Terry L. Cross Fund

Our Terry L. Cross Fund directly supports our relentless advocacy for Native children and families.

NICWA is the preeminent national organization dedicated to American Indian and Alaska Native child and family well-being; policymakers and program administrators at the tribal, state, and national levels call on us for data and information. We are regularly invited to present testimony and provide consultation on issues ranging from social service program design to the impacts of policies on services for Native children and families. In recent years, our advocacy efforts have included providing expert counsel to tribal leaders sitting on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee, detailed recommendations on ways to reform how the federal government funds child welfare and what services are most needed to support children and families, and federal appropriations testimony and advocacy.

NICWA has a memorandum of agreement with the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) to directly inform their work and advocacy with our child and family well-being expertise and to chair their Indian Child and Family Welfare Subcommittee. NICWA regularly meets with NCAI’s Executive Committee, updates tribal leaders on relevant policy issues, and supports tribes as they respond to the media and policymakers on these issues.

NICWA also provides policy and practice expertise to several regional intertribal organizations, including the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and United South and Eastern Tribes. We strive to provide anyone who wants to advocate for Native families and children with the information and support they need to be an effective advocate.

For more information on our public policy and advocacy work, please contact David Simmons, NICWA’s director of government affairs and advocacy, at desimmons@nicwa.org or (503) 222-4044, ext. 119.

If you have questions about making a donation, please contact Special Lovincey, NICWA’s development communications manager, at special@nicwa.org or (503) 222-4044, ext. 135.