Author: Kate E. Fort

Executive Office of the President, OMB Highlights Native Youth Priorities for FY 2017 Budget

Kate Fort

Document here.

Support the Implementation ofthe Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal law that seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian families. Congress passed ICW A in 1978 in response to the alarmingly high number of Indian children being removed from their homes by both public and private agencies. The intent of Congress under ICWA was to “protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of lndian tribes and families” (25 U.S.C. § 1902). The implementation of ICW A requires support for tribal and state courts, social workers and foster care. ICWA also calls for services that keep families together. These could be family assistance services, home improvement programs, alternatives to incarceration and employment support services. Agencies should focus on programs that support the capacity building and programmatic support necessary to implement ICWA.

Via GJ.

Associate General Counsel Position at Pechanga Band

Kate Fort

Posting here.

The Associate General Counsel will work in the Office of the General Counsel under the direct supervision of the General Counsel for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians. The Associate General Counsel will work with the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel to provide legal services, representation and advice on legal issues confronting the Tribal Government, its entities and enterprises; provide guidance and assistance to Tribal Government departments; and provide limited service to tribal members in matters relating to tribal status.

Unreported ICWA Placement Preference Case out of California

Kate Fort

Here.

Very difficult case with extensive testimony. Child was ultimately placed with distant cousins instead of grandparents with a history with the department. The court found good cause to deviate from the tribe’s preferences of matrilineal relatives.

Because there is so much testimony in this opinion, it gives a window into the way the lower courts are making these decisions, and how the court understands how children connect to their tribal communities:

[Foster parent] already encouraged [three year old child] to look at Chickasaw language flashcards and language applications, to make beaded necklaces, and to hunt, fish, and pick berries.

The Department’s report recommending good cause to deviate from placement preferences included this very frustrating statement:

It is unfortunate that that [sic] tribe is so distant and has not had the opportunity to meet Autumn and the people she considers to be parents. If they had, they may decide that it is in actuality in their tribe’s best interest to avoid placement disruption and the possibility of creating an attachment disorder in this young child who currently has such a bright future.

2016 Law Clerk Positions at Fredericks Peebles

Kate Fort

2016 Summer Law Clerk Ad

FPM is seeking applications from second year law students for 2016 Summer Law Clerks for its offices in Louisville, Colorado; Omaha, Nebraska; Rapid City, South Dakota; and Sacramento, California. Applicants must be enrolled in an ABA accredited law school. Experience or coursework in tribal and Federal Indian Law required. Applicants must also possess excellent analytical, research and communication skills, and the ability to work well independently and as a team in a fast-paced environment. FPM offers a competitive hourly wage for a 10 – 12-week summer position.

Public Defender Job Position at Yakima Nation

Kate Fort

Here.

Employee serves as attorney for the Yakama Nation Public Defenders office and is responsible for providing professional, legal assistance to Tribal member client in Tribal, State, and Federal Court systems or administrative agencies as assigned by the Lead Attorney-Program Manager, with an emphasis on civil matters. Employee is responsible for providing a full ranges of legal services to Tribal members in areas of civil, family and Federal Indian Law matters, and in criminal matters as assigned by the Lead Attorney-Program Manager. Services include legal research, evaluations of potential cases, analysis and preparation of accepted cases, motions, brief, hearings, trials and appeals. Representation will include all stages of civil proceedings through disposition and review hearings until the attorney withdraws. Representation in criminal matter will include all stages of criminal proceedings from arraignment through disposition. The attorney may be appointed by the court(s) as Guardian Ad Litem in matters involving Tribal members deemed incompetent or for those persons placed in protective custody.

TLOA Implementation Event, July 13-14

Kate Fort

Dialogue on Implementing TLOA’s Enhanced Sentencing Authority

On July 13–14, 2015, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice and the American Probation and Parole Association will conduct A Dialogue on the Tribal Law & Order Act (TLOA) Implementation of Enhanced Sentencing Authority in Tucson, AZ. At this no-cost event, tribal governments will share their experiences in implementing new TLOA authority. Discussion will also explore how to better implement enhanced sentencing authority among interested tribes. For more information visit: www.appa-net.org/eweb/Dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=IV_ProjectDetail&wps_key=49d0989a-0f8a-4644-ba62-2cedacc704bc.

Survey of Tribal Child Welfare Codes by NNI and NICWA

Kate Fort1 Comment

Poster version of the research here.

Active Efforts/Step-Parent Adoption Case out of Washington Court of Appeals

Kate Fort

Here.

The Court found the active efforts provision applied to the termination of father’s parental rights in a step-parent adoption, despite the father being non-Indian. In addition, the court found active efforts applied despite Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, not only because the facts were different, but also because of the Washington state ICWA statute.

A.D. v. Washburn–ICWA Class Action Suit

Kate Fort

Complaint here.

Quite the first paragraph:

By honoring the moral imperatives enshrined in our Constitution, this nation has successfully shed much of its history of legally sanctioned discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity. We have seen in vivid, shameful detail how separate treatment is inherently unequal. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954). There can be no law under our Constitution that creates and applies pervasive separate and unequal treatment to individuals based on a quantum of blood tracing to a particular race or ethnicity. This country committed itself to that principle when it ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and overturned Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), and when it abandoned Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).

This complaint goes directly at the right of tribes to determine their tribal citizenry. From this paragraph on, the complaint bases everything on the “child’s race” or “Indian ancestry” and their “unequal treatment” under ICWA:

Most Indian tribes have only blood quantum or lineage requirements as prerequisites for membership. See Miss. Band of Choctaw Indians Const. art. III, § 1; Cherokee Nation Const. art. IV, § 1; Choctaw Nation of Okla. Const. art. II, § 1; Muscogee (Creek) Nation Const. art. III, § 2; Gila River Indian Community Const. art. III, § 1; Navajo Nation Code § 701; Guidelines for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings, 80 Fed. Reg. 10146, 10153, B.3 (February 25, 2015) (“New Guidelines”). Consequently, ICWA’s definition of “Indian child” is based solely on the child’s race or ancestry.

The Goldwater Institute’s roll out and website regarding the case. This is highly funded, highly professional media campaign.