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DELC outlines Oregon Tribal Early Learning Alliance plans, moves to develop tribal consultation policy
Summary
Department of Early Learning and Care officials briefed the House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services on plans to establish the Oregon Tribal Early Learning Alliance, replace a proposed tribal hub with a tribal early learning plan and fund, and develop the agency's first tribal consultation policy.
The House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services received a briefing Tuesday on the Oregon Tribal Early Learning Alliance (OTELLA) and the Department of Early Learning and Care’s work to formalize government-to-government consultation with tribes, DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee and Tribal Early Learning Alliance Liaison Dana Castagno told the committee.
DELC said the agency, now a standalone department, has created an Office of Tribal Affairs and is developing its first tribal consultation policy to serve as a single point of contact for tribes and to ensure DELC staff center tribal sovereignty in policy and funding decisions. "We are currently developing our first tribal consultation policy," Chatterjee said.
The briefing said the work grew from policy changes following House Bill 2055 (2021) and earlier pilots, including the Preschool Promise pilot that began in 2015. Under the earlier pilot, tribes could only access some funds by working through local early learning hubs, which DELC officials said produced inconsistent access and strained government-to-government responsibilities. Dana Castagno summarized the advisory committee’s proposals: replace the previously envisioned tribal hub with a tribal early learning plan and fund modeled in part on the Oregon Department of Education’s American Indian Alaska Native Student Success Plan; convert the Tribal Advisory Committee into the Oregon Tribal Early Learning Alliance to advise DELC; and provide tribes broad, flexible allowable uses for a tribal fund so communities can exercise sovereignty and self-determination.
DELC said the Office of Tribal Affairs has begun internal trainings (including tribal sovereignty overview content in new-employee orientation) and has been sending letters to tribal leaders to request consultation as staff develop legislative language and operational details. The agency described the current work as preparatory and said it expects to follow up with future public hearings and more detailed briefings to the committee; Chatterjee encouraged members to review the September legislative days hearing for additional testimony from tribal advisory co-chairs on leveraging resources.
No formal action or vote was taken at the informational meeting. DELC staff said the next steps include continued government-to-government consultation with tribes, finalizing a tribal consultation policy, and presenting draft legislation and implementation details to the committee and to tribal partners for review.
The committee spent about 15 minutes on the tribal briefing before moving on to a longer session on employment-related day care. DELC noted additional policy work and public hearings will be scheduled to allow committee members and tribal partners to consider draft proposals in more depth.
