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American Indian Child Resource Center

INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT

Historically, American Indians have struggled to maintain their cultural and traditional ways. During the late 1800s, Indian children were placed at Indian Boarding Schools in an attempt to assimilate them into mainstream society. Most of these children were not allowed contact with their families and were even punished for speaking their native languages. Physical discipline and sexual abuse experienced by the children at the boarding schools filtered into the American Indian culture when they later returned to their families as adults.

In the 1950s, many American Indians were moved from reservations into cities through the Relocation Program initiated by the Federal Government. However, they were given no assistance in adjusting to the stresses of urban life. They felt a great sense of loss with the move to urban areas. A combination of the Boarding School experience as well as urban life adjustment difficulties contributed to the breakup of many Indian families.

In the 1970s, 92.5% of adopted American Indian children in California had been placed with non-Indian families. This ratio was six times more than that of any other minority. The adoption rate for Indian children was 8.4 times greater than that of non-Indian children. There were 2.7 times as many Indian children in foster care than non-Indian children. These statistics revealed that the American Indian family was being separated at a rate greater than any other culture in the United States. Most of these children were not given the opportunity to grow up with a sense of their heritage and, therefore, felt abandoned and lost. American Indians were losing their identity.

Family
In response to this rapidly growing loss of identity, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed by the federal government in 1978. Public Law 95-608 reads: "The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of this Nation to protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their families and the placement of such children in foster or adoptive homes which will reflect the unique values of Indian culture, and by providing for assistance to Indian tribes in the operation of child and family service programs." The ICWA states that whenever an American Indian child is removed from his or her family, active efforts must be made for the child to be placed with extended family, a tribal member, or in an Indian foster home, in that order.

In 1984, 80% of American Indian infant adoptions into non-Indian homes were made without notification to the child's tribe or the Secretary of the Interior. Six years since its development, the ICWA still was not understood, was not being implemented correctly or was simply ignored. The problem exists today; and with the time-frame of child adoption procedures being accelerated under President Clinton's new adoption policies, the risk of Indian children being permanently removed from their families, their tribes, and their culture continues to increase.

Currently, the BIA provides funding to every tribe at varying degrees of support based on the child population figures turned in by the tribes themselves. In California, the BIA has worked hard to address the training needs of the counties and state courts about ICWA and use a variety of methods to address this by sharing resources with the tribes, federal and state agencies and private non profits like AICRC.

If you would like to assume a role in helping to sustain the first people of this land, please send a contribution today.

As stated in the ICWA, "There is no resource more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children."

The purpose of the ICWA Program is to assist Indian youth and their families in the enforcement of the ICWA by helping establish familial linkages, referring families to culturally-appropriate resources, providing direct support services, and advocating in court. We want to keep Indian children safe while preserving the rights of American Indian families, providing families with culturally-effective services so they can improve their level of functioning and stay together.

522 Grand Avenue | Oakland, CA 94610 | Phone (510) 208-1870 | Fax (510) 208-1886 | email: fostercare@aicrc.org