NCJ Number
150041
Journal
State Court Journal Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: (Summer 1994) Pages: 17-26
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the reasons for the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the history of the law, the statistics that led to its enactment, State implementation, the role of courts, recordkeeping, and recommendations for the future.
Abstract
The law establishes a Federal policy that where possible, an Indian child should remain in the Indian community and that Indian child welfare determinations not be based on a white middle-class standard. The ICWA gives tribal courts exclusive jurisdiction in child welfare proceedings involving Indian children living on a reservation. Statistics that led to the passage of the law revealed that several times as many Indian children as non-Indian children were in adoption or foster care, often in non-Indian homes. Despite the law, some State courts have actively avoided the ICWA, while others have encountered difficulties in their efforts to comply. New data, additional funding to tribes to support existing ICWA programs or fund new ICWA programs, cooperative problemsolving, and strengthening of tribal-State relations are all needed to support the ICWA's goal of protecting Indian children. Notes