NARF Files Civil Rights Case Filed on Behalf of Baby Veronica

Read the press release. Read the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina. From the press release…The litigation was filed on behalf of Veronica, by Angel Smith, an attorney appointed as counsel for the child by the courts of the Cherokee Nation, in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, and asks the … Read more

Baby Veronica’s Birth Mother Sues to Declare ICWA Provisions Unconstitutional

From the complaint: ICWA tells a single unmarried woman who wishes to choose adoptive parents for her unborn child—a choice that would be respected under her State’s laws—that she must either terminate her pregnancy, raise the child herself, or surrender her child to a Tribe that is a total stranger to her and to the … Read more

Tribal Leaders and Organizations Denounce the South Carolina Supreme Court’s Decision and Announce Pursuit of Civil Rights Lawsuit for “Baby Veronica”

Native American Rights Fund, National Congress of American Indians, and National Indian Child Welfare Association announce pursuit of civil rights lawsuit for Baby Veronica. Three of the nation’s leading tribal organizations announced today they are in the early stages of pursuing litigation to protect the civil rights of Veronica Brown, acitizen of the Cherokee Nation … Read more

Support Grows for Tribal Control in Child Welfare

Gov. Dennis Daugaard has sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius saying he supports tribal efforts in South Dakota to run their own child welfare and foster care services Read more at the Argus Leader website and the PRWeb website.

Opinion: Broken Promises by Senator Byron Dorgan (NYT)

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I once toured a school near an Indian reservation where I encountered a teacher who told me that when she asked a young Indian student what she wanted for Christmas, she said she wanted the electricity turned on in her house so she could study at … Read more

Child custody case tests jurisdiction of Miccosukee, Miami-Dade courts (Miami Herald)

A South Florida custody case pivots on the Uniform Child Custody Juridiction and Enforcement Act, which establishes jurisdiction between states and tribes. Under the child custody enforcement act, foreign countries — and under federal law, the Miccosukee reservation off Tamiami trail is a sovereign nation — are treated the same as other states when it … Read more

Michigan Court Won’t Apply ICWA to Non-Recognized Indians (indianz.com)

On June 25, 2013, the Michigan Court of Appeals that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) does not apply to non-federally recognized Indians or tribes.  The ruling was made in a case brought by a member of the Mackinac Bands of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, which is not federally recognized.  Learn more and read the … Read more

American Indian Enhancement Project Toolkit

The American Indian Enhancement (AIE) Project Toolkit provides the concepts, guidance, and action steps necessary for developing a programmatic infrastructure within the child welfare agency to improve outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native families and children in the child welfare system. The toolkit is designed to assist your county to advance child welfare practice … Read more

Vision from the Bench to Fulfill the ICWA Promise

The author of this January 2012 article, Gina Jackson, is a Model Court Liaison for the Victims Act Model Court Project with the Permanency Planning for Children Department of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and a member of the Temoke Western Shoshone Tribe.  She looks at how we as a nation … Read more

Latest News Coverage of Recent Supreme Court Decision in “Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl”

Supreme Court Thwarts ICWA Intent in Baby Veronica Case (Indian Country Today) 6/25/2013 US Supreme Court Case Reignites Discussion Over Welfare of American Indian Children (Washington Post) 6/26/2013 Happy Ruling for Adoptive Couple, Uncertainty for Baby Girl (NPR) 6/26/2013 The Court Got Baby Veronica Wrong (Slate.com) 6/26/2013 Ruling on Adopted Indian Kids Threatens Tribes, Some … Read more