Challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act and Tribal Sovereignty
August 11, 2022, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT
Description:
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is regarded by experts in the field as the “gold standard” in child welfare best practice, creating much-needed reform on practices that separated Native children from their families. And it is still critically important today given the continued overrepresentation of Native children in the child welfare system due to systemic and intergenerational trauma and neglect, as well as structural bias.
Urgently, ICWA faces new, pressing challenges today from opponents who maliciously argue that the law is racist and unconstitutional because it creates a different set of rules for Native children. This is a blatant and intentional misunderstanding of tribal sovereignty, and an attempt to use ICWA as a backdoor to ultimately undermine the rights of tribes in areas like land, natural resources, and gaming.