Atty Gen Eric Holder announces #ICWA INITIATIVE today

Attorney General Eric Holder just announced the launch of an ICWA initiative to address ICWA noncompliance and halt the unnecessary and illegal removal of Indian children from their families. The initiative mirrors the recommendations NICWA has made in countless pieces of testimony submitted, policy briefings provided to officials, and hundreds of hours working behind the scenes, building on the relationships and reputation we have carefully nurtured in over 30 years of working on Capitol Hill. We use our invitation to the policymaking table to advocate tirelessly, ensuring YOUR stories and concerns are shared with those at the highest level. Chief among these been reports of widespread noncompliance with ICWA. NICWA has listened to you, and called for accountability for those who have disrupted and damaged our families. We applaud today's announcement. Your voices have been heard. Here is an excerpt from today's announcement by Holder: Today, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Justice is launching a new initiative to promote compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Under this important effort, we are working to actively identify state-court cases where the United States can file briefs opposing the unnecessary and illegal removal of Indian children from their families and their tribal communities. We are partnering with the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services to make sure that all the tools available to the federal government are used to promote compliance with this important law. And we will join with those departments, and with tribes and Indian child-welfare organizations across the country, to explore training for state judges and agencies; to promote tribes' authority to make placement decisions affecting tribal children; to gather information about where the Indian Child Welfare Act is being systematically violated; and to take appropriate, targeted action to ensure that the next generation of great tribal leaders can grow up in homes that are not only safe and loving, but also suffused with the proud traditions of Indian cultures.  The full speech can be read here.