Florida

Miccosukee Tribe Ties Child Welfare Case to Violence Against Women

The Miccosukee Tribe is defending its handling of a child welfare case that has drawn national attention.The tribe said a newborn was taken from her mother, a Miccosukee citizen, in order to protect the baby girl and her older siblings from domestic violence. The mother had previously been victimized by her non-Indian former partner, whose presence at the hospital during the birth earlier this month led the maternal grandmother to seek custody of the baby.

Read the full article at the Indianz.com website.

Read related coverage from the Tuscaloosa News article, “Legal experts say tribe overstepped authority in seizing baby“

Seminole Tribe of Florida Looking for a Superintendent of Education (6/2/2014)

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is currently accepting applications for a Superintendent of Education.

The person in this position will be responsible for the overall leadership, development, organization, management, operation, and implementation of Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Educational programs across departments including the Ahfachkee School, Ahfachkee Traditional Preservation, Pemayetv Emakakv Charter School, Brighton Charter Cultural Program, and the Preschool Program.

Read a full job description at Indian Country Today Media Network website and apply at the tribe’s website.  (Job was posted 6/2/2014.)

Billie v. Stier, April 25, 2014 (Florida)

Synopsis provided by Westlaw: After unmarried mother who was member of Indian tribe filed custody petition in tribal court, father filed custody petition in circuit court. The Circuit Court, Miami–Dade County, entered order determining that it had jurisdiction pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). Mother filed petition for writ of prohibition.

Holding providing by Westlaw: The District Court of Appeal, Suarez, J., held that tribal court did not substantially comply with jurisdictional standards of the UCCJEA. Writ denied.
Read the full decision at the National Indian Law Library website.

Miami Appeals Court Rules Custody Battle Should Stay in State Court

A Miami appeals court says a custody dispute between a Miccosukee mother and non-Indian father should remain in state court, not tribal court.

The decision Wednesday by the Third District Court of Appeal marks the first time a Florida appeals court has agreed to strip the authority of tribal court judges in a child custody case.

Read the full article at the Miami Herald website.

Read other articles about this news at:

Indianz.com

Susan R. Brown’s law website

and the Justice News Flash website.

April 2014 – Positive Indian Parenting, Train the Trainers (NICWA, Florida)

Become a trainer of Positive Indian Parenting (PIP). This course will provide workers with information on how to organize and conduct parenting training. Preparing lesson plans, setting up meetings, and helping parents through this training will be covered. Exercises and handouts are designed for use in small groups or with a family. A facilitator’s manual is included in each participant’s course material.

PIP is an eight-week class designed to provide a brief, practical, culturally specific training program for Native American parents (as well as non-Native American foster parents of Native American children) to explore the values and attitudes expressed in traditional Native American child-treating practices and then to apply those values to modern skills in parenting. For hundreds of years, Native American parents were guided by traditions that never left parenting to chance. These traditions were passed from one generation to the next, but they all had the same purpose: to ensure the tribe’s future through its children. While we cannot go back to the world as it once was, we can still find great values in our child-rearing experience.

The training will be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 17-18, 2014.  Learn more and register at the NICWA website.

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 comes to custody battles between parents.

The key provision of the law: the court with jurisdiction is the one from where the children resided “within 6 months” of the “commencement of the proceedings” for child custody.

A September 6 hearing will determine which court has jurisdiction.

Read more at the Miami Herald website.

 

A Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act

A Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare ActThe Guide is intended to answer questions and provide a comprehensive resource of information on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The online version at http://www.narf.org/icwa was created as a complement to the print version of the Guide, which was printed by the Native American Rights Fund in 2007.

While the topical sections are identical to the print version, the electronic copy has links to thousands of state and federal resources (cases, laws, etc.). In addition to the materials available in the original 360 page print edition, the online version includes more recent cases and a short list of recent ICWA news.