Description

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Now fully revised and updated, The Indian Child Welfare Act Handbook is a one-of-a-kind guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. The ICWA was enacted to ameliorate the problem of the massive removal of Native American children from their homes by both state welfare agencies and private agencies and to ensure that those children, once removed, would be placed in homes that reflect their cultures and traditions. This guide examines case law from courts around the country -- it is an issue not confined to reservations and their border towns.

There have been many legal changes since publication of the Second Edition, including what is arguably the most important development since ICWA was enacted 40 years ago. In 2016, the Department of the Interior issued ICWA regulations, the first time that regulations were issued pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. This updated edition incorporates the provisions of those regulations and their impact on the various procedural and substantive requirements of the ICWA.

Case law in both the state and federal courts continues to evolve, and this edition examines hundreds of new decisions, including only the second US Supreme Court case interpreting the ICWA, as well as new state versions of the ICWA that expand upon some of the protections of the federal law.

The Indian Child Welfare Act Handbook continues to provide a comprehensive source to assist lawyers, social workers, counselors, and others whose professions and interests involve them with Native American children. To provide this much-needed practical guidance, information covered in this Third Edition includes:

• The history and foundation of ICWA
• How the act is applied and what provisions are covered
• Jurisdictional provisions Procedural requirements
• Placement provisions
• Collateral challenges to ICWA determinations
• Funding of ICWA programs

Appendices include implementation guidelines, state codes and court rules addressing Indian child welfare, a listing of Indian entities recognized and eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, and sample forms.

About the Author

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Kelly Gaines-Stoner (Cherokee) is the director of the Native American Legal Resource Center at Oklahoma City University School of Law and is also director of Clinical Programs. She previously directed the Native American Law Project and taught at the University of North Dakota School of Law for more than eight years. Mark C. Tilden (Navajo) is a partner in the law firm of Tilden Toelupe LLC in Boulder, Colorado, where he represents tribal governments and Native peoples with an emphasis on general counsel representation, tribal governance, federal recognition, tribal housing, Indian gaming law and economic development, legislative advocacy, and Indian child welfare and protection services law. Jack F. Trope is a Senior Director in Indian Child Welfare Programs at Casey Family Programs in Denver, Colorado, where he works on national and local initiatives aimed at promoting compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act, increasing tribal access to the Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Program and improving child welfare outcomes for children and families in state and tribal systems.