Indian Child Welfare Act Research Paper
Indian Child Welfare Act
Jessica McIntyre
University of North Dakota
SWK442 Social Policy
Kim Becker, LCSW
November 9, 2014
Introduction
Historically, Native American tribes have struggled to keep their unique culture identities. This is largely due to the actions made by the federal and state governments as a result of ethnocentrism and indifference. In order to maintain cultural identity, generational traditions must continue from parents to their children and their children’s children. It is the very essence of how culture lives on in families and generations (Basic, 2004). From the time of the 1800’s, the Boarding School Movement, backed by the Federal Government, began the attempted cultural annihilation of the Native …show more content…
The bill was then reported by the committee November 3, 1977, and passed the Senate on November 4, 1977. The vote was not recorded, in either the House or the Senate, so no record of the individual’s votes was ever made. On October 14, 1978 the bill passed the House with changes and the Senate agreed to those changes the same day. The bill was then signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on November 8, 1978. The Indian Child Welfare act was sponsored by South Dakota Democratic Senator James Abourek, who was a strong advocate for the passing of the bill. The Indian Child Welfare Act became the law numbered Pub L. 95-608. ("Bill Summary & Status 95th Congress (1977 - 1978) S.1214", …show more content…
The act only applies to four specific custody cases proceedings, which are a foster care placement, a pre-adoptive placement, an adoption or a termination of parental rights. All of these categories, the main element is the loss of custody of the child. ICWA therefore fails to include many important cases, which are therefore handled by the state courts. Some examples of those cases include custody of Indian children in the case of a divorce, the state’s ability to intervene in homes as preventative measure, and the power of states to move or institutionalize Native children on the grounds of juvenile delinquency. It only applies to the direct removal of custody of Native children. Therefore a child becomes subject to ICWA only after removal from the home. Besides life-threatening conditions, effective social welfare agencies are in charge of support services for weeks, months, or even years before the removal of the child is unavoidable. ICWA does not require that there be formal participation in case planning by tribal or urban Indian social welfare agencies (Wunder,
Jessica McIntyre
University of North Dakota
SWK442 Social Policy
Kim Becker, LCSW
November 9, 2014
Introduction
Historically, Native American tribes have struggled to keep their unique culture identities. This is largely due to the actions made by the federal and state governments as a result of ethnocentrism and indifference. In order to maintain cultural identity, generational traditions must continue from parents to their children and their children’s children. It is the very essence of how culture lives on in families and generations (Basic, 2004). From the time of the 1800’s, the Boarding School Movement, backed by the Federal Government, began the attempted cultural annihilation of the Native …show more content…
The bill was then reported by the committee November 3, 1977, and passed the Senate on November 4, 1977. The vote was not recorded, in either the House or the Senate, so no record of the individual’s votes was ever made. On October 14, 1978 the bill passed the House with changes and the Senate agreed to those changes the same day. The bill was then signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on November 8, 1978. The Indian Child Welfare act was sponsored by South Dakota Democratic Senator James Abourek, who was a strong advocate for the passing of the bill. The Indian Child Welfare Act became the law numbered Pub L. 95-608. ("Bill Summary & Status 95th Congress (1977 - 1978) S.1214", …show more content…
The act only applies to four specific custody cases proceedings, which are a foster care placement, a pre-adoptive placement, an adoption or a termination of parental rights. All of these categories, the main element is the loss of custody of the child. ICWA therefore fails to include many important cases, which are therefore handled by the state courts. Some examples of those cases include custody of Indian children in the case of a divorce, the state’s ability to intervene in homes as preventative measure, and the power of states to move or institutionalize Native children on the grounds of juvenile delinquency. It only applies to the direct removal of custody of Native children. Therefore a child becomes subject to ICWA only after removal from the home. Besides life-threatening conditions, effective social welfare agencies are in charge of support services for weeks, months, or even years before the removal of the child is unavoidable. ICWA does not require that there be formal participation in case planning by tribal or urban Indian social welfare agencies (Wunder,