Lakota to file UN Genocide Charges Against US

In April, a grassroots movement led by Lakota grandmothers toured the country to build support for a formal complaint of genocide against the United States government and its constituent states. Though temporarily overturned, the recent conviction of Efrain Rios Montt for genocide against indigenous Guatemalans should give US officials, particularly members of the Supreme Court, … Read more

Court Decisions Show ICWA Can Work, for Better or Worse

The decisions of the South Dakota Supreme Court contain many cases involving the federal law known as the Indian Child Welfare Act.They are always a sad story… Read more at the Black Hills Pioneer website. Research cases and law relating to ICWA in South Dakota at the Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act … Read more

South Dakota Files Motion to Dismiss Tribes’ ICWA Lawsuit

The South Dakota Department of Social Services is seeking the dismissal of an Indian Child Welfare Act lawsuit filed by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.The lawsuit accuses the state of violating ICWA by removing Indian children from their homes without due process to their families or to tribes… Read more at … Read more

Letter from Bryan Samuels, Commissioner of the ACYF to Tribes and States

Bryan Samuels, the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) wrote a letter to tribal leaders and state child welfare directors in April 2013 regarding the importance on ongoing consultation and coordination around the delivery of child welfare services.  Read the letter and attachments at https://icwa.narf.org/documents/20130429_Samuels-letter.pdf.  

Coverage of Great Plains ICWA Summit, May 2013 (NPR)

Federal officials met with South Dakota’s nine Sioux tribes on Wednesday for a historic summit in Rapid City. A year in the making, it was an effort to address long standing concerns over the high number of Native American children the state places in white foster homes. State officials, however, didn’t show up for the … Read more

Native Sun News: County’s ICWA abuses called ‘shocking’

RAPID CITY—The alleged abuses of the Indian Child Welfare Act in the Pennington County court system has been called “shocking” by two attorneys. According to Stephen Pevar, attorney for the ACLU, “What happened in the Pennington County Courts is something you would expect in a Third World Country.” Read the full article at Indianz.com.

Child Care Administrative Data Analysis Grants (Application Deadline: 6/24/2013)

These cooperative agreements would fund research and evaluation activities that primarily involve the analysis of child care administrative data….. Results from this research are expected to add to our knowledge about the efficacy of child care subsidy policies and quality improvement initiatives in supporting employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for parents, increasing access by low-income families … Read more

May 15-17, 2013: BIA to Host Summit on Native Foster Care in Rapid City, SD

The Great Plains Indian Child Welfare Act Summit will feature tribal leaders, ICWA experts, lawmakers, BIA officials, and a civil rights attorney from the Department of Justice. The conference will articulate structural solutions to a long-standing crisis in Native foster care in South Dakota, where 740 Lakota children are taken into foster care by the … Read more

“Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl:” Two-and-a-Half Ways To Destroy Indian Law (Michigan Law Review)

The constitutionality of ICWA is based on two propositions: First, these special laws for Indians are not race based. And second, Congress has the authority to issue special laws with regard to Indian people and tribes. If the Baby Girl Court rejected either of these positions, not only would ICWA be unconstitutional, most of Indian … Read more

Immaculate Conception Parish Raises Funds to Help Children of Ojibwe Tribe in Minnesota

One of Father Jerry’s immediate dreams was to establish a mobile computer lab where students can improve their reading and math skills, prepare and take standardized tests and learn about the world beyond the reservation. During his visit to Immaculate Conception Parish, he was presented with a check for more than $15,000 in donations. This … Read more

Funding Details: Native Hawaiian and American Indian Non-profit Organization Child Care Grants

Native Hawaiian and American Indian Nonprofit Organization Child Care Grants will award funding to nonprofit organizations who offer a high-quality child care program that is child-focused, culturally and linguistically appropriate, family-friendly, fair to providers, and addresses the needs and unique circumstances of Native Hawaiian and/or American Indian/ Alaska Native (AIAN) youth and their families. Due … Read more

A Supreme Court case about a little known law could be a big deal for Michigan’s kids

Since Indian children are still over-represented in Michigan’s child welfare system, Greenleaf-Maldonado, a Tribal Court Judge for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and many others worked for years on an even stronger state version of the law. It passed in January with almost unanimous bi-partisan support. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court might throw a wrench into Michigan’s … Read more

Mississippi – Choctaw Memorandum of Understanding Related to ICWA

In October 2012, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Mississippi Department of Human Services signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) related to the Indian Child Welfare Act. The purpose of the MOU is to initiate coordination of social services between the agencies in situations where Choctaw children and families live off of the … Read more

Contexualization of ICWA (MSNBC)

Contextualization of the Indian Child Welfare Act on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry: the other piece of logic that was part of the slave trade and part of the adoption story is part of the missionary aspect. this idea that you’re not only saving this child from the subpar culture but saving them through connections to the … Read more