In re Epik W., October 29, 2024 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee.)
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Standing Strong for Native Families
A website from the Native American Rights Fund
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) has been considered the “gold standard” of child welfare best practice from experts in the field. This is because it requires active efforts to keep children safe in their homes and connected to their families, communities, and culture. For the past 46 years, ICWA has stood as a powerful force in … Read more
In a landmark decision, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has signed Assembly Bill 81 (AB 81) into law on California Native American Day, enhancing protections for Native American children, families, and tribal rights in child welfare cases. Read the full article at the Native News Online website.
Amid drums, smudging and chants to “bring our children home,” supporters of the Indian Child Welfare Act gathered early this morning outside the Minnesota Capitol building, as the state’s highest court considered the latest legal threat to the bedrock 1978 law. Read the full article at the Imprint’s website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Submit your presentations for the 43rd Annual Protecting Our Children Conference on March 30–April 2, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. Find submission information here and visit the conference page for more information.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
The California Supreme Court on Monday reinforced those rules in a new decision, stressing that child welfare agencies must investigate (PDF) whether children have Native American ancestry before placing them in foster care. It’s a decision that could strengthen tribes’ hand in disputes over separating families by compelling social workers to go a step further before removing a child. … Read more
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
On July 30, the Administration for Children and Families under the Department of Health and Human Services introduced vital new policies to the Children’s Bureaus’ Child Welfare Policy Manual (CWPM). The CWPM provides additional clarifications on federal law and regulations in child welfare. Read about recent updates at the Children’s Bureau website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Notice is hereby given, pursuant to the provisions of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (Commission) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), that the Hawai’i Advisory Committee (Committee) to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will convene by ZoomGov on Friday, August 2, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 … Read more
Due to inconsistent regulations, different standards exist for Native American children and non-Native children in the CPS system. Read the full article at the Texas Scorecard website.
The newly created Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council held its first meeting Thursday to discuss South Dakota’s foster care process and how to improve communication and collaboration between the state and tribal governments. Read the full article at the Bluestem Prairie website.
The state law was intended to address shortcomings in the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. Read the full article at the MinnPost website.
4. The BIA is seeking to revise the information collection conducted under 25 CFR 23, related to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The BIA uses the information to determine the extent of service needs in local Indian communities, assess ICWA program effectiveness, and provide date for the annual program budget justification. 15. The BIA … Read more
The “Strengthening Tribal Families Act of 2024” would require the Department of Health and Human Services to create a technical assistance plan using six metrics of data to assess the strengths and weaknesses of states’ implementation plans of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Read the full article at Native News Online.
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Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library (PDF).
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Under the terms of the agreement, which recognizes the government-to-government relationship between federally-recognized tribes and the United States, Tlingit & Haida will collaborate closely with DCYF to deliver culturally sensitive and responsive services that prioritize the well-being of tribal children and families. Read the full article at Alaska Native News.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
See the NICWA website for more information or to register.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe purchased the Simply Smiles Children’s Village last month, allowing the tribe to reopen one of the few foster care villages in the state meant to serve Indigenous children. Read the full article at the Bluestem Prairie website.
Black children are twice as likely as white kids to be removed from their parents. For Native American kids, the disparities are even more stark. Read the full article at the StarTribune website.
“I’m ready to hurry up and get the program started, because horses are in our DNA, they’re in our culture and our heritage,” Sam said. “Whether they’re with their own families or not, that horse can bring peace to them. Horses can bring healing to a part of their heart. That feeling is culturally tied, … Read more
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Its goal is to improve communication and cooperation between tribes and the state when it comes to developing policies to improve Native child welfare. Read the full article at South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
A case now before the Minnesota Court of Appeals revives debate over the nation’s 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act and a local version of the law — alleging that the legal statutes protecting Indigenous children, families and tribes racially discriminate against white foster parents. Read the full article at The Imprint.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full order at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full article at the National Indian Law Library (pdf).
Seneca Nation citizen Terry Cross is widely known as the founding executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, launched in the early 1980s, and continues to serve as a senior adviser to the organization assisting tribes with preventing child abuse and neglect. Read the full article at The Imprint.
The Biden administration announced plans to add new requirements for states to report on their compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a decades-old law designed to maintain the bonds between Native children and their families and tribes. Read the full article at The Imprint.
How a Billings court is putting the Indian Child Welfare Act into action The Family Recovery Court, a specialized track for parents involved in ICWA-eligible child welfare cases, launched in 2021 with more than $600,000 in federal grant support and the encouragement of community groups who wanted to better serve Native families navigating the local … Read more
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Pourier’s bills would create a two-year task force to study Native American child welfare as well as codify and expand a piece of ICWA in state law. Republican Rep. Tamara St. John, from Sisseton and a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, is the prime sponsor of a bill that would establish an Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council in the state … Read more
“This was not just a win for me,” she said. “It was a win for everything and everyone I represent — tribes, young people who have experienced foster care … kids who have been involved in juvenile justice. This felt like a really, really positive step for me.” Read the full article at AOL.com or … Read more
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
See the NICWA website for additional information and to register: Registration is also open for the 42nd Annual Protecting Our Children Conference to be held in Seattle, Washington, April 7–10, 2024. See the NICWA website for more information.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Native American mothers whose children were separated from them – either through child removal for assimilation into residential boarding schools or through coerced adoption – experience the kind of grief no parent should ever feel. Yet theirs is a loss that is ongoing, with no sense of meaning or closure. Read the full article at The Conversation.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) announced nearly $2 million in grants to support the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in off-reservation communities across the nation. Read the full article at Indianz.com
Native American children are overrepresented in South Dakota’s child welfare system — accounting for nearly 74% of foster children in the state at the end of fiscal year 2023, despite making up 13% of the state’s child population. Read the full article at the Argus Leader.
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A quarter of all foster children in 2021 were placed in kinship care, with Native American children accounting for 53% of the kinship placements, according to the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Bruner and other kinship families say the lack of support is a massive barrier preventing others from accepting a kinship placement. Foster … Read more
Read the full order at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full order at the National Indian Law Library website.
A non-Native woman in Alaska refuses to abide by a tribal court order to turn an Alaska Native foster child over to the girl’s family members. It’s a blatant disregard of tribal sovereignty even after a notable re-affirmation of the Indian Child Welfare Act by the U.S. Supreme Court. The woman took custody of the … Read more
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
For more information and to register, see the NICWA website.
In a letter that went out on September 26, the Uniform Law Commission announced a second listening session on the benefits and drawbacks of a potential model state ICWA law. See full post on Turtle Talk for additional information.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full order at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full order at the National Indian Law Library website (pdf).
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed a bill into law codifying the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into North Dakota, and our Native Americans have a lot to say about it. Read the full article at the KX News website.
Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s FireLodge Children & Family Services works to protect children and vulnerable adults who are at risk of being abused or neglected, providing services such as court advocacy, investigations, prevention services, parenting education, counseling, foster home approval and adoption. Read the full article at Potawatomi.org
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
A federal law preventing parents from taking custody battles across state lines did not apply to tribal nations, a federal appeals court ruled this week. Read the full article at NBC News.
U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) reintroduced the Native American Child Protection Act (NACPA), bipartisan legislation that authorizes three programs that ensure Tribes have the tools needed to treat, prevent, investigate and prosecute Native American child abuse and neglect. Read the full article at the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The state’s Indian Child Welfare Act Task Force met for the first time in Riverton to discuss next steps after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 1978 federal law earlier this summer. Read the full article at Wyoming Public Radio.
While ICWA remains a federal law, a dozen states have already moved to bring some or all of the law’s tenets into state child welfare codes. During the current legislative season, several other states have local ICWA laws under consideration. The Imprint has set up this basic state ICWA tracker to update readers on developments. … Read more
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Read the supplemental opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Jones said it is unclear which act, ICWA or ASFA, applies to South Dakota Native families at which time, and that the conflict of these two laws has caused confusion among Native families. He said state legislation could help iron that out. Read the full article at the Mitchell Republic website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library.
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday acknowledged Nebraska courts’ obligation to follow federal regulations in cases involving the Indian Child Welfare Act. Read the full article at Lincoln Journal Star.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
A recent ProPublica investigation showed how ICWA was being unevenly applied in some states, breaking up Native American families that should have received additional protections under the law. There’s still room for improvement, advocates say. Read the full article at ProPublica.
“In adopting the Indian Child Welfare Act, Congress exercised that lawful authority to secure the right of Indian parents to raise their families as they please; the right of Indian children to grow in their culture; and the right of Indian communities to resist fading into the twilight of history. All of that is in … Read more
“This case is about children who are among the most vulnerable: those in the child welfare system,” wrote Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority opinion. “The bottom line is that we reject all of petitioners’ challenges to the statute, some on the merits and others for lack of standing.” Read the full article at … Read more
By a 7-to-2 vote, the court upheld the law’s preferences for Native tribes when Indian children are adopted, ruling that the law does not discriminate on the basis of race and does not impermissibly impose a federal mandate on traditionally state-regulated areas of power. Read the full article at NPR.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 1978 law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions, handing a victory to tribes that had argued that a blow to the law would upend the basic principles that have allowed them to govern themselves. Read the full article at the New York Times.
To help participants understand why ICWA is so important, the training focuses first on what Littlewolf calls “heart work — understanding the historical trauma, the correct history of Indigenous families.” Read the full article at Minnesota Public Radio News.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed legislation giving Native American families preference in fostering and adopting Native children involved with child protective services, a proactive move to protect such rights as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could undercut them nationally. Read full article at Religion News Service.
Beyond the tangle of legal matters, the Supreme Court case delves into the evocative terrain of historical trauma, race, identity, cultural biases — and the very meaning of family. Read the full article at Searchlight New Mexico.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The Supreme Court is about to decide on a case arguing that the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, discriminates against white people. The lawsuit seeks to reframe tribal membership as a racial rather than a political category, and argues that it disadvantages white foster parents trying to adopt Native children. This week, Rebecca Nagle, host of the This Land … Read more
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 sought to keep Native children in tribal communities. The Supreme Court may change that this spring. Read the full article at the New York Times.
Right now, people who become a child’s legal guardian aren’t eligible for state assistance if their case is in a Michigan tribal court. Two bills in the state legislature would change that. They would extend the financial benefits of the Guardianship Assistance Program to all legal guardians, regardless of what court handles their case. Read … Read more
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Bipartisan legislation now before Congress would enhance funds available to tribal courts and child welfare systems, support tribal ways of adopting children and ease administrative burdens necessary to access the resources. Read the full article at The Imprint.
At a U.S. House Natural Resources Committee virtual roundtable on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) on Tuesday, lawmakers heard from experts about the dark legacy of the U.S. government removing Native children from their homes as well as personal anecdotes about the impact of growing up as a Native child in a non-Native community. … Read more
Some states are working to enshrine their own versions of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act ahead of the anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision that could overturn the policy. But Utah isn’t one of them. Read the full article at KUER.
While ICWA is a federal law, a dozen states have already moved to bring some or all of the law’s tenets into state child welfare codes. During the current legislative season, several other states have local ICWA laws under consideration. The Imprint has set up this basic state ICWA tracker to update readers on developments. … Read more
Congresswoman Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and other House Democrats say they’re worried the U.S. Supreme Court is about to weaken the Indian Child Welfare Act, to the detriment of Native children and their tribes. Read the full article at Alaska Public Media.
North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has signed a bill into law to protect tribal cultures by codifying the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into state law, Burgum’s office announced Monday. Read the full article at Valley News Live.
A report released Monday by a northern California civil grand jury finds that the local child welfare system routinely misses court deadlines, creating “an unnecessary amount of stress” for children and families — particularly members of tribal communities who are overrepresented in the foster care system. Read the full article at The Imprint.
In a novel ruling, the Oklahoma Supreme Court found the exclusivity does not cover children who belong to one tribal nation but live on the reservation of another. The state can assert decision-making power over the lives of those children without the consent of the reservation tribe, the court determined. Read the full article at … Read more
The Oklahoma Supreme Court used the reasoning of the 2022 ruling in Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma, which rolled back parts of McGirt, to come to their decision. The Oklahoma Supreme Court say that states have jurisdiction over child custody proceedings, and ICWA only limits the state’s jurisdiction when a member child is on their tribe’s reservation. Read the … Read more
Find a compilation of state ICWA laws, including benchbooks and proposed laws, at Turtle Talk.
The Federal Indian Child Welfare Act is at risk. In the closing days of the session, a duel — or a duet? — of would-be replacements plays out. Read the full article at Montana Free Press.
North Dakota House Bill 1536 passed the state legislature yesterday, April 25. The bill codifies ICWA into state law, meaning if the Supreme Court were to make changes to the federal law, it would not apply to North Dakota law unless the North Dakota Legislature chose to amend the law adopted in HB 1536 in … Read more
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
“If the court rules the law unconstitutional, it will not only prevent family reunifications like my own — it will tell tribes that we do not have a right to our own children, and that our political sovereignty, which Congress has recognized for centuries is no more. For all of us, this should be a … Read more
Being a grandparent comes with trials and triumphs, sleepless nights and days that fly by, boundless joy and a sense of purpose. I’ve loved all of it, and it was only made possible by a law that is essential to keeping Native American families like mine together. It’s called the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), … Read more
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) are hosting a web-based conversation on the State ICWA Laws: Lessons Learned & Where Are We Going? on Thursday, April 27, 2023, from 1-2:30 p.m. (EST). The webinar will address State ICWA laws and their implementation to … Read more
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Uncertainty about the future of ICWA brought urgency to legislative efforts this year to strengthen the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act or MIFPA. Lawmakers in both houses passed the legislation and Governor Walz is expected to sign it. “MIFPA legislation creates basically the gold standard of protection for our native kids,” said State Senator Mary … Read more
NICWA’s June 2023 Training Institute will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota June 6 – 8, 2023. Trainings include Child Protection Teams in Indian Country and Positive Indian Parenting. Early bird registration is available through May 5 at the registration website. Learn about this and other upcoming training institutes at the NICWA website.
Let me be clear, this law is not about preventing non-Native families from adopting children when the situation and best interests of the child call for it. It’s about keeping families together whenever possible; it’s about fighting for the futures of Native American children; and it’s about giving tribes a long-awaited seat at the table. … Read more
While a Supreme Court decision overturning ICWA on sweeping equal- protection grounds would likely invalidate those state laws as well, other outcomes — such as a ruling that the federal law exceeded Congress’s authority — could leave state protections in place. Read the full article at USA Today.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon last week signed legislation codifying the Indian Child Welfare Act into state law. A similar bill is moving through the Montana Legislature. Read the full article at the Montana Standard website.
“With some of the sponsors of the bill and the support we have in tribal and state supporters, we’ll bring this issue back up again,” Estes said. “The fact of the matter is that tribal and state leaders need to find a better path forward to work together to put aside our differences and do … Read more
Utah’s eight sovereign tribes push for support on HB40, a bill that would codify the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, or ICWA, into Utah law. Read the full article at the Salt Lake Tribune website.
Davis said the potential reversal of ICWA at the federal level adds urgency to her mission to pass a similar state law in North Dakota. The Democratic legislator said all five tribes that share geography with North Dakota were consulted during the drafting of House Bill 1536. Read the full article at InForum.
The Supreme Court of Montana has ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act applies to third party custody arrangements in which a Native American parent allows the courts to place their child in the care of a family member. The ruling overturns previous case law in the state that had said ICWA did not apply … Read more
“There are some anomalies and gaps in the federal [law] that could be strengthened on the state side. And to have a task force to look at those and identify those and to determine if we do indeed want to adopt those on the state side is still a worthy discussion,” Larsen said. Read the … Read more
The department’s investigation found that Alaska’s system of care is heavily reliant on institutions and that key community-based services and supports needed to serve children with behavioral health disabilities in family homes, such as home-based family treatment, crisis services and therapeutic treatment home services, are often unavailable. As a result, many children with behavioral health … Read more
“As the only federally recognized tribe in the State of Mississippi, our 11,000 plus members are descendants of those members who chose to remain here in Mississippi to preserve our cultural heritage on our ancestral homelands,” the tribe said in a statement. “Today, just as in the past, the preservation and security of our tribe, … Read more
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Janine Jackson interviewed Crushing Colonialism’s Jen Deerinwater about efforts to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act for the December 9, 2022, episode of CounterSpin. Read the transcript or listen to the interview at FAIR.org.
The State of American Indian and Alaska Native Children and Families Report is a six-part series of data briefs that presents current data on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) child and family well-being. Each data brief covers an aspect of well-being data, including economic indicators, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), child welfare system involvement, mortality … Read more
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The Supreme Court will decide a case that affects Native children and their adoptive families. Although both sides claim to have children’s best interest at heart, removing kids from Native communities has a troubled history in America. Read the full article at Harper’s Bazaar.
On the heels of oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), an organization comprised of a coalition of California tribes on Nov. 21 announced its creation of a think tank to advance and defend protections for Native children. The California ICWA Institute—a new project under The California Tribal … Read more
Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s FireLodge Children & Family Services welcomed DeAnna Voeks as its new foster care and adoption specialist in June 2022. She knew from her first day that working for the Tribe and FireLodge would be different than any of her previous jobs — in a good way. Read the full article at Potawatomi.org.
If the law is stricken, Utah legislators talked Tuesday about plans to enact a nearly identical version statewide that would codify the same preference for continuing to place Native kids with Native foster parents. The Native American Legislative Liaison Committee voted unanimously in support of running that bill for the upcoming session that starts in January. Read … Read more
Indigenous affairs reporter Miles Brady talked with Koston Lathoris, a Las Vegas lawyer and citizen of the Southern Paiute tribe, about the case. Listen to the full story at Nevada Public Radio.
Each side presented their oral arguments Wednesday to the U.S. Supreme Court for the most serious challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in recent memory. The decision in Haaland v. Brackeen will be a major force in the future of ICWA and the scope of tribal sovereignty. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce … Read more
The Supreme Court appeared likely Wednesday to leave in place most of a federal law that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children. Read the full article at Indian Country Today.
And because Native children represent about 55% of all children in state custody, Chen says overturning ICWA would have huge implications for Alaska. At the same time, Native people only make up a little over 20% of the population, so there’s a disparity, she says, and a feeling that the state hasn’t done enough to … Read more
The law, known as ICWA, includes many other provisions that impact Native families across Indian Country. What ICWA will look like following the Supreme Court’s decision depends on how the justices rule. Amicus curiae briefs filed in the case cover arguments made for and against the law. Read the full article at Native News Online.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed conflicted Wednesday, as the justices heard arguments challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act, known by the acronym “ICWA.” Listen to the full story at NPR.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The Court is hearing a case that challenges the legality of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which prioritizes the placement of Native American children in foster care or adoption with relatives, other tribal members, or in other Native homes. Read the full article at Time.
Brackeen v. Haaland attacks a 44-year-old law enacted to halt cultural genocide. Read the full article at Vox.
The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed to redress years of mass separations of Native families. This month, the court hears a case that could overturn it Read the full article at The Guardian.
Every Native child deserves the deep sense of safety that comes with being cared for in a home that shares their culture. Read the full article at romper.
In the sprawling federal lawsuit Haaland v. Brackeen, a handful of white foster parents, among other plaintiffs, are asking the Supreme Court to overturn a law called the Indian Child Welfare Act. ICWA was created in 1978 to prevent family separation in Native communities. When the law passed, about a third of Native children had been removed from … Read more
The Indian Child Welfare Act set out to fix generations of harm to Native kids. The Supreme Court could soon toss it aside. Read the full article at the Mother Jones website.
There’s a central question at the core of every child welfare case: What is the best interest of the child? When it comes to Native adoptions, the fate of the law that set the standard for four decades now rests with the Supreme Court. Read the full article at the Christian Science Monitor website.
The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case that pits several prospective adoptive parents and the state of Texas against the Indian Child Welfare Act — a federal law aimed at preventing Native American children from being separated from their extended families and their tribes. Listen to the full story at the NPR … Read more
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Brackeen v. Haaland, a case engineered to hobble the federal government’s power to protect Native communities from exploitation. The plaintiffs are asking the justices to invalidate the 44-year-old Indian Child Welfare Act, which prioritizes the placement of Native children in custody proceedings with Native families. But they’re … Read more
The issue is whether a federal law that seeks to place Native American foster children in Native American homes is constitutional. The case could turn on whether the justices see tribes as racial groups or sovereign nations. Read the full article at the New York Time website.
The case has enormous implications for Indian Country, its children and the ongoing existence of tribal sovereignty, said Sarah Deer, professor at the University of Kansas and chief justice for the Prairie Island Indian Community. Read the full article at the Indian Country Today website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
The Imprint walks readers through highlights of the Brackeen v. Haaland case Read the full article at The Imprint.
“Who could ever believe that [ICWA] would be taken away?” she said. “That’s one of the last things keeping our community together in the way that it has, so imagining a world where that doesn’t exist is just too, too painful.” Read the full article at the KTOO website.
California’s Morongo Band of Mission Indians is one of five tribes that have intervened in the Brackeen v. Haaland case, scheduled for oral arguments Nov. 9. The tribesspoke out this week alongside leaders of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, the Quinault Indian Nation of Washington, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Navajo Nation. Read the … Read more
Kendra Lowden, a Citizen Potawatomi Nation member, discussed the case as well as the Indian Child Welfare Act and the impact its repeal could have on tribes and children across the country. Listen to the full podcase at Potawatomi.org.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The conference will be in person at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno, Nevada. This year’s theme is Healing Our Spirits: Nurturing and Restoring Hope. A call for presentations is also open. Read more and register at the NICWA website.
“We will not go back to a time when our children were stolen from our communities without cause.” Read the full article at The Imprint.
The Biden administration proposes spending $20 billion over a decade to help some of the most vulnerable families in the country, including relatives suddenly thrust into child rearing. Read the full article at The New York Times website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
Matthew Fletcher, Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan, and Rebecca Nagle, Creator and Host, “This Land” Podcast, discuss the case before the Supreme Court. Listen at the Ideastream Public Media website.
Kendra Lowden is a Citizen Potawatomi Nation member and Curly family descendant. She works as the Senior Program Associate at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work. She is the owner of Ghost Thunder Child Welfare Consulting and previously served as the Board President of the Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association. Kendra discussed … Read more
The case, known as Brackeen v. Haaland, has galvanized Indian County. Tribes are concerned the Supreme Court will nullify their right to oversee foster care placements in cases involving Native children, and they fear it could lead to further erosion of their federal rights. Read the full article at the MinnPost website.
Brackeen v. Haaland is a case centering around the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), which focuses on assimilation, tribal culture and the adoption of Native children. Across the country, tribes are watching this case unfold to see how it will impact tribal sovereignty and the relationship between tribes and the federal government. Read the … Read more
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
On Nov. 9, the eyes of Indian Country will once again turn toward the nation’s capital, where the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a law passed in 1978 that enshrines tribal governments’ right to oversee foster care placements in cases involving Native children. Read the full article at … Read more
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full opinion at the National Indian Law Library website.
This week, Representative Judy Chu (CA-27) and Representative Don Bacon (NE-02) introduced the bipartisan Strengthening Tribal Families Act, legislation designed to assist state and local child welfare agencies with implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA, which sets federal standards for abuse or neglect custody proceedings involving native children, lessens the trauma of removal … Read more
The proposed options could include drafting a trigger protection legislation. What that means is if the federal government does strike down ICWA, Wyoming could say ‘no, we will still follow the tenets of ICWA’. Or use the federal law as a template to draft a state law. Read or listen to the full article at … Read more
Read the full article at the Navajo-Hopi Observer website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Pascua Yaqui children taken into state custody in Arizona will continue to learn and grow up according to the tribe’s customs and traditions, and the tribe will still be able to intervene in custody proceedings such as adoptions and the termination of parental rights. The state and tribe signed a memo of understanding last week … Read more
The Minneapolis-based National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, the First Nations Repatriation Institute, and the University of Minnesota are collaborating on a first-of-its-kind survey asking those difficult questions. Researchers have compiled close to 1,000 accounts, submitted on paper and online, for the Child Removal in Native Communities survey, which concludes September 11. Read the full article … Read more
The American Indian College Fund has announced four grants totaling $6.25 million in support of its Indigenous Early Childhood Education (IECE) program. Read the full article at Philanthropy News Digest.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The data from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Pima County ICWA Courts show the success of ICWA and support the nickname ICWA has earned as the “gold standard.” There are golden nuggets of evidence found in Arizona, and it is imperative that the Supreme Court of the United States uphold ICWA as constitutional for the … Read more
This Article describes how the statutory structure of child welfare laws enables lawyers and courts to exploit deep-seated stereotypes about American Indian people rooted in systemic racism to undermine the enforcement of the rights of Indian families and tribes. Even when Indian custodians and tribes are able to protect their rights in court, their adversaries … Read more
In an outpouring of support, 497 Tribal Nations, 62 Native organizations, 23 states and DC, 87 congresspeople, and 27 child welfare and adoption organizations, and many others signed on to 21 briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of upholding ICWA. This large, bipartisan coalition of tribal leaders, policymakers, and organizations understand that the far-reaching … Read more
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
ALIGNING GOVERNANCE WITH CULTURE AND CREATING COMMUNITY SUPPORTS THAT FOSTER FAMILY WELLBEING BY PATRICE KUNESH Read the full article at National Native Children’s Trauma Center.
The National Indian Child Welfare Association is offering the following programs: Positive Indian Parenting – Virtual August 22-25, 2022; September 12-15, 2022 Positive Indian Parenting – Niagara Falls, New York September 20-22, 2022 Understanding ICWA – Niagara Falls, New York September 20-22, 2022 Qualified Expert Witness – Portland, Oregon January 31- February 2, 2023 Cross-Cultural … Read more
Today, five tribes filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Brackeen v. Haaland defending the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Read the full article at Indian Country Today.
On Friday, August 5, HB 184, a bill codifying the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact, automatically became State law without the Governor’s signature. The Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact began in 2017, under Governor Bill Walker and HSS Commissioner Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson, who signed the landmark State-Tribal Compact with 18 Tribal Co-Signers, representing 161 federally-recognized Tribes. … Read more
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in The Desert Sun.
For the last 44 years, a federal law called the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) has sought to prevent these situations by prioritizing that Native children adoptees be placed, when possible, with Native relatives or other members within the child’s tribe. But after months of consequential rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing majority, four … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in Native News Online.
More than half of Native American children in California who are taken into foster care end up in non-Indigenous households. Assembly Bill 1862, which has so far met unanimous support in both houses of the state Legislature, would provide annual funding for tribes to recruit foster parents among their members, and to refurbish and repair … Read more
Legal Topics: Child Custody; Tribal Courts Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The National Indian Child Welfare Association is offering the following programs: Positive Indian Parenting – Virtual July 25-28, 2022; August 22-25, 2022; September 12-15, 2022 Positive Indian Parenting – Niagara Falls, New York September 20-22, 2022 Understanding ICWA – Niagara Falls, New York September 20-22, 2022 Learn more about NICWA conferences and trainings.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Casey Family Programs, the nation’s largest operating foundation dedicated to safely reducing the need for foster care and building Communities of Hope for children and families, announced today the recipients of the 2022 Casey Excellence for Children Awards. These awards recognize outstanding individuals for their inspiring work, exceptional leadership and unwavering dedication to improving the … Read more
The United Indian Nations of Oklahoma (UINO), the Shawnee Tribe and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) announced today that they will host a summit with tribes in the area discussing the history and impacts of Indian Boarding schools on June 22 at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The … Read more
Legal Topics: Custody; Jurisdiction Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in Indian Country Today.
Read the full article in Native News Online.
The California Tribal Families Coalition (CTFC) applauds the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for withdrawing a controversial rule from the Trump Administration that would have exposed millions of tribal children and families to unnecessary risk and removed countless regulations meant to uphold key healthcare standards. Read the full article in Indian Country Today.
Read the full article in The Imprint.
Register and learn more about this training at the Turtle Talk blog.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in Alaska Public Media.
Read the full article in the Tahlequah Daily Press.
Read Susan Devan Harness’s essay in the Harvard Law Bill of Health.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read Kathryn Fort’s essay in Harvard Law’s Bill of Health.
The child welfare system is racist. As with all systems in the United States, the system charged with protecting children is not exempt from the racist policies, practices, and mindsets that created and justified colonialization and slavery. Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color continue to fall prey to the harsh realities of child welfare … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full law review article in the Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read Kathryn Fort’s post on Turtle Talk.
Read the notice in the Federal Register.
Minnesotans are needed to help shape child welfare policy, practice and training recommendations by serving on Citizen Review Panels for the state’s child protection system. The Minnesota Department of Human Services is currently seeking more than 80 volunteers for citizen panels in Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey and Winona counties. By bringing a crucial community voice to … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Rebecca Nagle, host of This Land, joins Leah and Kate to discuss the issues at stake in Brackeen v. Haaland, a case challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act that the Supreme Court will hear next term. Listen to this episode on the Crooked Media website.
Read the article in the Bangor Daily News.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Jurisdiction Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library.
Legal topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the decision at the Turtle Talk blog.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Listen to the segment on the Turtle Talk blog.
Read about this on the Turtle Talk blog.
Read the article in Native News Online.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Even though this is not an ICWA case, three people have sent me this opinion by Justice Montoya Lewis regarding the primacy of relative placement in child protection proceedings. This opinion points to all sorts of issues that beleaguers relative placement, especially certain aspects of background checks and prior involvement with the system. Here, the … Read more
Read the article in Youth Today.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the decision at the Turtle Talk blog.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
New Mexico can provide support for Native families and their children this legislative session — perhaps in the nick of time, depending on the Supreme Court. Read the full article in the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Read more in the Grant County Beat.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The OST Council met Tuesday in Batesland at the Bill C. Bear Memorial gym at Batesland school for their January regular session; after many questions from the gathered tribal council representatives, the council voted 11-6-1 to approve the annual attorney contract for Dana Hanna who represents the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Indian Child Welfare Act … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Termination of Parental Rights Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the guest essay in the Navajo Times.
Read the article in The Oregonian.
Read the dataset created by Kathryn Fort at the Turtle Talk blog.
Read the full decision, and additional commentary, at the Turtle Talk blog.
George F. Will’s Jan. 6 op-ed, “The racial politics of the Indian Child Welfare Act,” ignored the benefits of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the basic facts of tribal citizenship. The ICWA is considered the gold standard of child welfare laws and establishes a process that promotes efforts to keep children connected to their families, … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
S.3337 — A bill to protect Native children and promote public safety in Indian country. Read about this bill at the 117th Congress website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Termination of Parental Rights Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article at the Indian Country Today website.
Read the full decision at the Turtle Talk blog.
Read this article in the Columbia Journal of Race and Law.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the article in the Columbia Journal of Race and Law.
Register for this conference at the Turtle Talk website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full federal register entry at the govinfo.gov website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website. Further reading materials are available at Turtle Talk.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full federal register entry at the National Indian Law Library website. Access the ICWA tribal agent directory at the federal register website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in the Norman Transcript.
Read the full law review article in the American Indian Law Review.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
On September 3, four tribes and the United States Solicitor General filed cert petitions with the U.S. Supreme Court in Brackeen v. Haaland, defending the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and its constitutionality. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., Morongo Band of Mission Indians Chairman Charles Martin, Oneida Nation Chairman Tehassi Hill, and Quinault Indian Nation President Guy … Read more
Read the full federal register entry at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in The Rural Blog.
Read the full article at the Native News Online website. Listen to ‘This Land’ at Crooked Media.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
After the forced separation of Indian families, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to create heightened procedural protections to maintain and preserve Indian families. Following Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 570 U.S. 637 (2013), courts have indicated concern that the heightened standards of ICWA may be overbroad and harm Indian children. This Note … Read more
Several years ago, the Lummi Tribal Council told Diana Phair, the executive director of the tribe’s Housing Authority: “We have 200-some children in foster care. We need to bring our children home.” With the tribal members’ input, she and her colleagues devised Sche’lang’en Village, a novel housing arrangement for parents seeking to reunite with their … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision and Turtle Talk commentary at the Turtle Talk website.
Read the full article on the Native News Online website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Bay Mills Indian Community 3rd annual Noojimo’iwewin: A VAWA and ICWA Training Aug. 4-6, in-person and online BRIMLEY, Mich. — Picking up where last year’s training left off, Bay Mills Indian Community sets out to host its third annual Noojimo’iwewin: A VAWA and ICWA Training, Aug. 4-6. The event is hosted both in-person at the Bay Mills … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article at the New York Times website.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Nine Rosebud Lakota children began their last morning away from their homelands Friday at the base of a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. Shortly after 1 a.m. Friday morning, a caravan carrying the nine Lakota children who died more than 140 years ago arrived here with a police escort in front … Read more
S.2326 — A bill to amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act to reauthorize programs under that Act, and for other purposes. Read about this bill at the 117th Congress website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
SAN DIEGO — Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Carlsbad resident and professor Joely Proudfit to the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, making her the first Indigenous woman to serve the organization. Proudfit (Luiseño/Payómkawichum) is a professor at California State University, San Marcos who has served as American Indian studies chair and director … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
H.R.4348 – To remove administrative barriers to participation of Indian tribes in Federal child welfare programs, and increase Federal funding for tribal child welfare programs, and for other purposes. Read about this bill at the 117th Congress website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full statement on the Indian Country Today website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full federal register entry at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full press release at the Department of the Interior website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
S.2167/H.R.4052 – A bill to establish a national, research-based, and comprehensive home study assessment process for the evaluation of prospective foster parents and adoptive parents and provide funding to States and Indian tribes to adopt such process. Read more about this bill in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Shortly after a First Nation in British Columbia, Canada, confirmed it found the remains of 215 Indigenous children buried under a former residential school, news of more sites just like it started to surface across the country—and in the United States. Read the full article on the Vice News website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
As I read stories about an unmarked grave in Canada where the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found last month, I was sick to my stomach. But the deaths of Indigenous children at the hands of government were not limited to that side of the border. Many Americans may be alarmed to learn that the United … Read more
Oregon lawmakers have voted to codify provisions of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into state law in an effort to honor tribal customs and sent the bill to the desk of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. Read the full article at The Imprint website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
The NCAI, which passed two different resolutions in the past decade on the issue, is calling for transparency and accountability for historical and generational trauma caused by boarding schools that was a program of the federal government that operated on the mantra to “Kill the Indian, Save the man.” Read the full article on the … Read more
S.1868 – A bill to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require that equitable distribution of assistance include equitable distribution to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, to increase amounts reserved for allotment to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations under certain circumstances, and to reserve amounts for migrant programs under certain circumstances, and … Read more
The Indian Child Welfare Act became law in 1978 with a goal of keeping Native children with their families and tribes. As Blackfeet citizen and Salish descendant Brooke Pepion Swaney found out, the law was overlooked when Kendra was adopted by the Mylnechuk family. Brooke’s first feature-length documentary, “Daughter of a Lost Bird,” premieres at the prestigious Human Rights … Read more
Save the date for a virtual Domestic/Family Violence Advocacy Training, June 16-17, 2021. For more information, or to register, email: training@native-knowledge.com. Original post from Turtle Talk.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the article at the Indianz website.
Read the full article in the Washington and Lee Law Review Online.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Custodial Agreements; Tribal Law Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in the American Indian Law Review.
These foster youth say the state of Alaska pocketed thousands of dollars that belonged to them. Nationwide, government agencies take money owed to foster children with disabilities or a deceased parent, The Marshall Project and NPR found. And most kids never know it’s gone. Read the full article at the Marshall Project website.
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA or the Act) is a federal statute that protects Indian children by keeping them connected to their families and culture. The Act’s provisions include support for family reunification, kinship care preferences, cultural competency considerations and community involvement. These provisions parallel national child welfare policies. Nevertheless, the Act is relentlessly … Read more
H.R.2740 – To protect Native children and promote public safety in Indian country. Read more about this bill at the 117th Congress website.
Read the full article at the Wyoming Public Media website.
Read the full law review article in the Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice.
I am an Ojibwe autistic parent of autistic children, and a disability advocate. My children and I are statistically insignificant, and we routinely endure systemic erasure. Most Native autistic people do not get an accurate diagnosis or the support they need at any age. Native communities desperately need access to accurate information about autism and … Read more
Read the full article in the Department of Justice Journal of Federal Law and Practice.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Read the full article in the Department of Justice Journal of Federal Law and Practice.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Tribal Enrollment – Eligibility Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
H.R.1688 – To amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act. Read more about this bill at the 117th Congress website.
H.R.1566 – To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require that equitable distribution of assistance include equitable distribution to Indian tribes and tribal organizations and to increase amounts reserved for allotment to Indian tribes and tribal organizations under certain circumstances, and to provide for a Government Accountability Office report on child abuse … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Indian Child Welfare Act – Temporary Guardianship Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Today, the Yurok Tribe, Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, the Wiyot Tribe and the Trinidad Rancheria announced their support of the California Attorney General’s effort to pursue a court order requiring the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Child Welfare Services Division and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office to fully and … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act; Child in Need of Care; Indian Child Welfare Act – Expert Witness Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
A recent, unanimous opinion of the Washington State Supreme Court authored by Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis, the first Native American justice to serve on the court, gives critical life to the rights granted under the act by giving expansive meaning to the “reason to know” standard that invokes its protections.
Unlawful rollback of data collection requirements is “riddled with errors,” ignores critical need to understand challenges facing American Indian and Alaska Native children, LGBTQ+ foster youth. Read the full article at the Indian Country Today website.
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act – Jurisdiction; Indian Child Welfare Act – Domicile Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Repairing and strengthening Indian Country’s ancestral social safety net Indian Country Today Opinion by: -Tara ‘Katuk’ Sweeney, Iñupiat member of the Native Village of Barrow and the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope and Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior -Jeannie Hovland, Flandreau Santee Sioux Member and Commissioner … Read more
Legal Topics: Indian Child Welfare Act – Expert Witnesses Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.
Declares Oregon policy regarding Indian children. Modifies Oregon child welfare laws regarding Indian children to reconcile with provisions of federal Indian Child Welfare Act. Read more at the Oregon State Legislature’s website.
Executive Order 13930 of June 24, 2020 Read the full text at the Federal Register website.
The law protects Native children from being taken from their homes without tribal involvement. The case before the state Supreme Court could tighten those rules. Read the full article at the Crosscut website.
Join NICWA for a webinar with state Indian child welfare professionals to hear discussions about impacts to state agency services and implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act during the pandemic. Panelists:-Yvonne Barrett, Manager of Indian Child Welfare Act Program, Minnesota Department of Human Services-Adam Becenti, Director of Tribal Affairs, Oregon Department of Human Services-Natalie … Read more
Under the direction of Children, Youth and Families Secretary Brian Blalock, state leaders announced in October the creation of New Mexico’s first Indian Child Welfare Act court. Only the nation’s sixth, the court opened Jan. 1 in the 2nd Judicial District to enforce and adjudicate the 1978 congressional law that requires the placement of Native … Read more
CYFD, in an effort to align with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) — a congressional law that aims to keep Native American children with Native families — created an all-woman, all-Native American ICWA unit within the child protective services division. Additionally, the state’s first — and only the nation’s sixth — ICWA court officially … Read more
The case centers on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which was designed to protect American Indian communities against state-led efforts to break up Native families. The challengers in the case—several Republican-led states and non-Native families seeking to adopt Native children—are attempting to invalidate ICWA’s restrictions on breaking up Native families and on non-Native families … Read more
Northern Arapaho leaders and state officials are looking for ways to improve a child protective services program that the tribe says needs more money from the state to be more effective. Gov. Mark Gordon and Northern Arapaho Tribe leaders met last week to discuss the tribe’s child protective and social services, which is funded with … Read more
The amicus brief urges the Fifth Circuit to uphold the court’s previous decision affirming the constitutionality of IWCA. The decision the Fifth Circuit issued in August reversed an unprecedented ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas which wrongly struck down ICWA as unconstitutional. Read the full press release and view … Read more
Get ready for round two. Oral arguments in a closely-watched Indian Child Welfare Act case will take place on January 22, 2020. After offering a tentative date last month, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals made it official on Wednesday. The case known as Brackeen v. Bernhardt will go before an en banc panel of judges … Read more
The legal status of the Indian Child Welfare Act is again going before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2018, a Texas federal court found the Act known as ICWA to be unconstitutional. But this summer a panel of three Fifth Circuit judges reversed that finding. Now the full panel of appellate judges will … Read more
Simply Smiles, Inc. is seeking Native American foster parents for the Simply Smiles Children’s Village on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation (South Dakota). … Native foster parents at the Simply Smiles Children’s Village will ensure that Native children who have been removed from their homes on Cheyenne River can remain with their “kin and … Read more
Attacks on the law, enacted in 1978, have inexplicably risen in the past seven years and attracted the support of a seemingly disparate array of high power ultra conservative players and organizations. Today’s challenges to the child welfare protocols aren’t only about adoption because if the Indian Child Welfare Act is found to be unconstitutional … Read more
March 29–April 1, 2020Denver, Colorado Each year, NICWA hosts the largest national gathering on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) child advocacy issues. With over 1,400 attendees—and growing every year—this four-day conference has become the premiere national event addressing tribal child welfare and well-being. Keynote speakers range from federal officials at the highest level of … Read more
Pima County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Quigley said having an ICWA court would allow a legal team to specialize in these cases, much like with a mental health or drug court. “Instead of having 14 judges deal with ICWA cases, we’d have one judge who would deal with it the same way, so everybody could … Read more
The Yellowstone County District Court is working to improve the outcome for Native children with the Indian Child Welfare Act Court launched 18 months ago with Judge Rod Souza presiding. It is one of only six ICWA courts in the nation. Read the full article at the Montana Standard website.
Native American tribes got a big win in August when a federal court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, a pivotal 1978 law that requires states to prioritize placing Native children in foster or adoptive homes with Native families over non-Native families. But the decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals … Read more
In the 40 years since Congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act, the law has been criticized in legal challenges that have climbed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the ICWA, as the act is known, has always prevailed. Now its constitutionality is being questioned again. On Thursday, the U.S. Court of … Read more
After initially deciding the closely-watched case in favor of Indian Country, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals announced that it will hear the dispute all over again. A larger set of judges will now scrutinize the landmark law but tribal nations remain confident that their sovereign rights and their most precious resource — their children — will win … Read more
Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order directing a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to be reheard en banc — before the entire Fifth Circuit. As previously reported, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit had held ICWA Constitutional in August, finding it was not a race-based statute that would violate the … Read more
More than 40 years after the federal law took effect, the child welfare system continues to absorb a disproportionate number of Native American children nationally and in Utah, noted Alisa Lee, Indian child welfare program administrator for the Utah Division of Child and Family Services. Data provided by Lee’s office shows that roughly 5% of … Read more
The Supreme Court didn’t give a reason it declined to hear the case that began in 2013, when the Oglala and Rosebud Sioux Tribes and three parents in Pennington County brought a class action lawsuit against state Department of Social Services and Pennington County officials.The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the tribes and parents, alleged that Native American … Read more
Emails to the adoptive family from the director of Bright Star Adoptions, an adoption firm for which Petersen served as general counsel, suggest that concerns came up about the firm’s compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act following Petersen’s arrest. Read the full article at the Phoenix New Times website. Read related news: “Indigenous Lawmakers … Read more