ICWA

Soon central South Dakota’s wind-swept prairies will be home to a new village — one that aims to create a community on the Cheyenne River Reservation for children who would otherwise be sent off the reservation to far-flung foster homes.

Child welfare is a complicated and varied system. Most people, who have not worked in the field of child protection, foster care and adoption — the child welfare system — are not familiar with the many services and practices involved.

We’re counting down 10 of the biggest stories The Imprint published in 2019. Each day, we’ll connect readers with a few links to our coverage on a big story from this past year.

The Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law outlining adoption and foster care regulations for American Indian/Alaska Native children in the United States, turns 41 on Nov. 8, 2019.

ICWA, as the law is commonly known, has faced dozens of legal challenges over its lifetime and finds supporters and opponents both within and outside Native communities.

Today a federal circuit court reversed a lower court’s ruling by affirming the validity of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a law passed in 1978 to protect Native American families and children when nearly a third of Indian children were being removed from their parents and placed mostly with white families.

When I was 22, I became pregnant after a one-night fling. I immediately knew I could not raise a child on my own. The father had left for basic training and, by the time I found out I was expecting, he was weeks into his new life.

As his friend lay dying, Dennis Carlson sat beside his bed and listened to him one last time.

The two men had climbed mountains together, fought for justice in dusty, forgotten places, and talked for hours over strong coffee and warm food.

There was an uncommon lag in the action in Courtroom 3B of the Lincoln Hall of Justice, the building where most of Wayne County’s child welfare and juvenile justice decisions are made.

 The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was a response to alarmingly high numbers of Indian children being unnecessarily removed from their families and communities. Congress understood the best interest of Indian children were not served by state and private agencies and state courts, and that led to exceedingly high numbers of out-of-home placements, many unnecessary, and inflicting long term damage to Indian children, families, and communities.