BELCOURT Through a $3.5 million federal grant, Spirit Lake Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota will collaborate on an extensive home visitation program on the two reservations and related urban areas.
The funding and program plans were announced Thursday in Belcourt.
Merle St. Clair, chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, with headquarters in Belcourt, said the home visitation program will benefit people who are often left to struggle on their own.
"I especially appreciate the focus that this program will place on our children and families to help them through the problems of living in poverty areas and the day-to-day struggles they may be enduring," St. Clair said.
Roger Yankton, chairman of the Spirit Lake Nation, with headquarters at Fort Totten, said the home visitation program and partners have recognized the high risk in maternal and child health in Native communities and came up with the proactive program of collaboration among local, tribal, state and private stakeholders to address the serious issues Native families endure on a daily basis.
The grant funds cover over the next three years and are administered through the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.
Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota is a non-profit organization based in Bismarck.