Indian Child Welfare
...3
Tribal Placement History
. 3
Explanation of the Indian Child Welfare Act
4
Explanation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act
.. 5
Adoption Statistic's Figure
. 6
Conclusion
8
References
9
Indian Child Welfare
Can the Federal government, State government, and sovereign nations effectively mesh their practices and policies to adequately meet the safety and placement needs of American Indian Children? The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was made a federal law in 1978 after many years of political struggles between Native American Indian tribal leaders, state agencies, various church groups and court systems.
"By passing the law Congress hoped to prevent the continuing abuses of power by state agencies, the courts, and various church groups in the
disruption of Indian families by enacting procedures for the removal and
foster placement of Indian children and defining the roles and
responsibilities of authority." (Matheson, 1996, p.233).
The Indian Child Welfare Act brought with it the hope that the law would protect Indian communities, tribes, and families against further disintegration of their traditional systems.
Native American Indians have experienced massive losses of lives, land, and culture from Caucasian contact and colonization resulting in a long legacy of chronic trauma and unresolved grief across generations. Congress has vacillated between two conflicting themes: self-government for tribes and assimilation of the reservations into the existing framework of state and local government. Removal of children from Native American family and culture for assimilation into the dominant mainstream society- children were placed in...
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