Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978: a
Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978: A Proposal for Change
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 was to reduce the number of Native American children entering foster care and strengthen the families of Native American people. The three major goals of ICWA are to: 1) eliminate the need to remove Indian children from their families, both nuclear and extended, because of cultural bias and ignorance; 2) to assure that Indian children who need to be removed for their own protection be placed in foster and adoptive homes that reflect their unique culture and background; and 3) encourage tribal court adjudication of child custody proceedings involving Indian children (Jones 1995; Public Law No. 25-608). The goals of the ICWA are great in that they seek to address the preservation of Native American
Indian families however there many barriers that hinder the effective implementation and delivery of ICWA. Barriers exist on the federal, state, county and tribal levels. The four major areas that need to be addressed to implement an effective policy are 1) the lack of accessible funding from federal; 2) the jurisdiction issues; 3) lack of knowledge ICWA and 4) the lack of a universal service model (Cross, 2006; Jones, 2000).
Proposed Amendments to Improve Implementation of ICWA
1. Lack of Funding
The ICWA in concept is remarkable, in that is seeks to preserve Native American families however in order for the policy to be most effective the barriers above needed to be addressed.
In this paper, I will seek to develop a proposal that will outline the changes that should be made in order to maximize the effectiveness and service delivery of the policy. Currently, the ICWA has not impaired the rate of removal of Native American children from their homes because the
ICWA does not provide sufficient funding to provide services for Native American families
(Jones, 2000). The ICWA is funded federally and then administered by the states
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 was to reduce the number of Native American children entering foster care and strengthen the families of Native American people. The three major goals of ICWA are to: 1) eliminate the need to remove Indian children from their families, both nuclear and extended, because of cultural bias and ignorance; 2) to assure that Indian children who need to be removed for their own protection be placed in foster and adoptive homes that reflect their unique culture and background; and 3) encourage tribal court adjudication of child custody proceedings involving Indian children (Jones 1995; Public Law No. 25-608). The goals of the ICWA are great in that they seek to address the preservation of Native American
Indian families however there many barriers that hinder the effective implementation and delivery of ICWA. Barriers exist on the federal, state, county and tribal levels. The four major areas that need to be addressed to implement an effective policy are 1) the lack of accessible funding from federal; 2) the jurisdiction issues; 3) lack of knowledge ICWA and 4) the lack of a universal service model (Cross, 2006; Jones, 2000).
Proposed Amendments to Improve Implementation of ICWA
1. Lack of Funding
The ICWA in concept is remarkable, in that is seeks to preserve Native American families however in order for the policy to be most effective the barriers above needed to be addressed.
In this paper, I will seek to develop a proposal that will outline the changes that should be made in order to maximize the effectiveness and service delivery of the policy. Currently, the ICWA has not impaired the rate of removal of Native American children from their homes because the
ICWA does not provide sufficient funding to provide services for Native American families
(Jones, 2000). The ICWA is funded federally and then administered by the states
References: Cross, Suzanne. (2006). Indian Family Exception Doctrine: Still Losing Children Despite the Indian Child Welfare Act. Child Welfare, 85 (4), 671-690. Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, Public Law No. 25-608, Sections 1901-1963. Jansson, B. (2008). Becoming an Effective Policy Advocate, From Policy Practice to Social Justice. California: Brooks/Cole Jones, B.J. (2000). The Indian Child Welfare Act: A Pilot Study of Compliance in North Dakota. National Indian Child Welfare Association.