Reunification and ICWA

 

READ HERE

montanafreepress.org

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👉The Biden administration has introduced plans for new data collection on how well states comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act, potentially resolving part of a federal court challenge on the subject. 

The new proposed elements are “critical to being able to assess whether states are in compliance with the provisions of the ICWA,” Angelique Day, an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, told Youth Services Insider. “ICWA can only fully be realized as the gold standard for child welfare if we are following it according to legislative intent.” 

Lummi Nation reimagines foster care for Indigenous families

To reconnect parents and children, the tribe opened a supportive family housing center.

• Elizabeth Amon |
  The Imprint / August 2, 2021
  
  

Sche’lang’en Village, located on the Lummi Reservation in Washington. (Sche’lang’en Village)

Several years ago, the Lummi Tribal Council told Diana Phair, the executive director of the tribe’s Housing Authority: “We have 200-some children in foster care. We need to bring our children home.” 

GOOD READ

Culturally appropriate foster care for Indigenous children coming

VIDEO June 21, 2021 

 

Melissa Patriquin of the Mnaasged Alternative Care program speaks in Muncey, Ont. in June 2021. (Bryan Bicknell / CTV News)

LONDON, ONT. -- On National Indigenous Peoples Day, a day that celebrates First Nations culture, there was a major announcement for Indigenous children and youth in Southwestern Ontario.

The Muncey-based Mnaasged Alternative Care program has secured a foster care license.

It means Indigenous children in the foster system can now find love and care in culturally appropriate environments, no longer solely under the care of the Children's Aid Society (CAS).

“The system is old, the framework just doesn’t work, and it’s not appropriate for Indigenous children and youth,” said Melissa Patriquin, Mnaasged’s director of Child and Family Services.

The agency will now take direct referrals from the CAS, and will work to match Indigenous children from First Nations communities across southern Ontario with caring foster families.

Currently, there are more than 100 Indigenous children in the catchment area that would benefit from the services of the agency.

Patriqin says the goal is to bring them closer to their cultural identity.

“I don’t think that there’s any Indigenous person who hasn’t been affected in some way, shape, or form by the inter-generational effects of residential schools, the '60s Scoop, child welfare. Indigenous people are so over-represented in the child welfare system right now.”

The agency also has a new headquarters on the Muncey reserve west of London. It’s equipped with various amenities like a healing lodge, arbour centres for ceremonies, and a playground.

It will also serve as an administrative and cultural hub for the agency, said Executive Director Mike George.

“This is a really significant piece for us because it helps us repatriate some of the children who were placed in non-Indigenous families. It will help us repartriate them back to their communities, and provide that additional connection to their communities, their elders, their clans, and their culture.”

Mnaasged is actively seeking foster families. Alternative care supervisor Kyliegh Alexander said they don’t have to be Indigenous.

Education and training that recognizes First Nations culture and supports children will be provided.

“Like every other child, right? Like they’re just looking for a home, they’re looking for care and love. They’re going to thrive when their needs are met and when their care is quality.”

Those interested in becoming a foster family can check here.

Related Stories

• 'Every Child Matters': Residential school survivor attends St. Thomas, Ont. walk
• City marks Indigenous Solidarity Day as Canada grapples with residential schools' legacy
• Teach residential school history in classes, says newly elected Ontario regional chief
• Bill to align Canadian law with UN Indigenous rights declaration passes to become law

 

Getting Serious about #ICWA in Minnesota

Series of Articles on ICWA in the Minnesota Star Tribune

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Kate Fort

Minnesota wrestles with a system that has put more American Indian children in foster care than any other state in the nation.

Part I here.

Elaine Brown lives in fear of child protection workers.

 

Part II here.

Charts on the foster care disparities in Minnesota here.

Small piece on Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center here.

Historic agreement gives tribe foster care control

Jurisdiction over child welfare to transfer from state to Tlingit and Haida Central Council

By LISA PHU | JUNEAU EMPIRE| March 3, 2016

When children are taken out of their homes due to neglect or abuse, they’re under the responsibility and jurisdiction of the State Office of Children’s Services. 

Now, through an agreement signed Wednesday night at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall between the State of Alaska and Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, the Central Council will be able to take over child welfare cases of tribal children.

Instead of going through the state court system, these cases will go through the tribal court system. Instead of state workers overseeing the cases, tribal case managers will work with families. Instead of the state licensing the foster homes, Central Council will recruit and license tribal foster homes and be reimbursed by the state for the cost of foster care placement.

“This truly is a government-to-government agreement that recognizes that tribes are uniquely and supremely and ultimately qualified to be able to meet the needs of tribal families,” said Valerie Davidson, Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner. “That’s not new. And quite frankly — if I may as an Alaska Native — we have known that for thousands of years.” 

Barbara Dude is a child welfare specialist with Central Council’s Tribal Family & Youth Services. She said parents trying to get their children back will have a better working relationship with a tribal entity than with the state, and be more successful at reunification. 

“Families are just more willing to work with us because we’re the tribal workers. They’re more willing to sit down with us and help their case plans,” Dude said.

She also noted that tribal court “is just a friendlier environment.”

President Richard Peterson said Central Council has been working toward the agreement for 16 years and thanked the Office of Children’s Services for working collaboratively. He said Alaska Native families continue to work through issues stemming from historical trauma and the agreement “will begin putting our families back together.”

Central Council will start by taking just a few Juneau cases from the state. Right now, 24 Tlingit and Haida children are in foster homes, the majority of which are in Juneau, according to the Office of Children’s Services.

Francine Eddy Jones, director of Central Council’s Tribal Family & Youth Services, said it’s important to be methodical and cautious.

“It’s a process of learning together — Office of Children’s Services, the tribe, the state court and tribal court — to figure out what that handoff looks like,” she said.

Jones said Central Council hopes to provide a lot of support and encouragement to families who’ve had children taken away and tribal foster families, many of whom don’t trust the state.

“It really means taking care of our own,” Jones said. “It means being responsible and respectful and honoring them with the values of the tribe, making sure we’re holding up those families whatever that situation is for why their children are removed, embrace them and provide them the support and services they need to get back on their feet, and hopefully be reunited with their children. That’s our commitment.”

This is only the second such agreement between the state and a tribe. The first was with the Tanana Chiefs Conference in 2013. 

• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.

Top Photo: After signing the agreement, Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Valerie Davidson takes a picture of Central Council President Richard Peterson doing the same. The signing ceremony took place at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Wednesday night.

Tiospaye #ICWA TASK FORCE 2nd annual meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Leland P. Morrill
Navajo Citizen/Santo Domingo Pueblo
Email: lelandpmorrill@gmail.com
Cell: 213-572-9124

PLEASE SHARE!

Publish on your Webpages, Blogs and Facebook page the following.

Los Angeles Foster Family Recruitment Event sponsored by:
The ICWA Task Force of Los Angeles and
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services American Indian Unit.
"Tiospaye"
 
Date: September 26,2015
Place: Cathedral Center of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (ECHO PARK)
Address: 840 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026
RSVP by September 18, 2015 at 626-938-1722

Bill aims to keep American Indian children with families

Archive Photo

LINCOLN, NE — While applying for her driver's license at age 16, Karen Hardenbrook saw her birth certificate and learned what her adoptive parents from Broken Bow never told her: she was born in Winnebago and her mother was a member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. As a baby, the state removed her from her biological grandmother's crowded home on the reservation.

Today Hardenbrook, 57, lives on the Omaha Reservation in Walthill. She's an enrolled member but at times still feels like an outsider.

"I had a wonderful, beautiful (adoptive) home. I couldn't have asked for anything more," Hardenbrook said. "But I still wish I would have never left the res. I would have learned to dance. I would have learned to sing the songs. Now when I get out to the arena, I have to watch everyone, at 57 years old, because I don't know the steps."

A bill slated for a committee vote this week in the Nebraska Legislature would further strengthen protections of cultural identities for children like Hardenbrook by engaging tribal government and extended family mediation before removing children from tribal homes.

In 1978, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act in response to what it deemed "a crisis of massive proportions." Between 25 percent and 35 percent of American Indian children were living in out-of-home placement, endangering the preservation of already dwindling American Indian tribes.

The federal law created standards that encouraged states to recognize the interests of Indian families and tribal governments when handling child custody issues. Nebraska adopted a nearly identical version in 1985.

"As sovereign entities, when one-third of the population gets taken out of your community, you won't have a tribe much longer," said Robert McEwen, attorney for legal nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed.

American Indian children represent just 2 percent of Nebraska's children but account for more than 5 percent of all children in out-of-home placement, one of the highest disparities in the nation, according to 2014 data from Nebraska's Foster Care Review Office.

The bill by Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln would explicitly define when social workers can remove Native American children from their homes, making it harder to separate families and break the cultural ties

Coash said Nebraska's 30-year-old child welfare laws are too hazy for courts and caseworkers to effectively implement the federal law. When children or one of their biological parents are tribe members, state and federal laws require social workers to make "active efforts" to keep Native American families together — but state law doesn't define "active efforts."

"The state has a responsibility to not only provide for safety, but to keep the cultural connections," Coash said.

Under the bill, caseworkers would first have to contact tribal leaders, consult with mediators and exhaust all family counseling and mediation options before forfeiting parental rights. The Department of Health and Human Services would have to document each step.

The bill also broadens the definition of "expert witnesses," who are required to testify in American Indian child custody cases.

Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of the Nebraska commission on Indian Affairs, said tribal culture and state standards often clash in the welfare system, contributing to high numbers of Native American foster children.

"A caseworker might say, 'That's too crowded, that's not a good thing for the family. The child might be better in this white family. They get their own bedroom and bathroom,'" gaiashkibos said. "But they're not with the people they look like, their family and their tribal family."

Only 135 of Nebraska's 2,663 licensed foster homes are recognized as Native American, according to a DHHS spokesman. Many children are placed with non-native families, effectively severing tribal ties, gaiashkibos said.

She acknowledged that in emergency situations, temporary out-of-home placement might be needed.

The bill specifies that if a child can't remain safely at home, custody preference should be given to a foster home or adoptive parents that can best preserve and grow a child's political, cultural and social relationship with his or her tribe.

The Department of Health and Human Services has not taken a position on the bill, a spokesman said.

The Judiciary Committee is expected to discuss advancing the bill on April 14, according to the Associated Press. The bill is LB566.

Standing Rock awarded grant for foster care, adoption programs #ICWA

FORT YATES, North Dakota — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota has been awarded a $300,000 federal grant to develop a foster care and adoption assistance program, The Associated Press announced today.
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R- ND) announced the grant on Thursday from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Republican senator says the program will help ensure that better systems and safeguards are in place to protect vulnerable children in the tribal court's care. He says the grant will support efforts to help children find "permanent, safe and loving homes" on the reservation, which straddles North Dakota and South Dakota.
The money can be used to develop data collection systems and agency and tribal court procedures. The tribe has two years to submit programs to HHS for approval.
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Two More South Dakota Lakota Tribes Advance Toward Their Own Foster Care Systems, Intending to Replace the State DSS System

by Native News Online Staff / 22 Aug 2014

“This is an important step for our tribe as we attempt to regain control of our children’s future and make sure they grow up with pride in their own culture and heritage...”- Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Chairman Michael Jandreau

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA — The Lakota people have taken another positive step toward preserving their cultural sovereignty and solving the persistent foster care crisis in the state as two more tribes have joined the movement to apply for available federal funding to plan their own tribal-run foster care system.
“The addition of Flandreau and Lower Brule Sioux Tribes to the growing list of South Dakota-based Lakota tribes applying for federal funding demonstrates that the goal of establishing independent foster care systems is within reach,” said Chase Iron Eyes, attorney for the Lakota People’s Law Project and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “The Lakota tribal governments have done their part, it is time for the United States government to meet its obligation to Indian Country. No more broken promises, no more unfulfilled agreements.”
The Lower Brule and Flandreau Sioux Tribes became the two latest tribal governments to complete their Title IV-E Federal Planning Grant Applications to fund the planning of their own foster care programs. The two tribes, joining a coalition of South Dakota tribes attempting to wrest control from scandal-wracked South Dakota, brings the total number of tribes to seven, with another tribe, Rosebud, already having received their planning grant.

“We want to make sure this historic solution is realized,” Chase Iron Eyes continued. “The people best situated to care for our children are our own families and extended family network, which we call Tiospaye.”

Native-American advocacy group specializing in federal grants pertaining to tribes, A Positive Tomorrow, has worked tirelessly alongside members of tribal governments to assist in the submission of the applications.
“This is an important step for our tribe as we attempt to regain control of our children’s future and make sure they grow up with pride in their own culture and heritage,” said Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Chairman Michael Jandreau. “We are pleased to be part of this sovereignty movement in South Dakota.”
The federal government has expressed a willingness to help South Dakota tribes assert their rights as set forth in federal legislation.
“The Indian Child Welfare Act is a very important statute and it was enacted for a very important reason,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn during the May 2013 ICWA Summit held in Rapid City, at which officials from South Dakota conspicuously did not attend. “It was designed to address a very real problem, and in South Dakota at least, the problem still seems to exist.”
The tribes have been prompted to run their own foster care institutions after a 2011 report by National Public Radio asserted that the South Dakota Department of Social Services repeatedly and persistently violates the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.
ICWA is federal legislation passed in 1978 and intended to give Native American tribes a strong voice in child custody issues with the ultimate aim of ensuring tribes rights to maintain and preserve their language and culture. ICWA mandates that Indian foster children be placed with relatives, extended relatives, or other tribal members in the country.
The NPR report asserted that 9 in ten native children were being placed into non-native homes in South Dakota by the DSS. This prompted tribal officials to identify ways to divert federal funding away from South Dakota’s social service agencies and transfer it into native foster care systems.
“We are losing our children to the system in South Dakota and sometimes in other states,” said Chairman Tony Reider from the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. “We may not ever see them again, and they will not know who they are. Our children are sacred, and we have many relatives capable of raising them, but the DSS almost always says ‘no’ to our people. In an historic effort, we are determined to qualify for federal funding and run our own Child and Family Services Programs.”
Furthermore, the report states that due to the designation of all Native children as “special needs” by the federal government, South Dakota financially benefits from the placement of Indian children in state-run foster care facilities. Almost all such facilities in South Dakota have become psychiatric institutions collecting approximately three times as much federal money per day as the foster care facilities.
The planning grant applications are being submitted for funding under the terms of the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, commonly referred to as the Baucus Act. The law introduced major changes to the Social Security Act, primarily in Section IV-E, regarding foster care and adoptions assistance payments to the states. This is one of the major changes that made it possible for federally recognized tribes to receive direct IV-E payments to support their own child and welfare programs without state intervention. Previously Section IV-E monies could only be given to state agencies.
The planning grant program under the Baucus Act can award individual planning grants up to $300,000 and has a total annual budget of $3 million. According to the Tribal Directory of the Bureau of Indian Affairs there are 566 federally recognized tribes. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe received a Baucus planning grant in 2013.

Along with Flandreau and Lower Brule, five more Sioux tribes are submitting applications under the Baucus Act this year: Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Standing Rock, Yankton and Pine Ridge. In total, eight out of the nine Lakota tribes in South Dakota have already received or have applied for the grants.

Tremendous progress is underway to protect future generations...Like prisoners of war, Rez Poverty is a crime that colonizers still use to take our children, poverty conditions they created and perpetuate... Trace

Tribes on child welfare: We can do it better

Archive photo

But ability to administer foster care has doubters in Indian Country

Jul. 27, 2013, Written by Steve Young

At issue

GRANTS: Members of the Lakota People’s Law Project, a nonprofit that advises Native Americans about Indian Child Welfare violations, say they have been talking to government officials in Washington about money for South Dakota’s nine tribes.
GOAL: Help tribes develop their own foster care and child protection programs.
DIVISION: Though the state says it would support such efforts, there are some involved in tribal child protection who question whether the tribes could successfully run those programs on their own.

Juanita Scherich remembers how they cut her hair, how they made her scrub and wash every day, as if a trim and a bath would take the “Indian” out of a 9-year-old child.
Though it was decades ago, Scherich can’t forget how no one in a string of Rapid City foster homes spoke her native language. How none of them prayed to tunkasila, great spirit-father of the Lakota. How no one offered her even a whiff of her tribal culture.
“I lost everything in 2½ years in foster care,” the Indian Child Welfare Act director for the Oglala Sioux Tribe says. “My language, my culture, I had to relearn it all. That wasn’t right.”
Today, she and tribal officials across South Dakota are prepared to change that. With 35 years of federal ICWA legislation on the books and 80 percent of Native children still showing up in white foster homes, the tribes insist they are ready to take over foster care and child protection services, and to keep more of their children on the reservations.
The key to accomplishing that, they say, is directly accessing federal dollars now being funneled through the state.
“If we had direct funding,” Scherich said, “we would see that more of our children are staying with relatives, staying with our own people.”
But how many federal dollars are they talking about? A National Public Radio series that aired in October 2011 suggested the state receives $100 million a year to subsidize its foster care program. The Coalition of Sioux Tribes for Children and Families and the Lakota People’s Law Project cited that number in a report to Congress in January.
Danny Sheehan, chief counsel for the Lakota People’s Law Project, a nonprofit that provides expertise to the Lakota about ICWA violations, suspects the amount is at least in the $56 million range.
“Federal money comes in now to the state under various provisions of Title IV of the Social Security Act,” Sheehan said. “Our best estimate is that 56 percent of the children in foster care are Native Americans. So we’re talking about a good percentage of that $56 million.”

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[I'm still writing more about HOW MUCH I HAVE CHANGED PART 4. This article is part of the research..Trace]