NCJ Number
250683
Date Published
April 2017
Length
676 pages
Annotation
This Tribal Legal Code Resource is intended to be used by tribal leaders in the course of drafting new or amended tribal statutory provisions related to child dependency laws.
Abstract
The primary goal of this resource guide is to suggest how tribal dependency laws can be drafted in a way that provides safety and support for children in the context of tribal traditions and values, as well as certain Federal laws The provisions covered in this resource may be addressed in various parts of the tribal code; however, they are most likely to be found in the Children's Code, Juvenile Code, rules of court, and/or the rules of evidence. This resource guide refers to the dependency code and related codes as a "Children's Code." The guide is essentially an overview of the comparative laws and underlying policies that impact the well-being of children from three perspectives. One perspective pertains to tribal innovations in civil child dependency in compliance with the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act, and, where relevant, the Indian Child Welfare Act. The second perspective relates to Federal anti-violence and victim assistance legislation; and the third perspective is that of tribal law that promotes the well-being of children, including customs, traditions, and generally accepted practices. The guide is organized so that each section and each chapter can be used separately by a Code Development Team in discussions of amendments to a specific section of its code. The guide could also be used for a complete review and revision of laws related to dependency actions.