Expert practitioners share strategies for better incorporating First Nation and tribal culture and traditions with kinship care placements for Indigenous and Native American children and families.

Tara Petti, M.S.W, Senior Child Welfare Expert for RedMane Technology Canada

Tara Petti holds a MSW and is a Senior Child Welfare expert with a passion for outcome measures.  She spent much of her career as the CEO of the Southern First Nations Network of Care, working with ten Child Welfare agencies serving thirty six First Nation communities in Southern Manitoba. She served many years working and advising for the First Nations Incidence Study, one of Canada’s largest studies looking at child welfare investigations and First Nation children. She is currently a member of the Child Welfare League of Canada board and has worked tirelessly to help Indigenous communities consider outcomes when thinking about Child Welfare and prevention programming and transformation. She is passionate about kinship care and reducing the number of children needing out of family placements.

Melissa Clavette, Supervisor of the Child in Care & Foster Home Recruitment Team, Mi’gmaq Child & Family Services of New Brunswick

Ms. Clavette, graduated from Université de Moncton in New Brunswick where she began her social work career as a Community Social Services Worker in Nunavut. As a Supervisor for the Child in Care and Foster Home Recruitment Team, Ms. Clavette specializes in recruiting homes that are culturally sensitive to the unique heritage of Mi’gmaq children and their families.

Loretta Martinez, M.S.W., Program Director for the Ramah Navajo Social Services of Pine Hill, New Mexico

Ms. Martinez’s experience includes seventeen years of administration work and additional direct services with community family and children for seven years. She is the mother of three children and the grandmother of six grandchildren, and has come from a huge family that includes a total of fourteen siblings which all have experienced boarding school placement. Her upbringing consisted of hard work, one-room Hogan structured home, daily chores, and with Navajo being the primary spoken language. Loretta earned several degrees from receiving her A.A.S in Business Administration from Haskell Indian Nations University, then her Bachelors in Health and Human Services from Fort Lewis College to ultimately getting her M.S.W from the University of Denver.

Gwen Antonio, Acting Investigative Family Case Worker, Ramah Navajo Social Services

Ms. Antonio is a member of the Ramah Navajo Band who was raised and continues to serve the Ramah Community in which she lives. As a graduate of New Mexico State University, Ms. Antonio has served Ramah Navajo children and families while working on the Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc. and in her current capacity investigating allegations of abuse and neglect for the Ramah Navajo Social Services. As a member of the Ramah Navajo Band, Ms. Antonio proudly lives by her cultural heritage and applies her cultural life experiences when serving children and families in her community.