Case Study: Examining Native American EI Drop Out Rates

Megan Schumaker Murphy; Veronica Miranda

Case Studies and Reflective Tools

Case Study: Examining Native American EI Drop Out Rates

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Recently, I was speaking with a researcher who was examining data from a government report on Early Intervention to determine when families with minoritized racial identities are most likely to drop out of early intervention programs. Most of the state and national data we have about early intervention is quantitative. Only 16 states collect demographic data on families referred to EI, so even that data is limited.

One main takeaway from this report is that Native American families are the least likely group to have their children evaluated by an early intervention after an initial referral to an early intervention program. Of all Indigenous children referred to early intervention programs, only 59% of those children are evaluated for a developmental delay. For White children, 81% of children referred to early intervention move from referral to evaluation. Depending on the state, EI referrals can come from parents, childcare providers, doctors, or community screenings.

What are some possible reasons why you think families may not follow through with an EI evaluation after their children are referred to early intervention?
1. Are any of the reasons you listed deficit-based (meaning that they blame families)? Why do you think that these reasons came to your mind?
2. What may be happening at the institutional or structural level to prevent families from scheduling initial EI evaluations?
3. When I present data like this to large groups, I often hear people respond by making blanket statements about how some families “don’t care about their children’s education” or that “those poor families just have so much going on; they can’t focus on their children’s needs.” These are examples of deficit-based thinking. Identify some of the cultural messages you’ve received about Indigenous people that contribute to these kinds of deficit-based statements.
4. Why do you think that many people explain the lack of EI evaluation follow-through on individual families rather than on institutional or structural factors?

Watch The Historical Context of U.S. Indian Boarding Schools. Then complete the rest of the reflective questions.

Based on what you learned about the History of Indigenous people with the American educational system, what are some reasons you think that families decide not to follow through with a developmental evaluation for their child?
Many EI providers and policymakers don’t know the socio-historical context of Indigenous People and the American legal, medical, and education systems. If you didn’t know the context, what conclusions might you draw about the reasons that Indigenous families don’t follow through with developmental evaluations after EI referral?
What are some of the system-level reasons that Indigenous children may not get a developmental evaluation after their child is referred to early intervention?
What are some strategies you think would help EI organizations located near Indigenous communities to decrease the referral to evaluation dropout-rate among Indigenous families?

Resources

There are more than 574 Indigenous Tribes in the United States, each with their rich history and culture. No one resource can speak to the experiences of every Native American person or group. However, these resources will help you build your social-historical knowledge of some Indigenous experiences in the United States. While this section focuses on history, when working with Indigenous communities, you will also need to learn about modern Indigenous ways of being.