The mission of NCRE is to bring together researchers studying child and adolescent development in Native communities in the U.S. and Canada. We gather annually to share in an open exchange of information and ideas, build collaborative relationships, mentor new investigators, and disseminate knowledge about Native child and adolescent development.
The Native Children’s Research Exchange (NCRE) was founded in the spring of 2008, with funding from the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD). With this support from SRCD, we held our inaugural conference in 2008 and second conference in 2009. In 2010, the National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded five additional years of funding to support annual conferences from 2010 to 2014, with a specific focus on understanding Native children’s development within the context of substance use (R13DA029391). The first of these NIDA-sponsored conferences was held in August, 2010; a fourth is slated for fall 2013.
Key goals of NCRE include the following:
- Developing theories and methodologies that are both scientifically and culturally grounded.
- Critically evaluating measurements, assessments, and diagnoses for Native youth.
- Developing culturally-based interventions that are effective for Native youth.
- Training developmental scholars and providing mentorship to junior faculty whose work focuses on Native child and adolescent development.
- Educating funders about the unique context of research in Native communities (e.g., tribal sovereignty) and the critical importance of community-based participatory research methods.
- Facilitating collaboration between all scholars interested in Native child and adolescent development.