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Tribal Early Childhood

Collaborating to Support Tribal Child Development

We work with partners across the country to address health, well-being, and children’s development, centering community wisdom and strengths.

Projects and Partnerships

Our commitment to advancing Tribal early childhood research, policy, and practice is grounded in partnership and respect for community-based priorities, Indigenous ways of knowing, and the inherent sovereignty of all Native American communities.

The center brings together researchers, Tribal program partners, and others who support the health and development of Native children and families through research, evaluation, and practice.

Tribal Early Childhood Research Center

Tribal Early Childhood Research Center

The center brings together researchers, Tribal program partners, and others who support the health and development of Native children and families through research, evaluation, and practice.

The Native Children’s Research Exchange brings together researchers studying Native child and adolescent development and supports emerging scholars.

Native Children’s Research Exchange Network

Native Children’s Research Exchange Network

The Native Children’s Research Exchange brings together researchers studying Native child and adolescent development and supports emerging scholars.

The program has supported 41 early-career Indigenous scholars in their pursuit of child development and substance use research.

Native Children’s Research Exchange Scholars Program

Native Children’s Research Exchange Scholars Program

The program has supported 41 early-career Indigenous scholars in their pursuit of child development and substance use research.

Tribal leaders, community members, researchers, and state and national partners convened at the Native Nations event to develop an early childhood national agenda.

Native Nations Convening

Native Nations Convening

Tribal leaders, community members, researchers, and state and national partners convened at the Native Nations event to develop an early childhood national agenda.

This project collects and provides data on Tribal Head Start programs, children, families, and staff.

Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey

Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey

This project collects and provides data on Tribal Head Start programs, children, families, and staff.

CIRCLE-HV supports three Indigenous home visiting research-practice partnerships and a national study involving eight Indigenous home visiting programs.

CIRCLE Home Visiting

CIRCLE Home Visiting

CIRCLE-HV supports three Indigenous home visiting research-practice partnerships and a national study involving eight Indigenous home visiting programs.

The Center for Innovative Research, Capacity Building and Leadership Development to End Substance Use Harm (CIRCLE) Center drives innovations in research and policy to address substance use harms in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

CIRCLE P50 Center of Excellence

CIRCLE P50 Center of Excellence

The Center for Innovative Research, Capacity Building and Leadership Development to End Substance Use Harm (CIRCLE) Center drives innovations in research and policy to address substance use harms in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

Tribal Early Childhood News

Members of the Native Children’s Research Exchange program were joined by the chairman and vice chairman of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation at the 14th cohort kick-off event in Oklahoma in November 2025.

Building a Legacy of Native Research: The NCRE Scholars Program

Since 2012, the Native Children's Research Exchange (NCRE) Scholars program has sponsored 41 early-career Scholars across 14 cohorts. Alumni have become faculty members, psychologists, scientists, a Tribal epidemiologist—even leaders of their own nations.

Group shot of attendees at an event in Winnebago, Neb.

Creating a Vision for the Future: Early Childhood Tribal Experts Convene for Native Nations Event

At the “Native Nations: Honoring Culture and Shaping Futures for Children and Families” event, the nearly 60 participants represented Tribal leadership, child care, Head Start, home visiting programs, health care, Tribal colleges, parents, elders, and more.

Headshots of four women chosen for a researcher cohort

Native Children’s Research Exchange Continues to Invest in the Next Generation of Native American Researchers

In November 2025, the Native Children’s Research Exchange (NCRE) Scholars Program launched its 14th cohort of early-career Native American researchers with four new Scholars who are partnering with Native communities to study substance use, its impact on child development, and strategies for intervention and prevention.

A presentation at the Native Children's Research Exchange Conference in September 2025

More than 100 Scholars, Researchers Gather at Native Children’s Research Exchange Conference

The conference serves as a gathering place for members of the Native Children’s Research Exchange (NCRE), a national initiative that brings together researchers studying child and adolescent development in American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and other Indigenous communities.

Contact

Name

Michelle Sarche, Ph.D.

Senior Director of Tribal Research, Policy, and Partnerships

Michelle Sarche headshot

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