Terry L. Cross, “Hah-ne-ga-noh,” PhD, MSW, ACSW, LCWS, is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians (Bear Clan). He received his master’s degree in social work from Portland State University (PSU) in Portland, Ore., in 1977, and in 2015 was awarded an honorary PhD by PSU. He is the founding executive director of and senior advisor to the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA). Terry serves the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as a racial healing practitioner. He is the author of Positive Indian Parenting, Cross-Cultural Skills in Indian Child Welfare and co-authored Toward a Culturally Competent System of Care, published by Georgetown University.
Cross has 44 years of experience in child welfare and children’s mental health and is a licensed clinical social worker. He has organized culturally specific services, training curricula, and technical assistance programs, and has developed culturally based models for social work practice, research, and organizational development. He has provided consultation and coaching with agencies serving two-spirit Native youth regarding strengths-based outcomes.
Cross’s highest honor has been to be initiated into the Kenai Chieftain Society by the Blood Tribe of Canada in 1999. In 2011 he received the Robert F. Kennedy Embracing the Legacy Award at the Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Cross is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum of Oregon, and has served as a presidential appointee on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Advisory Council. Cross was recently appointed to the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission by Governor Kate Brown.
Professional Positions
1973-1975 | Mercer County Child Welfare Services, Mercer, Pa.
1977-1978 | Title IV, A HEW Indian Education Program, Salamanca Central School, Salamanca, N.Y.; Home-School Coordinator
1980-1980 | American Indian/Alaskan Native Social Work Education Project, Portland State University; Acting Director
1978-1983 | Parry Center for Children, Portland, Ore., Clinical Social Worker
1987-1996 | Research and Training Center to Improve Services to Emotionally Handicapped Children and their Families, Regional Research Institute, Graduate School of Social Work, Portland State University, Minority Initiative Committee Member
1983-2014 | Executive Director, National Indian Child Welfare Association, Inc.
Duties include administration of projects, supervision of project staff, planning curriculum development, training, consultation, fundraising. and public relations.
1979-Present | Portland State University, School of Social Work, Adjunct Assistant Professor
2015-Present | Founder and Senior Advisor to the National Indian Child Welfare Association
Selected Honors/Relevant State or Federal Committees, Advisory Boards
Honors
1999 | Kenai Chieftainship, Blood Tribe of Canada
2003 | Carolyn Attneave Award, American Psychological Society
2009 | Civic Engagement Award for Excellence in Community-Based Research, Portland State University
2010 | Indigenous Leadership Award, EcoTrust
2011 | Embracing the Legacy Award, Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps
2014 | Champion for Children Award, National Indian Child Welfare Association
2015 | Honorary Doctorate, Portland State University
Relevant Committees, Advisory Boards
Past Member, National Advisory Council, SAMHSA
2005-present | National Congress of American Indians, Policy Research Center Advisory Board
2006-present | Senior Fellow, American Leadership Forum Oregon Chapter
2008-present | Board of Directors, North American Council on Adoptable Children
2008-present | President of the Board of Directors, Native Ways Federation
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications, White Papers, and Selected Reports
Cross, T. (2010). “Tribal Youth Victimization and Delinquency: Analysis of Youth Risk Behavior
Surveillance Survey Data,” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Pages 123-134, Institute for Social and Policy Research at Purdue University Calumet, with T. Pavkov, L. Travis, K. Fox, and C. Bear King, April 2010.
Cross, T. (2010). “Rethinking the systems of care definition: An indigenous perspective,” Special Issue:
Systems of Care, Evaluation and Program Planning, Vol. 33, No. 1, February 2010, Jonathan A. Morell, Editor-in-Chief, Elsevier Ltd., Publisher, with J. Bartgis and K. Fox.
Cross, T. (2006). “Cumulative Effects of Federal Policy on American Indian Families,” with Carmen
Ortiz Hendricks, Part 4, First Nations Peoples, Chapter 11 of Intersecting Child Welfare, Substance Abuse, and Family Violence: Culturally Competent Approaches, Fong, McRoy, and Hendricks, Editors, Council on Social Work Education, Inc., USA, 2006.
Cross, T. (1995). “Understanding Family Resiliency from a Relational World View,” Resiliency in
Ethnic Minority Families, Native and Immigrant American Families, Vol. 1, 1995, McCubbin, Thompson, et al, eds, University of Wisconsin System.
Cross, T. (2000). Systems of Care Promising Practices in Children’s Mental Health: Volume I, Cultural
Strengths and Challenges in Implementing a Systems of Care Model in American Indian Communities, Child Adolescent and Family Branch, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C., 2000 with Earle, Echohawk, and Manness.
Cross, T. (2009). “Ensuring the Seventh Generation: A Youth Suicide Prevention Toolkit for Tribal
Child Welfare Programs.” Portland, Ore.: National Indian Child Welfare Association.
Cross, T., Bazron, Dennis, Isaacs, & Mason (1989). “Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care:
A Monograph on Effective Services for Minority Children Who Are Severely Emotionally Handicapped.” CASSP Technical Assistance Center, Georgetown University.