Education & Training
Carol Cordova
Education and Training
Program Manager
The South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA) and the Five Tribes have a strong commitment to education and employment. That commitment led SPIPA to establish the Five Tribes’ Career Center (5TCC). Located at the Intertribal Professional Center on the Squaxin Island Reservation, the 5TCC goal is to provide education and job training related programs to the Five Tribes as needs are established and as funding is acquired. The programs vary as needs and funding change.
The 5TCC offers classroom space, a computer lab, as well as the capacity to operate as an employment center for work search. Programs that have been offered, and that continue when funding permits, are: GED preparation classes, high school credit retrieval class, college course offerings, vocational counseling, job training assistance, job placement and general assistance.
- Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) - SPIPA’s VR programs assist eligible persons with disabilities to prepare for, find, or retain employment. The current five-year grant cycle is ending, but has been a stable program for more than fifteen years. A proposal has been submitted for another five years of funding. Nisqually and Squaxin Island will be the two Tribes funded through the SPIPA VR tribal model beginning October 1, 2008 (we are assuming new funding is on the way). The program can provide rehabilitation counseling, job training, physical restoration services, interpreters for the deaf, job placement and job retention services to eligible consumers who have a disability.
- Childcare Services - SPIPA is the lead applicant administering the childcare program for the Nisqually, Chehalis, Shoalwater Bay and Squaxin Island Tribes. Service funds are provided to each Tribe to pay for child care for eligible Native American children at: state and tribal licensed child care facilities (including center-based, group home, and family child care center homes), relative homes, and in-home providers approved by the each Tribe's child care program staff. Applicants must meet income eligibility guidelines, meet the Tribes definition of Indian child, and reside within the tribal nation service area. Three of the four tribes have tribal child care centers.
- Native Employment Works (NEW) - NEW offers limited assistance to applicants actively seeking employment who need education and training, or who need job retention services. Funded through the Administration for Children and Families, the program has been steadily funded for at least 10 years. Nisqually, Chehalis, Skokomish and Squaxin Island participate under SPIPA’s umbrella. Each tribal nation sets priorities on this funding source.
The SPIPA Education and Training Department continues to seek funding opportunities for education and job training projects that the Five Tribes approve.
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