Tribal Relations
Magellan of Arizona is committed to honoring the Indian Tribes in Maricopa County as sovereign nations, improving partnerships with the tribes and delivering quality behavioral health services to Native Americans in Maricopa County where they live, work and play.
About Magellan of Arizona's Tribal Relations
Serving as a behavioral health advocate, key contact and resource for Maricopa County's Native American community, Magellan Tribal Relations is dedicated to improving and providing quality, culturally appropriate behavioral health services that are easily accessible to the Indian Tribes in Maricopa County and Urban Indian community. Magellan Tribal Relations serves on several Native American boards and commissions that identify issues affecting Native Americans and acts as a key internal resource for Magellan of Arizona educating and informing staff about the trends and needs of the Maricopa Tribal community.
Vision: To bridge the RBHA and the Indian Health System; which consists of IHS, Tribal and Urban Indian health providers; to improve the development and accessibility of behavioral health services for Native Americans in Maricopa County.
Mission: To advance tribal relations efforts in partnership with Magellan of Arizona and the Maricopa Indian Health System to promote service delivery in tribal and urban Indian communities.
Core Values:
- Respect Sovereignty: Recognize and value the sovereign status and interests of tribal communities.
- Collaboration: Build partnerships with tribes and stakeholders that demonstrate the highest level of respect when working with tribal governments.
- Integrity: Maintain credibility by ensuring our actions always match our spoken or written words and strive to earn the trust and confidence of tribal and urban communities.
- Growth and Development: Commit to professional growth and development through continuous learning, training, mentoring and education.
- Excellence: Commit to front running, innovative, high performance professionalism that will improve tribal relations.
Strategic Goals:
- Strengthen relationships, trust and mutual respect with tribes and stakeholders.
- Advance in agreements, contracts and processes with tribal communities.
- Advocate for policies, procedures and service development that respects tribal sovereignty and community need.
- Provide valuable and timely education, technical assistance and resources to tribes, stakeholders and partners.
A key Magellan initiative is to strengthen partnership opportunities with Tribal communities in Maricopa County with the objective of creating a formal relationship with each of the Indian Tribes in Maricopa County. Magellan is forging viable linkages with the Indian Health System to offer more choice and participation to Native Americans.
History of Tribal Relations in Maricopa County
Prior to Magellan of Arizona obtaining the Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) contract for Maricopa County, Native American communities were historically underserved and marginal efforts were extended to include tribal communities as critical health delivery stakeholders. As a result, many Native American service recipient's maintained unfamiliarity with a non-IHS delivery system and lacked an understanding of how to access services with the RBHA.
This disconnect motivated Magellan of Arizona to identify the barriers that separated the RBHA and the Indian Health System and bridge them together to improve the development and accessibility of behavioral health services for Indian Tribes in and Urban Indian Tribes in Maricopa County.
To support this effort, Magellan launched a series of tribal relations initiatives that have led to improvements in accessibility to quality mental health care for Native Americans as well as the transformation of the RBHA to ensure culturally sensitive service delivery in Native American communities.
Tribal Relations Initiative and Steering Committee
To continue our mission to strengthen our partnership with tribal communities, Magellan formed a Tribal Relations Steering Committee, to plan and implement strategic initiatives benefiting Native American communities. The Committee developed a project plan that outlines tribal initiatives with strategic goals and objectives streamlined to focus on service priorities identified by the Indian Health System and the critical partners who share a responsibility and interest in the health and wellness of the American Indian population. The strategic plan was designed to specifically address:
- Access to care issues that present as barriers to Maricopa County Native American service recipients; and
- Program development for mental health services on or near tribal communities.
The primary goals of the Tribal Relations Initiative are to:
- Foster dialogue, partnerships and collaboration with Indian Health Services, tribes and urban Indian health programs;
- Provide ongoing, meaningful tribal consultation on policy and programmatic changes affecting Maricopa County Tribal communities; and
- Establish formal agreements, contracts and processes for service development specific to tribal and urban communities.
A key Magellan initiative is to strengthen partnership opportunities with Tribal communities in Maricopa County with the objective of creating a formal relationship with each of the Indian Tribes in Maricopa County. Magellan is forging viable linkages with the Indian Health System to offer more choice and participation to Native Americans. Over the last two years, Magellan has made significant accomplishments in the delivery of behavioral health services in tribal communities, particularly crisis services. This was accomplished through tribal consultation and Magellan's commitment to honor tribes as sovereign nations.
Crisis Services
A major programmatic finding among Indian Tribes in Maricopa County is the need for additional crisis and stabilization services. Tribal nations that indicated a need for crisis service development and/or enhancement of services include: Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Tohono O'odham Nation and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community.
In order to advance formal partnership agreements with tribes, recognizing and respecting tribal sovereignty and the sovereign interests of the tribe is the foundation of program development within tribal nations. This is a true expression and exercise of self-determination and self-governance to ensure appropriate services for community members. The expansion and/or development of crisis services in tribal communities need to be community-based as local programs are best positioned to develop culturally appropriate and effective programs for community members. By tribal government authorization, Magellan has advanced in partnership with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Tohono O'odham Nation to provide additional crisis services on tribal land through the RBHA Network. Magellan recognizes that when working in collaboration with tribally-run health programs, as partners we are able to expand service capacity and accessibility to quality behavioral health and culturally responsive care for tribal members. Magellan shares the common interest of the Tribes to provide the highest quality of care to individuals where they live, work and play.
To learn more about Magellan's Tribal Relations Department and their outreach efforts, please e-mail TribalRelations@MagellanHealth.com.
Tools & Resources
American Indian Prevention Coalition
American Indian Health and Management Policy
Arizona Commission on Indian Affairs
Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona
If you have any questions about your services, please call Magellan at (800) 564-5465, TTY (800) 424-9831. If you are in crisis, call the Maricopa Crisis Line at (800) 631-1314, TTY (800) 327-9254. For emergencies, please always dial 911.
This page last updated: Tuesday, August 24, 2010.