Indian Health Service Can Provide Much Needed Assistance For Improving Infrastructure in Indian Country
An essential part of providing quality affordable housing and having healthy tribal members is having quality infrastructure in place. However, the connection between these two issues is often not made between federal agencies and the tribes that use their programs.
The Indian Health Service (IHS) has been told by Congress that the Sanitation Facilities Construction Program cannot use infrastructure funds to support new housing programs funded by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act. This does not mean that IHS cannot participate with tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) with planning assistance and technical assistance.
What is often misunderstood, is that IHS can provide staff knowledge and its workforce to assist in infrastructure projects for tribes. "I think there has been some confusion about our ability to do that," said Ronald Ferguson, Director of the Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction at IHS.
The link between infrastructure, housing and health crosses many areas, Ferguson said. "What we have seen is that since our program started: [proper infrastructure] can reduce the incidence of water borne diseases. "With safe means of waste disposal, water borne diseases are decreased and it does lead to healthier home and healthier living conditions," according to Ferguson.
Statistics show significant improvement in gasoenteric disease rates and infant mortality since the IHS started this program, which could also be due to better health care systems in general. "However, bringing a safe water supply into a house definitely leads to being healthier," Ferguson said.
Ferguson has been in talks with NAIHC and the National Congress of American Indians on how to get the word out about services IHS can provide to tribes in the area of infrastructure.
"What we talked about was the idea of trying to get back to what IHS used to do when we were working with HUD, which was doing really early planning activities at the site selection stage. Feasibility studies could be done, we could collaborate more with BIA on the roads, [and with] power line companies, for example." By doing that early on, it may be easier to find the best funding method for infrastructure, such as Rural Development or NAHASDA funding.
IHS is also willing to help housing entities work on their grant applications for infrastructure projects and provide engineering assistance. "All of that is possible and it is more possible if we are talking about doing this at a much earlier point," Ferguson said. "We need to work more closely. We are not here to figure out how not to do things; we want to find a way to help."
Tribes should contact their local IHS area representative for the sanitation facilities construction program for advice on early planning. Contact information for IHS is available at: http://www.dsfc.ihs.gov.
NAIHC will be hosting a breakout session panel at the upcoming Legal Symposium in Las Vegas in December on infrastructure needs in Indian Country. Among the discussion items will be the need to encourage the promotion of better planning and collaboration in the delivery of infrastructure planning and resource development among federal agencies, tribes, and Indian housing authorities.
By Kimberly Hayes
Contact: Ronald Ferguson, IHS, (301) 443-1046 ; Dana Baer, IHS, (301) 443-1345; NAIHC 202-789-1754, http://www.naihc.net/