Author: Kate Fort

Public School Won’t Display Grand Ronde Flag Without Payment

Kate Fort1 Comment

And meanwhile, over near Grand Ronde:

Leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde have pressed the Willamina School Board for a decision on their request, calling it a positive gesture in a district where about a quarter of the students are Native American.

It was greeted in April by a counterproposal from the board’s chair, Craig Johnson: The tribe should pay the district $25,000 over five years to display the flag. Another board member, Ken Onstot, said displaying the tribal flag could be “semi-divisive” because only a quarter of the enrollment is Native American.

Michigan Public Radio on Successful Brimley Elementary School

Kate Fort

Here.

I took a trip to the U.P. last week to visit Brimley, a very tiny town on the shores of Lake Superior. Aside from the Bay Mills Indian Community reservation and the area’s natural beauty, there’s not much to the place aside from a couple bars, a gas station, and a motel. But the residents are very friendly (I was invited to a smelt dinner the first night I arrived), and they celebrate their own: a recent issue of the local paper featured the elementary school’s Students of the Month, complete with photos and quotes from teachers.

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Well, this school has a high population of Native American children and kids from low-income families — two groups that statistically struggle in school. But here at Brimley they’re doing well; they are way above the state standard on tests and have been for the past several years.

Via Bryan Newland, who else?

NAICJA Tribal Trial Skills Training, May 22-23

Kate Fort

NAICJA has some spots available for a free Tribal Trial Skills Training on May 22-23, 2015 in Albuquerque, NM. Interested tribal advocates or attorneys need to contact Nikki Borchardt Campbell at nikki@naicja.org for more information and to register. NAICJA will register remaining participants on a first-come-first-served basis.

Tribal Trial Skills DRAFT Training Agenda

Northwest Indian Bar Association’s Annual Awards Banquet

Kate Fort

The Northwest Indian Bar Association’s Annual Awards Banquet

Thursday, June 11, 2015
Reception at 5:30 p.m., Dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Seattle Aquarium
1483 Alaskan Way
Seattle, WA 98101

Cost:
$85 for NIBA Members (must be current on dues)
$100 for Non-NIBA Members

Checks can be mailed to:
Lisa L. Atkinson
611 Main Street, Suite B-1
Edmonds, WA 98020
(425) 778-2421

Please make checks payable to NIBA and include a completed form available at: http://www.foster.com/documents/event-documents/niba-2015-dinner-e-vite.aspx

Payments may also be made via PayPal to:
nwibatreasurer@gmail.com
Please make sure to include your name and entree choice

RSVP:
Please RSVP by 4:00 p.m. on May 22, 2015 to Sandy Wiley at wiles@foster.com.

Michigan Indian Legal Services Job Posting

Kate Fort

Staff attorney position in southwest Michigan.

Announcement here.

Unpublished California ICWA Inquiry Case Requires Reversal of Orders

Kate Fort

Here. Out of Ventura County.

Although mother and the maternal grandmother advised HSA of Olivia’s Choctaw ancestry, no further inquiry was made. Had HSA asked, it would have learned that the maternal great-grandmother, Roberta Mae J., is alive, is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation, and was born on the Kiowa Reservation in Lawton, Oklahoma.

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After the writ petition was filed, mother’s counsel submitted certificates and enrollment applications to the Choctaw Nation tribe. On May 5, 2015, we granted mother’s request to take additional evidence that Choctaw Nation issued membership cards to mother and Olivia on April 15, 2015. The tribe’s determination that Olivia is a member of Choctaw Nation is conclusive. (§ 224.3, subd. (e)(1); In re Jack C.III (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 967, 980; Dwayne P. v. Superior Court (2002) 103 Cal.App.4th 247, 255.) HSA’s failure to comply with the ICWA notice requirements before the six month review hearing requires that we reverse the February 2, 2015 order terminating reunification services, the order granting Olivia’s caretakers de facto parent status, and the order for a section 366.26 hearing.

Summary Judgment in Washington State Administrative Hearing, Fuel Tax Case

Kate Fort

State of WA v Cougar Den, Office of Administrative Hearings Department of Licensing

News coverage here.

Previous postings involving Cougar Den here.

California ICWA Decision on Placement Preferences and Standing

Kate Fort

Here.

Mother did not have standing to challenge a violation of placement preferences once her parental rights were terminated.

WaPo Column on Anonymous Child Abuse Hotlines

Kate Fort

Here.

These hotline practices can result in unnecessary trauma to parents and children. In Texas, a family had lost their apartment after the father lost his job as a welder. They were living temporarily in a spacious storage shed, which had air conditioning and a refrigerator, because they felt that the local homeless shelter was unsafe.  A passerby made a call, a caseworker appeared at the shed, and the state immediately took custody of the children without offering any preventive services. A court hearing was not set for two months. During those two months, the parents were only allowed to visit their children for less than an hour a day.

Hotline practices also disproportionately affect poor people of color. Many studies show the disparate treatment of minorities and impoverished families in the child welfare system. Black children are twice as likely to be reported as white children, while minority parents are more likely to receive higher levels of state intervention following a report.

Response to Motions to Reconsider in Oglala Sioux v. Van Hunnik

Kate Fort1 Comment

Here.

Motions to reconsider here.