and emeial eonversations related to making changes across the child welfare care ecosystem were emeial in addressing tensions across agencies before they negatively impacted programming and kamali'i. Moving forward, LT is committed to expanding KPO across the state and working with our partners to promote healing and restoration of 'ohana relationships that provide all our kamali'i with pathways to thrive. ■ Melināa LIoyd is a cli?iical social worker, researcher, and evaluator at Lili' uokalani Trust. Slie has an interest in Native Hawaiian wellbeing, privileging Indigenous worldviews and perspectives, and eonducting evaluation with aloha. A graduate ofSacred Hearts Academy, Melinda lives the servant leadership motto of Orare Et Laborare (To Pray and To Work) towards socialjustice.