Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sam Hirsch Speaks at the National Indian Child Welfare Association Conference

This is a critical time for Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), our nation’s keystone federal law protecting Indian children.  As you’ve already heard this morning and will hear more about during the conference, there is a lot of exciting activity in this area, at the federal, state and tribal level.  Federal engagement is at unprecedented levels.  But … Read more

Feds Pledge to Help Tribes with Enforcement of Indian Child Welfare Act

At the conclusion of the White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, D.C. this month, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder briefly outlined the plan to require more compliance with ICWA. “This federal initiative represents a long overdue recognition by the Department of Justice that, 38 years after Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted into law, … Read more

Advisory Committee on Native Children Exposed to Violence Holds Final Hearing

ANCHORAGE, Alaska –The Advisory Committee of the Attorney General’s Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence convenes its final public hearing in Anchorage, Alaska, today. The hearing, which commenced June 11, will examine the wide-ranging impact of violence on children in Alaska Native communities and consider programs to effectively support … Read more

Justice Officials Meet to Address Impacts of Violence on Native Children

[Montana U.S. Attorney Michael] Cotter and D-o-J’s Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Robert Listenbee, discuss the scourge of violence on some tribal communities and what’s being done about it. Listen to the interview at the Montana Public Radio website.

Attorney General’s Task Force on Native Children Exposed to Violence Holds Second of Four Meetings

About 75 people attended the all-day hearing at Talking Stick Resort near Scottsdale. It was the second of four across the country to secure testimony and information so the task force can generate policy recommendations for Attorney General Eric Holder. In December, the committee was in Bismarck, N.D. The final two hearings are scheduled in … Read more

Indian Groups Question Public Child-Welfare Practices

Several prominent Native American groups on Monday called for the Justice Department to investigate the treatment of Indian children in public child-welfare systems and private adoptions. In a letter presented to government officials in… Read more at the New York Times website and see the National Indian Child Welfare Association press release. 

Invitation to Apply for FY 2013 Support to the Attorney General’s Task Force on AI/AN Children Exposed to Violence

The US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention invites tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations (including non-tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations) and tribal institutions of higher education (including non-tribal institutions of higher education) to submit applications for its Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Support to the Attorney General’s Task Force on American Indian/Alaska … Read more