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Who We Are: The American Indian Child Resource Center (AICRC) is an American Indian led, American Indian serving, 501(c)3 non-profit community service organization focusing on American Indian foster care, mental health, education & cultural protective factors. AICRC was founded in 1974 and is an established leading organization in American Indian youth services and delivering best practice programs for positive cultural identity and belonging.
Mission Statement: To preserve and promote the cultural integrity of American Indian youth and their families.
Vision Statement: AICRC envisions an empowered multi-tribal American Indian community where American Indian youth and families thrive in a healthy environment with access to needed resources. We see our community collectively exercising food sovereignty by providing options for every family to have access to healthy food choices. AICRC believes families will demonstrate resiliency, health and balance through secure and/or affordable housing. AICRC will seek guidance from an elders council for their wisdom to influence programming. We see broadly distributed assets, resources & collaborations that respond to needs & reinforce community and sense of belonging. AICRC will continue developing resilient youth who have a positive strong sense of self through culturally relevant education & multi-disciplinary opportunities for success that will provide leadership at AICRC for future generations. AICRC will establish a culture of inclusiveness, practice common core values that foster identity as American Indian peoples, reinforce a sense of belonging & encourage individual connection to respective tribes.
Guiding Values: -Promote tribal/cultural pride
-Prioritize youth directed programming
-Foster American Indian core values (belonging, generosity, interdependence & mastery)
-Acknowledge diversity of Indigenous cultures/languages
-Work with integrity
-Honor Indigenous land & the Sacred
-Acknowledge historical trauma
-Support healing from racist systems
-Provide trauma informed services
-Rejoice in humor & humility
-Celebrate youth leadership
-Rely on elder wisdom
-Advance American Indian visibility & representation
-Expand capacities through research, investment and visibility
-Constantly explore options to modify, adapt or redefine operations to support organizational growth.
-Maintain financial sustainability
-Collaborate in strategic partnerships
AICRC has achieved national accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA). It took AICRC several months to achieve accreditation. Organizations pursue accreditation to demonstrate the implementation of best practice standards in the field of human services. COA evaluated all aspects of AICRC’s programs, services, management, and administration.
COA accreditation is an objective, independent, and reliable validation of an agency’s performance. The COA accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administration, management, and service delivery functions against international standards of best practice. The standards driving accreditation ensure that services are well-coordinated, culturally competent, evidence-based, outcomes-oriented, and provided by a skilled and supported workforce. COA accreditation demonstrates accountability in the management of resources, sets standardized best practice thresholds for service and administration, and increases organizational capacity and accountability by creating a framework for ongoing quality improvement.
To achieve COA accreditation, AICRC first provided written evidence of compliance with the COA standards. Thereafter, a group of specially trained volunteer Peer Reviewers confirmed adherence to these standards during a series of on-site interviews with trustees, staff and clients.