The Navajo Division for Children and Family Services (NDCFS) managers and executive staff convened for a two day strategic work session to continue fully implementing the P.L. 102-477 Program. The 477 Program stems from a five year plan that was approved by the U.S. Department of Interior and the Navajo Nation in 2024 to consolidate NDCFS’s federally funded programs. The plan officially became effective October 1, 2025.
At the core of the Navajo Nation’s 477 plan is the integration of all education and training, employment, protective services, family reunification and related services to increase opportunities for the people of the Navajo Nation and American Indians. Generally, the goal for the federal P.L. 102-477 is to reduce unemployment in tribal communities.
“Let’s really plan on how we’re going to improve services for our children and families on the Navajo Nation,” Thomas Cody, NDCFS Executive Director, said during welcoming remarks. He emphasized that thoughtful planning and collaboration will be essential to the Division’s success under the 477 framework.
The 477 Program provides greater flexibility in administering the services under the program, including General Assistance, Burial Assistance, Adult Services, Homemaker Services, Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Child Care Development Fund, Community Services Block Grant (CSBF), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Child Welfare Services, Promoting Safe and Stable Families, and Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. By consolidating these programs, the Division is positioned to deliver more coordinated, efficient, and responsive services.
The Division is proposing a new plan of operation that will reorganize its structure to better reflect the integrated service delivery. In addition, a new office specifically to administer the new program is being created. Long term planning is currently taking place with work being done to create a strategic plan for the entire Division and to establish policies and procedures for the programs and departments. Both projects will maximize effectiveness and service delivery while aligning internal strategies and procedures with the goals of the approved 477 plan.
The Division is also initiating welcome teams who will greet callers and members (clients) and provide a warm handoff for the relevant service, ensuring that those people get the services they need. The Division is planning to develop customer service training curriculum for all welcome team members.
Significantly, the Division is working to increase wraparound services, where all the departments and programs will be able to work with each other to refer members to necessary services so that needs are being comprehensively addressed. Wraparound services require coordination and collaboration among all the service providers within the Divison and with external resources, making it imperative that a uniform process be developed.
Discussion also focused on data collection, utilizing the Tribal Assistance Software developed by Eaglesun Systems, which other 477 tribes also utilize. Because the Navajo Nation is so large, the modules necessitate extensive planning to gather the required data to report to the funding sources, ensuring continued availability and evaluation of services.
Multiple teams within the Division are meeting regularly to take the necessary steps to fulfill the continued implementation of the 477 Program, including policy, human resources, finance, and communications.
The work session gave NDCFS managers and executive staff the opportunity to provide updates on assignments and strategically discuss how to resolve issues that arise in the implementation of the Program. Specific objectives were identified to accomplish, such as developing a new budget tracking system, aligning staffing for new initiatives, and scheduling training that will streamline processes.