State Spotlight: ICWA Conference teaches requirements regarding custody of Native American children

From ABC News Mississippi:

Decisions about placement of Native American children from troubled families belong in tribal court, not state courts, experts on federal law told participants at the twelfth annual Indian Child Welfare Act Conference.

Three Native American attorneys who are experts in the history and application of the Indian Child Welfare Act, ICWA, spoke to nearly 200 people on Aug. 28 at the Silver Star Convention Center, Pearl River Resort at Choctaw. Social workers, judges, court staff, tribal officials and other professionals who deal with Native American children in a Youth Court setting come together annually for the conference that educates about the steps which must be taken when social services workers, law enforcement officers and the judiciary encounter a child who may be Native American. The conference is hosted by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in collaboration with the Mississippi Judicial College, the Mississippi Administrative Office of Courts and the state Department of Child Protection Services.

Sheldon Spotted Elk, Senior Director of Judicial and National Engagement at Casey Family Programs, the nation’s largest private foundation focused on foster care and improving the child welfare system, told conference participants that when there is reason to believe that a child is Native American, first steps are to make inquiry about ancestry, and to notify the tribe so that the tribe may intervene. “Make sure those things happen fast,” he said. “Due diligence is really critical to your practice.”

The Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services’ policy is to immediately contact tribal officials. Ta’Shia Gordon, an attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel for the CPS, said, “When we receive a report on the hotline, if there is reason to believe this is an Indian child, inquiry begins. Upon contact with the family, inquiry begins. We work diligently.”

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