Cheyenne River Reservation shuts down family violence program

South Dakota-According to sources who asked to remain anonymous, disagreement over client confidentiality resulted in closing the Family Violence Prevention Program on the Cheyenne River Reservation late last week. Program staff were fired by the tribal council, then arrested and jailed by tribal police.

The family Violence Prevention Program, in conjunction with the Sacred Hearts women's shelter, funded by the Catholic Church, and the tribally-funded Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization program, provided services to the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota. Since the closure of the Tender Hearts program at Standing Rock Reservation about three years ago, these programs have also served women and children from Standing Rock.

The Family Violence Prevention Program was a tribally-run program, funded by tribal set-aside funds. The program provided battered women with financial assistance intended to help them in getting out of abusive relationships, for example helping women with food, the costs of changing locks, utility hookup deposits-whatever the woman needed at that point to protect herself, including, when necessary, a bus ticket out of the area.

The disagreement over client confidentiality came to a head when the tribal administrative offer demanded to see the records of the clients who had been served by the program. According to program staff, the administrative officer wanted access to the client files to "see if the women were double-dipping." Staff at the Family Violence Prevention Program responded that the financial assistance they provided was through "vendor payments" made by writing checks directly to service providers, so "if any woman was double-dipping, it couldn't have been by very much."

And, as one of the women arrested emphasized to this writer, the Family Violence Prevention Program staff "knew that breach of confidentiality was a meter of life and death" for some of the women who had been served by the program. To stress the seriousness of staff concerns about confidentiality, she cited recent incidents of abuse culminating in the murder of three battered women at Standing Rock and Lower Brule Reservations. The staff was, she said, particularly concerned about confidential client records being removed from the Family Violence Prevention Program office.

Last week, the program staff had "come to a mutual agreement" with tribal council members. But, tribal chairman Gregg Bourland was out of state when the agreement was reached, and on his return to Cheyenne River, Chairman Bourland reportedly overturned the decision of the seven council members with whom the Family Violence Prevention Program staff had reached an agreement.

Thursday night, the staff stayed in the program office with the records to "make sure that nobody came to take them." They were supported by other women in the Cheyenne River Community, "women would come and go...there were about eight women, sitting with the files, all night." The tribal administrative officer reportedly ordered the tribal maintenance men to change the lock on the building.

The next morning, Friday, January 26th the Family Violence Prevention staff met with the tribal council members. The tribal council suspended program staff members June Runs After and Georgia Taylor, and accepted a "verbal resignation made in the heat of the moment-'I should just quit," previously made by program director Janet Collins. The tribal council then told the women who had been fired to vacate the building by one o' clock that afternoon. Some of the women remained in the building to protect the files. Meanwhile, others obtained a "John Doe" restraining order from the tribal court, reportedly intended to prevent tribal administrative officer J.R. La Ponte, tribal administrative officer J.R. La Ponte, tribal specialist Carol Elk Nation from accessing the confidential client records, and to bar anyone from removing client files from the program offices.

"At 4:45 p.m.," the tribal council told the women that if they did not leave the building, they would be arrested, and told the suspended employees that if they did not leave the building, they would be fired.

At seven o'clock on the evening of January 26th, the tribal police entered the building and handed termination notices to all of the Family Violence Prevention Program staff. Director Janet Collins, advocates June Runs After and Georgia Taylor, and Willetta Dolphus and Carmen White Horse Moran were arrested for "trespassing" and jailed. The women were arraigned later Friday evening, and released after posting bond.

The Family Violence Prevention Program is currently shut down, with all of the staff terminated. On Monday, January 29th, the tribal council held a special meeting with the summarily terminated program director and the co-director of the South Dakota Coalition against Domestic Violence, to "see what could be worked out," but no resolution was reached.

Two days later, on January 31st, the tribal court rescinded the restraining orders protecting the client records, and the tribal council was reportedly working on appointing a new acting director to oversee the Family Violence Prevention Program.

Trespassing charges against the terminated program staff and their supporters are scheduled for tribal by the Cheyenne River Reservation tribal court on February 15th.