A coalition of organizations dedicated to holding our country’s child welfare system accountable sent the following letters to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, requesting that they support the bipartisan Strengthening Tribal Families Act of 2022 (H.R. 8954), which will ensure child welfare agencies make active efforts to maintain Native American children’s connection to their homes, families, communities, and culture.
Excerpt from the letter:
Currently, there is no federal agency that has been tasked with ensuring and supporting state and local child welfare agencies’ compliance with ICWA standards. The bipartisan Strengthening Tribal Families Act would grant such responsibility to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by tying the ICWA requirements to a federal funding stream, Title IV-B of the Social Security Act. We anticipate that empowering HHS to assist child welfare agencies in their ICWA implementation will result in more Native American children remaining connected to their families of origin, extended family, and culture when they encounter the child welfare system.