Full-time employees of Cherokee Nation will now get five days of additional paid leave if they become foster parents.
Chief Bill John Baker said the new policy is in response to a problem they noticed among new foster families.
"They get the kids, and then all of a sudden, they've got to start taking sick leave or vacation pay or whatever to get them to their doctor appointments or to get them into daycare or into a school," Baker said. "It just takes time to get those things done."
The days may be taken at any time during the first year after placement.
With an average of 80 kids in tribal custody and involvement in more than 1,600 cases a year, the Cherokee Nation doesn’t always have a foster family available when a child needs one.
"We're building more and more families, and we hope this policy will make it easier for some of our employees to step in to be that foster parent," Baker said.
Additional leave for foster parents is the latest of several social policies instituted under Baker, others being a minimum wage hike and paid maternity and paternity leave.
"Progressive is doing things that other folks aren't doing, so, I guess in that instance, it is progressive," Baker said. "But ... there's nothing more important to Cherokees than family, and so having those extra leaves for bonding, I think just helps create a better foundation for better kids. And better kids are the future of this tribe."
