The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978: A Review of the Literature
Introduction
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, states that Congress assumes the responsibility to protect and preserve Indian tribes and their children (ICWA, 1978). The act acknowledges federally recognized tribes as having sovereignty and dictates that tribes must be involved in decisions about the welfare of Indian children who are members of their tribe. However, this social problem continues today as American Indian children are still being removed from their homes at alarming rates (Bussey & Lucero, 2013). This review seeks to examine the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and answer the question, is the ICWA successful as a policy without supplemental state polices? …show more content…
government stripped Native communities of their culture and traditional systems of child protection. These factors include the practice of involving extended family and community in parenting decisions and the use of communal shaming instead of physical punishment as a form of remediation. This article also suggests that the oppressive practices enforced by the government left Indian communities vulnerable to disease, poverty and substance abuse which led to increase rates of child abuse and neglect (Cross, et al., 2000). Additionally, they propose that Native American parenting practices could be interpreted as a form of neglect due to cultural differences between client and agency. Thus, there is a notion that lack of cultural awareness by private and public agencies is contributing to the large number of Indian children removed from their …show more content…
Tittle II of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 details that funds are distributed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be allotted in the form of grants to tribal departments and urban Indian organizations to protect and preserve Native families (ICWA, 1978). Unfortunately, some agencies and tribal nation’s that do not receive grants or have limited resources to train employees have difficulties abiding by the ICWA regulations (Leake, et al., 2012). Leake, et al’s., study also found that 77% of tribal departments would like a culturally embedded practice model but do not have the resources (2012). The article also suggests that the chronic understaffing, high caseloads, limited program funding and few community partners were all issues for tribal welfare agencies (Leake, et al.,
Introduction
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, states that Congress assumes the responsibility to protect and preserve Indian tribes and their children (ICWA, 1978). The act acknowledges federally recognized tribes as having sovereignty and dictates that tribes must be involved in decisions about the welfare of Indian children who are members of their tribe. However, this social problem continues today as American Indian children are still being removed from their homes at alarming rates (Bussey & Lucero, 2013). This review seeks to examine the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and answer the question, is the ICWA successful as a policy without supplemental state polices? …show more content…
government stripped Native communities of their culture and traditional systems of child protection. These factors include the practice of involving extended family and community in parenting decisions and the use of communal shaming instead of physical punishment as a form of remediation. This article also suggests that the oppressive practices enforced by the government left Indian communities vulnerable to disease, poverty and substance abuse which led to increase rates of child abuse and neglect (Cross, et al., 2000). Additionally, they propose that Native American parenting practices could be interpreted as a form of neglect due to cultural differences between client and agency. Thus, there is a notion that lack of cultural awareness by private and public agencies is contributing to the large number of Indian children removed from their …show more content…
Tittle II of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 details that funds are distributed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be allotted in the form of grants to tribal departments and urban Indian organizations to protect and preserve Native families (ICWA, 1978). Unfortunately, some agencies and tribal nation’s that do not receive grants or have limited resources to train employees have difficulties abiding by the ICWA regulations (Leake, et al., 2012). Leake, et al’s., study also found that 77% of tribal departments would like a culturally embedded practice model but do not have the resources (2012). The article also suggests that the chronic understaffing, high caseloads, limited program funding and few community partners were all issues for tribal welfare agencies (Leake, et al.,