ICWA BRIEFING FOCUS ON NATIVE CHILDREN
On September 20, 2022, social workers, advocates, and Hill
staffers gathered in Room HV201 in the Capitol Visitor Center to discuss
how Congress might respond if the United States Supreme Court rules the
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is unconstitutional. Co-hosted by CRISP
and the National Foster Youth Initiative, the briefing was held in
conjunction with the Congressional Social Work Caucus and the
Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. Congresswoman Barbara Lee
(D-CA-13), chair of the Social Work Caucus, provided a video greeting to
set the tone for the briefing.
CRISP Legislative
Director Angelique Day, an associate professor at the University
of Washington School of Social Work and a descendant of the Ho Chunk
nation, consisted of Kathryn Isom-Clause, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development; Kristen
Torres, MSW, child welfare legislative aide for Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-27);
and Sonia Begay, a member of the Navajo Nation and grandparent
caregiver who provided compelling testimony about her experiences with
ICWA during the time she sought parental custody of her grandchildren
who attended the briefing.
The briefing began with opening
remarks from CRISP director Dr. Charles E. Lewis Jr., followed by
remarks from Rebecca Louve Yao, executive director of the National
Foster Youth Institute, a nonprofit organization founded by Rep. Bass
to
 |
| From left: Kathryn Isom-Clause, Bureau of Indian Affairs; Dr. Angelique Day, Sonia Begay, and Dr. Charles E. Lewis Jr. |
revolutionize the foster care
system. Camille Loya provided remarks on behalf of Rep. Bass.
The most
compelling testimony was delivered by Sonia Begay. She told her story
about how her oldest son was struggling with substance abuse and
temporarily lost custody of his three children to the Kentucky foster
care system. She was not granted custody of the children and was
appalled when she arrived at the state office and her grandson’s hair
had been cut. His hair had never been cut before because of traditional
culture. She said it reminded her of the photos she had seen of native
children being taken into boarding schools in the 1940s and 50s. His
hair had been cut within the span of 12 hours of him going into state
care. She then contacted the Navajo Nation social services and the
Kentucky social services refused to grant her custody despite the Navajo
representative citing the need to comply with ICWA. She said the trauma
of those events still haunts her. She was not living on the
reservation, so she did not have access to local resources but turned to
organizations and social workers seeking help and guidance. She discovered
bruises on the back and buttocks of her youngest granddaughter. When
social services saw the injuries, they accuse the grandmother of abuse.
The tribe went into action, sending a legal team to help get the
children released to their grandmother. The process took more than nine
months. Eventually, she received a formal apology from Kentucky social
services. She credits the ICWA for allowing her to take custody and care
for her grandchildren.
The focus of the briefing was to discuss how Congress might
respond should the Supreme Court declare ICWA to be unconstitutional.
Several bills have been introduced in the House of Representatives to
protect the well-being of Native American families: H.R.1688, the Native American Child Protection Act
was introduced on March 21 by Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-7), Sharice
Davids, and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and passed in the House on May 12,
2021; H.R.4348, the Tribal Family Fairness Act, was introduced by Rep. Bass on July 7, 2021; and H.R.8954, the Strengthening Tribal Families Act, was introduced by Reps. Judy Chu, Don Bacon (R-NE-2), Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36), and Tom Cole (R-OK-4) on September 23, 2022.
On November 9, 2022, the Supreme Court heard Brackeen v. Haaland
and three other cases challenging the constitutionality of the Indian
Child Welfare Act passed in 1978 giving tribal governments primary
jurisdiction over the removal of Native American children in custody,
foster care, adoption cases, and their placement in appropriate homes. The Fifth Court of Appeals issued a divided ruling in April 2021. Defenders of ICWA point to a report recently released by the U.S. Department of the Interior detailing atrocities committed at boarding schools against Indigenous children as justification for needing ICWA’s federal protections.
The
Department of Interior report showed that between 1819 and 1969, the
United States operated or supported 408 boarding schools across 37
states, including 21 schools in Alaska and 7 schools in Hawaii. The
report described the boarding school environment, housing Native
American children as young as four years old, as fostering “rampant
physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; disease; malnourishment;
overcrowding; and lack of health care.”
Thirty-three Senators and 54 Members of the House of Representatives filed an amicus brief
in support of the constitutionality of Congress’s authority to
legislate the affairs of Native American tribes and their people and
urged the Supreme Court to “uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act’s
constitutionality in all respects.” Numerous amici briefs have been
filed supporting ICWA’s constitutionality, including briefs by several
tribal nations and the American Civil Liberties Union.
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