Kathryn England-Aytes, a lecturer in psychology, has joined a newly created national organization that serves the needs of children.

Dr. England-Aytes will serve as a consultant with the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, an organization that provides information, resources and services relating to adoption, foster care and child welfare.

Former Kinship Center CEO Carol Biddle is the managing director; Adam Pertman, former president of the Donaldson Adoption Institute, is the founder and president.

Her work with the center “fits into my own research interests on historical trauma and links with contemporary behavior, particularly in educational settings, in Indian Country,” she said.

“I believe this will also be a good fit with my work with the Native American Children’s Alliance (NACA), an inter-tribal nonprofit that works on child abuse prevention and intervention.”

As a board member and trainer for NACA, she has given presentations on child forensic interviewing and cultural awareness in multidisciplinary team settings.

“As a Native educator, my goal is always to honor and integrate the cultures, values and traditions of Native students with learning opportunities for full participation in the larger community,” she said.

In December, Dr. England-Aytes made a presentation at the National Indian Nations Conference: Justice for Victims of Crime, held on the Agua Caliente reservation in Southern California. Along with co-presenters from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the National Children’s Alliance, she talked on “Building Resiliency in Child Abuse Organizations Working with Native Children.”

And good reviews continue to be published about the book “Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education” by Four Arrows, to which Dr. England-Aytes contributed a chapter.

According to a review in Education Review/Reseñas Educativas, her chapter on historical trauma and its prevention in the classroom established the first and most critical part of the book.