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This research addresses one of the most pressing and controversial issues facing child welfare policymakers and practitioners today: the dramatic overrepresentation of Indigenous families in North American public child welfare systems. Effective, inclusive education is one necessary component of efforts to reduce such disparities. Yet recruiting students from various cultural communities to the field and educating white social work students and professionals to practice in culturally responsive ways are ongoing challenges. In this ethnography, we examine an apparently successful model of inclusive education: the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies (the Center) at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, School of Social Work. For over a decade, the Center has graduated Indigenous and non-Indigenous child welfare workers with MSWs now practicing within tribal communities, as well as provided continuing education for child welfare professionals. At the Center, Indigenous scholars and social workers, tribal leaders and their allies design and sustain a model of honoring and integrating Indigenous worldviews with Western social work. Experiential learningengaging the "heart and head"is a cornerstone of the Center's educational practices. Students and professional colleagues are approached with a "good heart" as "relatives" with positive intentions. They learn about the spirituality, language, culture and history of Indigenous people. The strengths-based curriculum also includes challenging content on the legacy of genocide and historical trauma on Indigenous families and communities, as well as contemporary laws and policies such as the Indian Child Welfare Act. The educational worldview and practices of the Center provide understanding for social work, generally, and child welfare, specifically, that supports effective practice and policy within diverse communities. work educational models and practices, as well as child welfare systems. It promises to provide understanding for social work, generally, and child welfare, specifically, that will contribute to effective practice and policy within our diverse communities; and create collaborations to reduce system barriers to equitable practice.

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American Indian children are overrepresented in out-of-home placements, yet research into this phenomenon is limited. We explored all first-time placements of American Indian children in 1996 and a comparison group of non-Indian children in a Minnesota county and found significant differences between the two groups. In this study, American Indian families are for the most part single-parent households and the vast majority live in poverty. American Indian children are younger and more likely to be exposed to physical neglect than their non-Indian counterparts. For both populations, alcohol use is a significant problem, yet rates are statistically higher among the American Indian families. Clearly, early prevention and intervention programs must include chemical assessment and concrete services to preserve the cultural integrity of families. To this end, emphasis must be placed on adequate funding of tribal human services, as well as collaboration among tribal, county, and state human services.

Background and Purpose: CCL2 is an inflammatory chemokine that stimulates the recruitment of monocytes into tissue via activation of the GPCR CCR2.Experimental Approach: Freshly isolated human monocytes and THP-1 cells were used. Fura-2 loaded cells were used to measure intracellular Ca 2+ responses. Transwell migration to measure chemotaxis. siRNA-mediated gene knock-down was used to support pharmacological approaches. Key Results: CCL2 evoked intracellular Ca 2+ signals and stimulated migration inTHP-1 monocytic cells and human CD14 + monocytes in a CCR2-dependent fashion. Attenuation of DAG catabolism in monocytes by inhibiting DAG kinase (R59949) or DAG lipase (RHC80267) activity suppressed CCL2-evoked Ca 2+ signalling and transwell migration in monocytes. These effects were not due to a reduction in the number of cell surface CCR2. The effect of inhibiting DAG kinase or DAG lipase could be mimicked by addition of the DAG analogue 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG) but was not rescued by application of exogenous phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. Suppressive effects of R59949, RHC80267, and OAG were partially or fully reversed by Gö6983 (pan PKC isoenzyme inhibitor) but not by Gö6976 (PKCα and PKCβ inhibitor). RNAi-mediated knock-down of DAG kinase α isoenzyme modulated CCL2-evoked Ca 2+ responses in THP-1 cells. Conclusions and Implications:Taken together, these data suggest that DAG production resulting from CCR2 activation is metabolised by both DAG kinase and DAG lipase pathways in monocytes and that pharmacological inhibition of DAG catabolism or application suppresses signalling on the CCL2-CCR2 axis via a mechanism dependent upon a PKC isoenzyme that is sensitive to Gö6983 but not Gö6976.