Bill Walker

Historic Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact Signed

Alaska Governor Bill Walker used an appearance Thursday at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage to sign a historic compact between the State of Alaska, tribes, and tribal organizations. The compact will allow tribes and tribal organizations to provide child welfare services and programs that previously were delivered by the Alaska Office of Children’s Services.

Read the full article at the SitNews website.

Download the compact.

Read related news coverage:

Alaska and its tribes sign child services compact (Alaska Public Radio)

Alaska tribes and state sign historic document on tribal child welfare (Alaska Dispatch News)

Walker signs child welfare compact with Alaska tribes (Daily News-Miner)

Walker Signs Two Bills into Law

Gov. Bill Walker has signed into law bills intended to help foster youths and ease adoption in Alaska.

Among other elements, House Bill 200 implements portions of the Indian Child Welfare Act that ease the adoption process for tribal members adopting a child of the same tribe. The bill also allows up to four legal proceedings involved in adoption cases to be combined under the purview of one judge.

Read the full article at the Juneau Empire website.

Governor Announces Planned Change for Adoption Process of Alaska Native Children

There were more than a few teary eyes in the governor’s conference room on Thursday, when Gov. Bill Walker announced plans for a significant overhaul to Alaska’s adoption process for Alaska Native children.

The move comes after a high-profile Alaska Supreme Court case added potentially impossible-to-clear hurdles to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act’s provisions that Alaska Native children be adopted to extended family or tribal members.

Read the full article at the newsminer.com website.

Read related coverage at the Alaska Dispatch News website on April 15, 2015, and April 16, 2015.