Navajos resolve some Head Start problems

Lavina Barton, assistant department manager of the Navajo Nation's Office of Early Childhood Development, said the return of staff members is welcome considering the struggle the program has had to meet the federal requirements with only a skeleton crew.

"We've been volunteering, working overtime," she said. "Now that everybody is coming back on board, we'll have more help. Five people have been paid intermittently and volunteers are coming in, volunteering their time and mileage to get the program up and running."

Barton said the staff has been in contact with teachers and is working with parents to recruit children for the fall term. Those programs that won't be up and running by October will hopefully be funded in time for a Nov. 1 start, Barton said.

"We have been going through systematic changes," she said. "We're looking at the enforcement and monitoring of our system."

The Navajo Nation must review applicants' criminal histories and make exceptions where warranted — for example, an old driving-under-the-influence charge for a person hired to teach, not drive a bus. Those exceptions have to be approved by three different bodies, Wilkins said.

It's OK to hire staff with criminal histories "as long as they have a process for justification," Wilkins said. "I don't believe anyone with any significant criminal background directly around child abuse and neglect" has been hired.

The Navajo Nation has worked to ensure the governing body, called the Policy Council, can work as partners on matters such as hiring. Wilkins' office authorized $18,000 to enable that council participation, the letter states.

Still, the federal government is not satisfied the Policy Council will receive regular reports and information to make them full partners in decisions and is unclear on how the Department of Dine Education's recent reorganization will affect Head Start shared governance, the letter states.

Wilkins' office also says the Nation has not shown its operations will be monitored to ensure federal regulations are implemented effectively.

Shirley, in a statement, commended staff members who have been "working diligently" to correct the issues so the program can reopen in the fall.

"The small Navajo Head Start Central Office staff and my staff has been working around the clock, literally until the wee hours of the morning, making sure everything is completed and in place for the benefit of our Navajo children and families," Shirley said.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com; jtcook@desnews.com