Karuk Tribe: Please Change your Policy around Children in the Work Place

Babies make the workplace better, and our culture revolves around family. Do the right thing.

This is a very important issue that needs to be implemented for the Tribe. It is for the betterment of our people and future generations to come.

This is an important and URGENT need, I hope policies can be changed and more (already promised) childcare facilities opened asap.

I consistently hear the calls for young adults from the tribe to return after receiving an education yet the environment of the organizations is not one that helps these young adults put down roots. As a Karuk descendant working for the tribe looking towards starting a family it becomes a choice between your job and starting a family. It is not acceptable for our organization to ask mothers and fathers to make these choices.

Allowing employees to bring their children to work is a benefit to the child and their working parents. I worked in a workplace that allowed children, the US Forest Service, and I never once was distract, inconvenienced or annoyed by any of the babies that came to work with their parents, nor did any problems arise for other employees. The policy of allowing parents the ability to not have to worry about child care, the bonding between parent and child is strengthened, and the parent can focus on work. Children at work is a benefit and not a distraction. As a Tribal Member, I support a policy that allow for children to come to work with their parents.

I support this. I was single and had to make choices not best for my children and sometimes could not take a job because it was not best for my family. I chose to start my family first and my career and education came secondary. I have worked for other tribes and just because we had the policy, we did not abuse it, we as moms do not always want our children at work with us. It should be a choice, and no one should get written up for it.

This is such a backwards way of thinking, we need to be able to keep care of children with the support of our employers. We shouldn't be choosing whether to work or be a parent.

We as a traditionally matriarchal culture should have already done this.

I worked for the tribe for 6 years and started out in graduate school and became a mental health Masters level intern. During that time I had two boys (tribal members) and I had a very hard time living in Orleans and working for the tribe. I was not allowed to bring my kids to work events even as they were family and kid events. I was written up for bringing my son in with me (8 months old) to breast feed for having him in my office for about 10 minutes to finish up a mandatory work requirement for therapists even though I only ever saw other kids in my office and young mothers with babies. I wanted to have to have one more baby and this was one more reason why I left the tribe to work for a more family friendly entity. My husband works for the tribe and I knew my maternity leave would be limited if he also took paternity leave to help support me in breastfeeding and healing. I had post partum depression with my second son and knew I needed his support and did not want to have to split leave as per the tribes leave policy. I am now a fully licensed LCSW. I would not work for the tribe with their current children in the workplace policy or maternity/paternity leave policy. There are many other entities with more updated and relevant policies available to people with my level of education. I hope the tribe updates their policy so I can consider them an option either for myself or other professionals.

Not only having child care prevents me from applying for Karuk jobs that I have been asked to apply for by the current employees. I know I am qualified but childcare prevents me from working.

As someone who previously managed the Yurok tribe Head Starts/Childcare I know how big the need is for services in the Orleans area. We had families from Orleans carpooling and busing children 45 mins to an hour one way, (which is a tremendous length of time per day for small children) to get their kids to our centers for services

This needs to be done! I know it would help out so many hard working tribal employees. Its hard as is to find good trustworthy sitters to leave your babys with. We tend to follow trends of other tribes anyways why not follow one that could possibly help out parents. Weather they are single parents or both parents work. I believe this will be beneficial to all!!!

My husband and I aren’t able to even consider moving and raising our children in his ancestral territory, where he is most culturally connected and his family lives because of the lack of child care options we would have. As a young family who’s worked hard to pursue and obtain higher education it feels like a true loss and constant disappointment to not even have the option to come home until our children are potentially school-age or older. Prioritizing young families by changing policies would benefit the community in numerous ways and alleviate burdens that are often primarily shouldered by Indigenous women.

I am a Karuk mother working for the Tribe and facing the daily challenge of finding safe and reliable childcare in Orleans. My husband and I both work full time and are currently relying on my elderly mother to provide full time childcare for two toddlers. When the kids are sick or she has other commitments, then we are scrambling to figure out ways to both do our jobs and care for our kids. Even just having my daughter at the office for an hour in the mornings before dropping her off at the headstart would be helpful in the juggling act of being a working parent.

I am a researcher and filmmaker who has worked for and with the Karuk Tribe since 2018. I personally do not have children but I see the ways that this change would benefit the Karuk Tribal employees with whom I work.

We’re just asking you to offer what other local employers are offering. The Karuk Tribe needs to show it supports family with action by approving an Infants in the Workplace policy.

Please make the right decision. Let’s tribal children be with their parents.

Please consider changing the policy, us parents would be able to work more efficiently and would be less stressed.

This is a no-brainer. You are missing out on prime employees.

Please consider following in other local tribes child policies