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The Delaware Tribe of Indians and the Cherokee Nation respond to accusations made by Washington County Child Care Foundation (WCCF), which is closing its doors Thursday.

According to Chief Brad KillsCrow, the Delaware Tribe is quickly positioning its Lenape Early Learning Center to receive employees and children affected by the short notice closure announcement made by the WCCF on Monday.

In a statement, Chief KillsCrow said:

"In reference to claims that WCCF centers were closed as a direct result of connections with the Delaware Tribe, we would like to firmly express that we discontinued our contracts with the WCCF in June of 2020. At that time, the Delaware Tribe found the Foundation was serving primarily non-indigenous children. 33-percent of children enrolled were of Native American descent and 5-percent of those children were Delaware Tribal children. This is out of compliance with the Federal CCDF funds received through the Cherokee Nation on behalf of the Delaware Tribe [that are] intended to be used for Tribal families and children."

Since that time, Chief KillsCrow says the Delaware Tribe has operated and managed its Lenape Early Learning Children’s program as their grants indicate. KillsCrow says audits were completed of prior grants awarded to WCCF while under the umbrella of the Delaware Tribe. He says those audit findings have uncovered inappropriate expenditures that include duplicate payroll and fringe benefits.

“Double dipping if you will,” Chief KillsCrow said. “Lavish items such as a $6,000 dining room set for the daycare center and sets of fine China. The requests for the targeted Fiscal Year invoices with proper back up documentation for the expenditures WCCF mentions in their own statements, have not been provided to the Delaware Tribe of Indians.”

Delaware Tribe of Indians provided an independent audit (which was submitted by way of Tribal attorney to WCCF) outlining the numerous findings was delivered on Friday, March 25. WCCF chose to close its doors with three days-notice on Monday, March 28.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said:

"Ensuring that our youngest tribal citizens have the care they need is of utmost importance to the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation has no involvement nor makes any decisions regarding the partnership with the Delaware Tribe and WCCF. Cherokee Nation facilitates federal funding for childcare for the Delaware Tribe through a longstanding agreement between the two tribal governments."

Chief Hoskin Jr. said it was discouraging to read comments from the Foundation attributing their closures to any action or inaction on the part of the Cherokee Nation, which is simply inaccurate. Hoskin says they very much value their relationship with the Delaware Tribe, which is built on trust and respect. He says they fully support the Delaware Tribe's ongoing efforts to improve child care resources in the region.

Leadership with the WCCF states in part on its website that the Delaware Tribe has denied reimbursement and has told them that they are not responsible for paying for their services despite having requested and committed to paying for them. They say that they had hoped some resolution would arrive from communications this past week, but say they were met again with delay tactics and refusal of information. WCCF has served the Bartlesville area and surrounding communities for 25 years.

To read more on WCCF's claims and statements, click here.