Native Americans and the Welfare System:
An Interview with Jim Henry

Aired April 14, 1999

David C. Barnett–One group of Americans who are not often considered in discussions about welfare and welfare reform are the original Americans, if you will, the people who were here before this place was called "America," the indigenous people, also known as Native Americans. Joining us on the phone is Jim Henry, Manpower Development Specialist with the U.S. Department of Labor. Good morning, Mr. Henry.

Jim Henry–Good morning.

DCB–Now, first of all, is there any difference in the fact that-most of the welfare reform we talk about has to do with the federal government putting more responsibility on the states, but yours is still a federal program, isn't it?

JH–Yes, it's still a federal program, yes it is.

DCB–Does that make any difference, in terms of what you do?

JH–For the tribes themselves, it offers a little bit additional flexibility in how they administer their program.

DCB–How does that work, though? How does that add more flexibility?

JH–With the, for example, welfare-to-work program, there are different regulations designed to deal specifically with Indian tribes, taking into consideration the economic situation there, the hard-to-serve individuals, and basically allowing some additional flexibility in design and definition of the types of work activities that the tribe can use.

DCB–Now let's talk about where these jobs are, are they on the reservations, are they off the reservations?

JH–Actually it depends on the tribe itself. Tribal councils are trying to create economic development on the reservation in order to support the tribal members, but in some cases because the tribes are so small and so isolated, it's very difficult to develop some type of economic base.

DCB–You're talking about the casinos and things like that.

JH–The casinos are one option, and those are usually in large urban areas that is readily accessible by the general public, but you have other areas that are very remote and isolated and a casino would not be an option for them.

DCB–What are some of the special training needs?

JH–With the welfare clients, a lot of that is increasing the basic skills themselves. Many people have high school diplomas, GEDs, but they need to improve in their basic skills: reading, math, computer skills, things such as that, and they need to have a foundation in order to compete for those limited jobs that are on the reservation themselves.

DCB–And do you, from what we were talking about before, do you take them to jobs off the reservation, and then come back in the evening or something like that?

JH–Again it depends on the individual, the individual circumstance, if they have reliable transportation and they can go off the reservation for employment, that's their choice. It's always the individual's choice. There are some positions on the reservation that are subsidized by either a work program or the tribe itself, which individuals can apply for, but again it depends on the individual, what their skill levels are. If they don't have the skills to compete off the reservation, chances are they're not going to be seeking employment outside.

DCB–Does language ever come into this?

JH–Language is a factor. Many individuals speak their traditional language and many people don't consider the Native Americans to be like English is their second language, but growing up in an environment where the majority of times people speak their own tribal language, and then to cross the bridge and speak English, there's a lot of difficulties with that and educators themselves still struggle with teaching basic English, because it is a major factor for reservation individuals.

DCB–As we've been tracking the changing face of welfare here in Northeast Ohio, one of the problems is that fact of tracking, of following up on people after they've gotten the job. Do you have difficulties in that regard?

JH–Yes, we do, in part because once the individual, especially if they leave the reservation and they go into an urban area, sometimes it's difficult to track them, and usually the only way that its possible is if the individual contacts the tribe again to seek out maybe other referrals or additional assistance, because of the mobility it's very difficult to track individuals.

DCB–Jim Henry is Manpower Development Specialist with the U.S. Department of Labor. Thanks for joining us, sir.

JH–Thank you.