Child Welfare – Page 50

PDF copy here.

From the end of the article:

An Interior spokeswoman said Congress has determined it “is in the best interests of an Indian child to keep that child…with the child’s parents,” extended family and tribal community.

Kathryn Fort, a lawyer with the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University, defends the law and the guidelines. Ms. Fort said that before the law was passed, social workers would argue that it was in the “best interests” of an Indian child to be permanently removed from a house that was merely messy or lacked the most modern conveniences. “It’s really a way of allowing—and perpetuating—discrimination against Indians,” she said.

Supporters of the law say the adoption delays often required are part of its point. The law “demands excellence in how we treat Indian children,” said Matthew Newman, a staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund. “That often requires a bit of time.”

New Short Film on Maine Truth and Reconciliation Commission

October 15, 2015Kate Fort

Here.

Lots of good information here.

Press coverage here.

The longer movie is due out in 2017, but it’s very nice to have this short film and supporting website available now as an antidote to all of the Goldwater blitz.

DOJ Motion for Summary Judgment and National Orgs Amicus Brief Filed in Guidelines Litigation

September 21, 2015September 20, 2015Kate Fort

Latest filings in Nat’l Council for Adoption v. Jewell:

DOJ Memorandum for Summary Judgment

A favorite footnote (5 is good too):

10 Finally, BAF does not elaborate as to why placement with an Indian child’s family or tribe could not also be “loving,” and its silence is telling. ICWA was designed as a remedy for precisely this type of bias: the stereotype held by some child-welfare advocates that Indian children will be better off placed with a non-Indian family. See Miss. Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U.S. 30, 37 (reiterating that Congress feared that application of a “white, middleclass standard” will, “in many cases, foreclose[] placement with [an] Indian family”). BAF’s misguided view is, at best, an “abstract concern” that is insufficient to create standing. See Lane, 703 F.3d at 675 (citing Simon, 426 U.S. at 40).

National Organizations (NCAI, NICWA, AAIA) Amicus Brief in Support

Repost: National ICWA Attorney Survey

September 18, 2015September 18, 2015Kate Fort

Posting this one more time because it worked smashingly for a tribe yesterday. Fill it out! Forward it on!

In an attempt to better protect ICWA, tribes, and AI/AN families, NICWA and the ILPC have put together a short survey to collected ICWA attorney information nationwide. If you are in-house or outside counsel, if you are a parents’ attorney interested in taking ICWA cases, if you are legal aid agency who represents tribes, if you stumbled on this post and would be willing to represent a tribe from another state in an ICWA proceeding, please fill this out this poll.

The information will be sent to NICWA, and not sold or otherwise distributed beyond what is indicated. Please forward this questionnaire to the ICWA attorneys in your network and encourage them to submit their information as well.

Here is the link.

Federal ICWA Litigation Documents

September 16, 2015Kate Fort1 Comment

We don’t post every time a document is filed in the current federal ICWA cases (EDVA, AZ, MN, NDOK), but will be posting updates as orders are filed or briefing is completed on an issue, as usual.

However, many filings for all four cases are being updated regularly here.

Letter(S) to the Editor Regarding ICWA in the Washington Post

September 7, 2015September 7, 2015Kate Fort

Here.

Bolstering accountability of the U.S. justice system and providing regulations for its interaction with Indian child-welfare cases secures the safety, health and well-being of Indian children and their tribal nations. The act is a public-health policy that prompts prevention-based measures to restore wellness for Indian children and their families. A sharp focus on the legal status of native children as citizens of self-determining tribal nations is fundamental. Indian children possess an inherent political status that predates the United States, a reality supported by centuries of U.S. law and policy.

Edited to add Senator Dorgan’s letter in the WaPo as well. Here:

When we talk about “blood-stained” laws, we should talk about the history of the treatment of Native Americans: laws of genocide, sterilization, forced removal and assimilation; compulsory boarding schools; underfunding of critical health care; and a trail of broken promises.

These were written in response to a particularly egregious and racist syndicated column by George Will we did not post.

On Friday he put up a second column about the Washington football team. If you want to know what he’s saying, given that his columns are syndicated and run nationwide, here are links to them that don’t boost them on a google search:

Anti-ICWA Column

Name of Washington Football Team Column

Tribal Access to Name Based Background Checks for Emergency Placements

August 25, 2015August 25, 2015Victoria Sweet

Tribal Access to Name Based Background Checks for Emergency Placements

For some time tribes have raised the issue of tribal child welfare agencies not having access to name-based background checks for emergency child placements.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services is now authorized to do name-based background checks for tribal emergency placements for tribes with social services agencies. The program is called, “BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program.” Children’s Bureau is working with BIA and the Department of Justice to inform tribes about the change and roll out of the process. Two informational phone calls will be held to disseminate information about the name-based background checks and the process. These calls will include partners with the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Indian Affairs who will be on hand to answer questions.

Two Opportunities to participate in an Informational Call-In about BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program with Department of Justice, Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Tribal Justice, and Children’s Bureau:

Wednesday August 26, 2015

First Call: 3:00pm to 4:00pm (Eastern time) Noon to 1:00pm (Pacific time)

Participants can register for the conference by navigating to http://dpregister.com/10071565
Please note that registered participants will receive their dial in number upon registration.

Pre-registration fields of information to be gathered: Name, Tribal Affiliation

Those without internet access or unable to pre-register may dial in by calling:
PARTICIPANT DIAL IN (TOLL FREE): 1-877-270-2148
PARTICIPANT INTERNATIONAL DIAL IN: 1-412-902-6510

Information gathered for unregistered parties: Name and Company
Please ask to be joined into the United States Department of Justice call.

Second Call: 4:00pm to 5:00pm (Eastern time) 1:00pm to 2:00pm (Pacific time)

Participants can register for the conference by navigating to http://dpregister.com/10071577
Please note that registered participants will receive their dial in number upon registration.

Pre-registration fields of information to be gathered: Name, Tribal Affiliation

Those without internet access or unable to pre-register may dial in by calling:
PARTICIPANT DIAL IN (TOLL FREE): 1-877-270-2148
PARTICIPANT INTERNATIONAL DIAL IN: 1-412-902-6510

Information gathered for unregistered parties: Name and Company
Please ask to be joined into the United States Department of Justice call.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information, or TAP, will allow federally recognized tribes to enter criminal records into and pull information out of national databases overseen by the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has established the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP) to provide tribes access to national crime information databases for both civil and criminal purposes. TAP will allow tribes to more effectively serve and protect their nation’s citizens by ensuring the exchange of critical data. The new TAP program will support and train tribes as they connect with the system. Once established, they’ll be able to use the databases in the same way as outside law enforcement.

Also on Wednesday, August 19, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn announced a new Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) program to assist federally recognized tribal social services agencies seeking to place children in safe homes. “The BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program will provide tribal social service agencies with the information they need to protect the children they place into care in emergency situations when parents are unable to provide for their welfare,” Washburn said. “This program provides BIA law enforcement personnel with the ability to provide our social service agency partners with much-needed information to help to make sure children requiring emergency placements will be placed in safe homes.” The BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program arose out of a 2014 working group formed by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and the Interior (DOI) that also developed the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP).

BIA-OJS dispatch centers will be available to provide 24-hour access to criminal history records, so name-based checks can be done immediately. Protocols for operating under the new program are being developed by BIA-OJS and will be tested by a select number of tribes prior to a nationwide implementation of the program.

http://www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap

Previous coverage here and here.

Doe v. Pruitt, Another (Fourth) Federal ICWA Case Filed (N.D. Okla)

August 24, 2015August 23, 2015Kate Fort1 Comment

Here is the complaint.

This case mirrors the ongoing Doe v. Jesson case (where Mille Lacs defeated the preliminary injunction, and we are currently waiting for a decision on summary judgment). Filed after we wrote the ICWA Legal Defense memo discussing the other three ongoing cases, this case involves a voluntary adoption, the Oklahoma state ICWA, and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The arguments involve right to privacy, and due process and equal protection concerns.

ICWA Defense Project Memo on Recent Federal ICWA Cases

August 24, 2015September 3, 2015Kate Fort

Here.

In February 2015, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published its revisions to the Guidelines for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings. The new guidelines address areas of Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) non-compliance that have occurred over the past 36 years. In March 2015, the BIA announced its intent to advance further reform by proposing for the first time ever, legally binding federal regulations, Regulations for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings, to govern the implementation of ICWA in state courts and agencies. The BIA received over 2,100 public comments during the notice and comment period that closed mid- May. The BIA will review these comments and then promulgate final regulations, likely by early spring 2016. A network of ICWA opponents has responded to the reforms by filing multiple lawsuits challenging the guidelines and ICWA’s constitutionality.

The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), and the ICWA Appellate Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law—collectively known as the ICWA Defense Project—are working collaboratively to defend ICWA and the long overdue reforms to it introduced this year. This memo will summarize the pending litigation and describe some of the legal and communications strategies these partner organizations have developed to inform, advance, and unify a coordinated effort across Indian Country to respond to these attacks.

Also, here is the NICWA Board Resolution and
talking points for conversations with state Attorneys General.