Christopher Sharp

Christopher Sharp, M.S.W, M.P.A, is a Clinical Assistant Professor and the Director of Office of American Indian Projects, within the School of Social Work at the Arizona State University. He is of the Mohave tribe, descendant of the Frog Clan (Bouh'th) and a citizen of the Colorado River Indian Tribes. He teaches courses as a professor, serves as a field liaison to students in Tribal and urban American Indian-serving field placement settings, and is the advisor for the American Indian Social Work Student Association.  He earned his B.S. in American Indian Studies, Master of Social Work, and Master of Public Administration at ASU. Chris serves on the National Advisory Committee for the FRIENDS CB-CAP technical assistance center, the Governing Council of the Indigenous and Tribal Social Work Educators Association, as Secretary of the Native American Connections Board of Directors, and is a member of the Council on Social Work Education and National Indian Child Welfare Association.

From 2013 to 2019, he served as a technical assistance (TA) provider for tribal home visiting programs funded by the Affordable Care Act, Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (Tribal MIECHV).  OAIP partnered with Zero to Three national early childhood TA and policy organization. Technical assistance was delivered to tribal, reservation-based and community-based home visiting programs throughout the United States through a national technical assistance center.  TA includes targeted, intensive TA provided on one-on-one interaction, webinars delivered nationwide to grantees, presentations at conferences and meetings, and development of TA products and publications.

He coordinatated and served as co-PI for two traineeship projects to train American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students and other students with a demonstrated interest in working in AI/AN communities and with AI/AN people. The Weaving Native Perspectives was a three-year project funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and one of the only projects with a primary focus AI/AN communities. The grant focused on integrated behavioral health and interprofessional practice. The University Partnerships project was funded by the National Child Welfare Workforce Initiative focused on child welfare practice in tribal nations and communities, curriculum enhancement, and workforce improvement initiative. The NCWWI project included a partnership with four tribal nations of Gila River Indian Community (Lead Agency), Navajo Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

Chris took the lead on the establishment of a Title IV-E agreement between the university and the Navajo Nation. This agreement sets the framework for a lasting partnership to increase the workforce capacity of the Navajo Nation Department of Family (DFS) Services, the primary child welfare service provider on the Nation. The agreement established the partnership under the areas of: 1.) Education, including scholarships and stipends for students pursuing employment in child welfare with DFS, 2.) training, including the enhancement of the DFS initial in-service training, ongoing training for employees, and training for staff from allied agencies and foster care parent providers, 3.) Assessment of overall DFS training needs and assessment of the education and training program progress toward outcomes, and 4.) Collaborative Projects to provide technical assistance and other services that improve the implementation of the DFS Title IV-E program.