Adoption Illusions and Stockholm Syndrome

By Trace A. DeMeyer

 

"...I’ve been thinking about this concept for a long time. Adopters, when it comes right down to it, count on Stockholm Syndrome. Children who don’t succumb are labelled RAD.
Whenever I encounter an infertile woman so desperate to be a mother that she’ll bring home a stranger’s baby and force it to live in her fantasy, I always secretly wonder what she would do if she were single and desperate to be married.
Would she drag some strange man home and force him to watch the Notebook and cuddle? And if she did, would society think it was beautiful and precious?  Or would they think she was delusional and dangerous?  Rhetorical question, of course.  But why? Why is what is clearly a crime between adults viewed in such an overwhelmingly positive way when one of the parties is a child?..."  - Renee Musgrove 

 

This comment by Renee has been in my head for over a year and I finally did research on Stockholm Syndrome!

 

What was legally thrust upon us as adoptees is an illusion/fantasy, right?  From babyhood, we are supposed to pretend these are our only parents -- years pass and if they raised us, they ARE our parents. They are the only people we know that intimately so we call them mom and dad. We don't know anything else. Of course, years pass...

 

Then one day you wake up and think, "What about my ancestry, what about my medical history?" and you start to feel despondent since you can't ask your "parents" since you found out they get upset when you ask about your identity (We chose you, you're ours...) -- and even if you do ask, too often they know absolutely nothing. Why is that?

 

Eventually you realize that you are really not "their" child. You're not related in any physical sense or biology.  Then the adoptee realizes and finds out quickly enough that lawmakers (and your adoptive parents) are on the side of secrecy - that they don't want you to know who you are and they DEMAND privacy for the mother who created you.  REALLY?

On my other blog, I wrote about the ADOPTION EXPERIMENT and then my friend Cully Ray did a guest post about Stockholm Syndrome: which is when you are abducted and start to identify with your captors.

 

Cully wrote:

As do Stockholm Syndrome victims, these Adoptees have great difficulty identifying and expressing their feelings, tragically some are unable to go on with their lives.
Some of the effects that are seen in adoptees and foster children who are objectified by their adoptive parents, foster care givers, and/or communities and peers are:

* Denial of actions by the adoptive parents or foster caregivers that make the child feel inadequate or physically hurt.
* Co-dependency
* Substance abuse
* Minimizing their feelings – self-sacrifice
* Disassociation with the idea of natural family or parent-child relationships
* Failure to make realistic relationships in both personal and professional life
* Internalizing – blame and guilt for things they have/had no control over
* Over achieving – fear of not being “good enough”
* Anger/Rage/Overwhelming depression often triggered by birthdays or celebrations
* Suicide

No matter how much I write and think about this - we come back to the lawmakers still demanding sealed adoptions and secrecy again and again. What about you? Do you think they are delusional?

I will be back and posting more in June... Trace

UN report on Canada’s treatment of aboriginal people in spotlight UPDATE

UPDATE: If you want a copy download it here

Canada saw and commented on a ‘preliminary’ version of the UN report

UN special rapporteur James Anaya says confirms he will publish on Monday his findings on the conditions facing aboriginals in Canada following a nine-day cross-country visit last fall. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

By Susana Mas, CBC News May 11, 2014

UN aboriginal report due Monday 3:00

The United Nations special envoy on the rights of indigenous people confirms he will publish on Monday his findings on the conditions in Canada's aboriginal communities, following a nine-day cross-country visit last fall.
“The report will be made public on Monday,” James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, told CBC News in an email on Saturday.
Anaya’s initial assessment of the conditions facing aboriginals in Canada was grim.

• RCMP confirm report of more than 1,000 murdered aboriginal women
• First Nations education act 'on hold,' minister's office says
• Shawn Atleo the pragmatist couldn't reconcile opposing First Nations styles

“From all I have learned, I can only conclude that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country," the UN fact-finder said last October.
Monday’s UN report comes at a fragile time for relations between the federal government and First Nations.
The government put “on hold” its prized but controversial First Nations education bill following the sudden resignation of Shawn Atleo as national chief for the Assembly of First Nations.
Bill C-33 will stay on hold until the AFN “clarifies” its position on the bill which it is expected to do during a special assembly of national chiefs in Ottawa on May 27.

‘Preliminary’ report

The UN report will not come entirely as a surprise to the federal government which had an opportunity to see an earlier copy of it.
Anaya told CBC News that as per the rules and procedures set out by the UN Human Rights Council, the federal government was given a chance to see and comment on an earlier version of the report.
“Canada was given the opportunity to see a confidential, preliminary version of the report, and it did submit to me comments, which I took into account in finalizing the report,” Anaya said in an email to CBC News on Saturday.
Otherwise, the report “remains confidential until finalized and made public,” Anaya said.
Last fall, the UN envoy also urged the federal government to:

• not "rush" forward with the tabling of a First Nations education bill
• “re-initiate discussions” with aboriginal leaders to develop a process and ultimately come up with an education bill “that addresses aboriginal concerns and incorporates aboriginal view points”
• launch a "comprehensive and nationwide" inquiry into the case of missing and murdered aboriginal women
• extend the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The federal government introduced Bill C-33 one month ago following what it said was extensive consultations with First Nations which began in December 2012.
But as recently as two weeks ago, half a dozen chiefs came to Ottawa vowing to scrap the bill after complaining the government never consulted them. The two sides appear to differ on what constitutes a duty to consult.
While the government has refused to launch a national inquiry into the case of missing and murdered aboriginal women, the RCMP said this month there are about 1,186 recorded incidents by police of aboriginal homicides and unresolved missing women investigations. That report is expected to be released soon.
The federal government extended the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by a year, until June 2015, so that it can complete its work. An Ontario court ordered the government in 2013 to turn over all residential school documents.
Anaya’s term as special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples comes to a close at the end of the month.
The UN Human Rights Council confirmed on May 8 that Vicky Tauli-Corpuz will replace Anaya beginning June 1.

The New Normal: DNA

By Trace A. DeMeyer

Patricia and I are still finishing up the new anthology CALLED HOME, very important history as a collection of adoptee narratives and the historical truths about adoption in Indian Country.  These voices of adoptees are at the heart of what I do. They are the reason there is a blog AMERICAN INDIAN ADOPTEES.

Right now Karen Vigneault and I are working with about 20 adoptees who are trying to find their families. Because of the adoption laws in the USA, we are seeing the “New Normal” for adoptees is having a DNA test.  They have no choice with the laws not allowing adoptees to have access to our own names, our parent’s names and our tribal nations, and we are still denied our basic rights as human beings and citizens of sovereign nations.

Our adoptive parents who raised us may or may not realize that we NEED information and our ancestry and medical background.  (An adoptee can love more than one set of parents and there is no need to panic!) Adoptees tell me they are afraid to search because of their adoptive parents! That fear has to stop because if you wait, you may never get to meet your mother or father!

One of the adoptees in the new anthology talks about finding new cousins who are trying to figure out who her mother is.

This is the new normal. This is not right but because of the adoption industry and their billion dollar earnings, we adoptees are still at the bottom of the totem pole as far as our rights.

I don’t know how many times I have said to an adoptee do not delay your search. If you do get a name or phone number, make the call. Have a friend with you to keep you calm. Write a set of questions. Just make contact then offer to send a letter explaining what you know about your first family. Send them your phone number so they can call you back.

Give people time to adjust to the truth that you are definitely one of their family members.

If you get your DNA results,  which is the new normal, make contact with cousins who share your DNA! Give them your birth date and let them help you try and figure out how you are all related.

The new normal isn’t fair but we’ll use this until the laws change.

Bring The Lakota Children Home: Lakota Law and Chase Iron Eyes Need Your Help Before Time Runs Out

South Dakota State facilities are the new Indian Boarding Schools

Lakota leaders agree on the total solution: tribal foster care programs, run by Lakota, for Lakota.  However, we need your help to start the process before time runs out!  If we do not seize this opportunity, we may have to start from scratch with new federal and state appointees.  


 
  Lakota children are ten times more likely than their White
counterparts to be forced into state foster care, and 90% of them
are illegally placed with White families.  

    With your help,
these children will no longer endure the state's culturally biased
foster care system.  New programs set up within the tribes will be
funded through a direct federal relationship, allowing Lakota families
to heal and thrive, and creating decent paying jobs in the very poorest
communities in the United States.  CONTINUE READING

Bring The Lakota Children Home: Lakota Law and Chase Iron Eyes Need Your Help Before Time Runs Out

South Dakota State facilities are the new Indian Boarding Schools

Lakota leaders agree on the total solution: tribal foster care programs, run by Lakota, for Lakota.  However, we need your help to start the process before time runs out!  If we do not seize this opportunity, we may have to start from scratch with new federal and state appointees.  
    Lakota children are ten times more likely than their White counterparts to be forced into state foster care, and 90% of them are illegally placed with White families.  
    With your help, these children will no longer endure the state's culturally biased foster care system.  New programs set up within the tribes will be funded through a direct federal relationship, allowing Lakota families to heal and thrive, and creating decent paying jobs in the very poorest communities in the United States.  CONTINUE READING

Bring The Lakota Children Home: Lakota Law and Chase Iron Eyes Need Your Help Before Time Runs Out

South Dakota State facilities are the new Indian Boarding Schools

Lakota leaders agree on the total solution: tribal foster care programs, run by Lakota, for Lakota.  However, we need your help to start the process before time runs out!  If we do not seize this opportunity, we may have to start from scratch with new federal and state appointees.  
    Lakota children are ten times more likely than their White counterparts to be forced into state foster care, and 90% of them are illegally placed with White families.  
    With your help, these children will no longer endure the state's culturally biased foster care system.  New programs set up within the tribes will be funded through a direct federal relationship, allowing Lakota families to heal and thrive, and creating decent paying jobs in the very poorest communities in the United States.  CONTINUE READING

Bring The Lakota Children Home: Lakota Law and Chase Iron Eyes Need Your Help Before Time Runs Out

South Dakota State facilities are the new Indian Boarding Schools

Lakota leaders agree on the total solution: tribal foster care programs, run by Lakota, for Lakota.  However, we need your help to start the process before time runs out!  If we do not seize this opportunity, we may have to start from scratch with new federal and state appointees.  
    Lakota children are ten times more likely than their White counterparts to be forced into state foster care, and 90% of them are illegally placed with White families.  
    With your help, these children will no longer endure the state's culturally biased foster care system.  New programs set up within the tribes will be funded through a direct federal relationship, allowing Lakota families to heal and thrive, and creating decent paying jobs in the very poorest communities in the United States.  CONTINUE READING

Bring The Lakota Children Home: Lakota Law and Chase Iron Eyes Need Your Help Before Time Runs Out

South Dakota State facilities are the new Indian Boarding Schools

Lakota leaders agree on the total solution: tribal foster care programs, run by Lakota, for Lakota.  However, we need your help to start the process before time runs out!  If we do not seize this opportunity, we may have to start from scratch with new federal and state appointees.  
    Lakota children are ten times more likely than their White counterparts to be forced into state foster care, and 90% of them are illegally placed with White families.  
    With your help, these children will no longer endure the state's culturally biased foster care system.  New programs set up within the tribes will be funded through a direct federal relationship, allowing Lakota families to heal and thrive, and creating decent paying jobs in the very poorest communities in the United States.  CONTINUE READING

It’s time for change… | The adopted ones blog

It’s time for change… | The adopted ones blog

Native abuse inquiry deadline looms as documents mount

The Truth and Reconciliation commission into Indian residential school abuse faces a deadline to wrap up, while historical documents pile up.

Blair Gable Photo

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is looking through documents stored at the Library and Archives Canada Preservation Centre in Gatineau, Que. Christopher Smith, collection management clerk, works in an area containing documents being examined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

By: Donovan Vincent News reporter SOURCE

The race is on for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission probing abuse in Indian residential schools to comb through mountains of historical government records in search of documents pertaining to this painful chapter in Canada’s history.

For the past four years, the commission has been holding public hearings across the country during which survivors have told riveting personal stories about mistreatment in residential schools.

Those hearings have wrapped up and by June 2015 the commission must write a report that includes recommendations for preventing a similar tragedy in the future.

Kimberly Murray, a lawyer and executive director for the commission, says there’s not enough time left.

“There’s no way we’ll be able to go through and collect every document,’’ says Murray, a Mohawk from the Kanesatake reserve.

A major piece of the commission’s work is pulling together all the witness statements, documents and research on residential schools and putting the massive haul in a new National Research Centre to be located in Manitoba.

The document search is a sleuthing job not unlike one Sherlock Holmes would undertake.

Already the federal government has, under duress and court order, provided 4.2 million documents to the commission.

But recently, Ottawa issued an RFP to hire a firm that will pore through an additional estimated 60,000 boxes stored in vaults in five Library and Archives Canada locations across the country.

Not every box will contain documents germane to the commission and that’s the tricky part. The job requires painstaking sifting to flag the relevant records.

While there hasn’t been an eyeball on every one of the 4.2 million documents already provided, important ones involving incidents like the deaths of students in residential schools have been looked at and reviewed, Murray said.

“We have key topics that we’re writing about. Every Health Canada record we’ve looked at. Every hospital record we have we’ve looked at,’’ she says.

Researchers follow a trail, like following breadcrumbs. When they come across documents with dialogue pertaining to a subject the commission is writing about, that dialogue is traced back through other records. Often these dialogues happened between federal departments — the RCMP, for example, talking to Health Canada.

The residential schools intersected with many government agencies, including National Defence.

“We’ve seen photographs of the Department of National Defence taking (residential school) children to hospitals,’’ Murray said. “Some children were also temporarily housed in military barracks.’’

Murray pointed out that aside from 33 federal departments in Canada, including Aboriginal Affairs, the commission is also waiting for documents from churches that ran the residential schools.

“Many Catholic entities have not produced their documents to us yet,’’ Murray said.

Canada’s residential schools for aboriginal people began in the 1870s and the last one closed in 1996. There were more than 130 of these government-funded schools across the country that were set up to eradicate parental involvement in aboriginal children’s cultural, intellectual and educational development.

Residents suffered horrible sexual and physical abuse. More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were placed in the schools. An estimated 80,000 former students are still living today.

The $60-million, five-year commission was formed as part of a settlement agreement.

There’s been finger pointing at Ottawa over the fact the remaining time is too short to sort through all the relevant records.

When asked about that complaint, Andrea Richer, a spokeswoman for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt, pointed out the federal government helped the commission get a one-year extension to complete its mandate.

“Our government remains committed to achieving a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of Indian Residential Schools,’’ Richer said in a statement.

Gordon Williams, 73, a former residential school student and member of the commission’s survivor committee that advises the inquiry, said survivors like him did their part by telling their stories to the commission.

“A lot of people were very emotional about what happened,’’ he said referring to the testimonials the commission heard.

Now it’s time for the documents and records to speak, said Williams, who attended the Birtle Indian Residential School, west of Winnipeg, from 1957 to 1961.

Murray says although the commission’s mandate wraps up next year, the story won’t end there.

“When we’re done, we’re not walking away without making sure that the legal obligation to produce those records continues past the commission, and those records be given to the National Research Centre,’’ Murray said.

Wisconsin Passes Law To Stop The 'Re-Homing' Of Adopted Children

Wisconsin Passes Law To Stop The 'Re-Homing' Of Adopted Children

Wisconsin has adopted a law to limit private custody transfers ofchildren, the first law of its kind in the United States, responding to a Reuters investigation that exposed the dangers of the unregulated
practice.Reuters reported in September that parents were transferring custody of their unwanted adopted children to strangers met on the Internet, often with no government oversight and sometimes
illegally. No state or federal laws specifically prohibit the practice, which is known as "re-homing." And state laws that restrict the advertising and custody transfers of children are often confusing, and rarely spell out criminal sanctions.

In the absence of government safeguards, boys and girls have been placed in the care of abusers and others who escape scrutiny. In one case, a mother gave her nine-year-old adopted son to a pedophile in a motel parking lot in Wisconsin within hours of posting an advertisement for the child on a Yahoo group.

The Wisconsin law, signed Wednesday by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, makes it illegal for anyone not licensed by the state to advertise a child over age one for adoption or any other custody transfer, both in print and online. Parents who want to transfer custody of a child to someone other than a relative must seek permission from a judge. Violators face up to nine months in jail or up
to $10,000 in fines.

click on headline to read article

AMERICAN INDIAN ADOPTEES

AMERICAN INDIAN ADOPTEES

Manitoba poised to further open adoption records #60sScoop

By Staff  The Canadian Press

The Manitoba government appears set to further open adoption records to allow more people to find relatives and learn about their background.
Bob Pearson / Getty Images

WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government appears set to further open adoption records to allow more people to find relatives and learn about their background.
The province passed a law in 1999 to release identifying information about adoptees and their parents unless one of them specifically requested anonymity.
But the law was not retroactive, so people adopted prior to March 15, 1999, have had a tougher time finding information.
The province announced in 2009 that it was looking at making available adoption records as far back as 1925 to bring Manitoba in line with other provinces such as British Columbia.
The NDP government has served notice that it will present a bill to the legislature Wednesday (April 24) to open adoption and birth records, but government officials would not reveal details beforehand.
Roy Kading, who runs an adoptees rights group in Winnipeg, says thousands of people have been trying to find out about their birth families.
“They’re very, very frustrated,” Kading said Tuesday.
“They’ve been … looking for people for years and can’t get any information. By the time they do, too bad, the person they’re looking for has passed away.”
Kading said his non-profit group, Links Post-Legal Adoption Support, has helped reunite about 1,500 people over the years.
Just this week, the group helped two half-sisters find each other.
“One registered with us recently, and the half-sister had registered with us 10 years ago.”
One hurdle for the government has been concern for privacy. Under the pre-1999 system, parents who gave up their children for adoption were in effect promised privacy. Any identifying information was kept secret unless they specifically opted for it to be shared.
It’s been the other way around since 1999. Information has been made available unless there has been a specific request for privacy, formally called a disclosure veto.

SOURCE

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

ACTION ALERT

Your Support Can Help Protect Native Children!



U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (Democratic/Nonpartisan League - North Dakota)
introduced Senate Bill 1622, which would create the Alyce Spotted Bear
and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  This act would
require the president and Congress to appoint individuals who have
significant experience and expertise in Indian affairs to the
commission.  The commission would conduct a comprehensive study of
federal, state, local and tribal programs that serve Native children. 
This would include an evaluation of many issues such as the impact of
concurrent jurisdiction on child welfare systems; barriers that Indian
tribes and Native Hawaiians face in applying, reporting on and using
existing public and private grant resources; barriers to inter-agency
coordination on programs benefiting Native children; and many more
issues. 



The commission would further be directed to use the results of the study
and analyze existing federal data relating to Native children to
develop plans and goals for federal policy; recommend improvements to
programs that serve Native children; recommend improvements in
data-collection regarding Native children; and identify models of
successful federal, state and tribal programs in the areas studied. 



This bill will ensure Native children’s safety by bringing attention to
the issues, creating dialogue, and introducing solutions to the problems
in the child welfare system.  Sixteen co-sponsors have signed onto the
bill since it was introduced in October 2013. This bill was assigned to
the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which will consider it before
possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.



Take action! Please voice your support by calling or writing your U.S.
senators today and ask them to support the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter
Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  To find contact
information for your senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.



To read the full text of the bill, track the bill or express support, go to https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s1622.
Also, click on the “TRACK THIS BILL” button to sign up for updates
about when this bill is scheduled for debate, has a major action such as
a vote, or gets a new co-sponsor, when a committee meeting is
scheduled, when bill text becomes available or when a bill summary is
written.

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

ACTION ALERT
Your Support Can Help Protect Native Children!

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (Democratic/Nonpartisan League - North Dakota) introduced Senate Bill 1622, which would create the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  This act would require the president and Congress to appoint individuals who have significant experience and expertise in Indian affairs to the commission.  The commission would conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state, local and tribal programs that serve Native children.  This would include an evaluation of many issues such as the impact of concurrent jurisdiction on child welfare systems; barriers that Indian tribes and Native Hawaiians face in applying, reporting on and using existing public and private grant resources; barriers to inter-agency coordination on programs benefiting Native children; and many more issues. 

The commission would further be directed to use the results of the study and analyze existing federal data relating to Native children to develop plans and goals for federal policy; recommend improvements to programs that serve Native children; recommend improvements in data-collection regarding Native children; and identify models of successful federal, state and tribal programs in the areas studied. 

This bill will ensure Native children’s safety by bringing attention to the issues, creating dialogue, and introducing solutions to the problems in the child welfare system.  Sixteen co-sponsors have signed onto the bill since it was introduced in October 2013. This bill was assigned to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Take action! Please voice your support by calling or writing your U.S. senators today and ask them to support the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  To find contact information for your senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

To read the full text of the bill, track the bill or express support, go to https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s1622. Also, click on the “TRACK THIS BILL” button to sign up for updates about when this bill is scheduled for debate, has a major action such as a vote, or gets a new co-sponsor, when a committee meeting is scheduled, when bill text becomes available or when a bill summary is written.

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

ACTION ALERT
Your Support Can Help Protect Native Children!

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (Democratic/Nonpartisan League - North Dakota) introduced Senate Bill 1622, which would create the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  This act would require the president and Congress to appoint individuals who have significant experience and expertise in Indian affairs to the commission.  The commission would conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state, local and tribal programs that serve Native children.  This would include an evaluation of many issues such as the impact of concurrent jurisdiction on child welfare systems; barriers that Indian tribes and Native Hawaiians face in applying, reporting on and using existing public and private grant resources; barriers to inter-agency coordination on programs benefiting Native children; and many more issues. 

The commission would further be directed to use the results of the study and analyze existing federal data relating to Native children to develop plans and goals for federal policy; recommend improvements to programs that serve Native children; recommend improvements in data-collection regarding Native children; and identify models of successful federal, state and tribal programs in the areas studied. 

This bill will ensure Native children’s safety by bringing attention to the issues, creating dialogue, and introducing solutions to the problems in the child welfare system.  Sixteen co-sponsors have signed onto the bill since it was introduced in October 2013. This bill was assigned to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Take action! Please voice your support by calling or writing your U.S. senators today and ask them to support the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  To find contact information for your senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

To read the full text of the bill, track the bill or express support, go to https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s1622. Also, click on the “TRACK THIS BILL” button to sign up for updates about when this bill is scheduled for debate, has a major action such as a vote, or gets a new co-sponsor, when a committee meeting is scheduled, when bill text becomes available or when a bill summary is written.

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

ACTION ALERT
Your Support Can Help Protect Native Children!

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (Democratic/Nonpartisan League - North Dakota) introduced Senate Bill 1622, which would create the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  This act would require the president and Congress to appoint individuals who have significant experience and expertise in Indian affairs to the commission.  The commission would conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state, local and tribal programs that serve Native children.  This would include an evaluation of many issues such as the impact of concurrent jurisdiction on child welfare systems; barriers that Indian tribes and Native Hawaiians face in applying, reporting on and using existing public and private grant resources; barriers to inter-agency coordination on programs benefiting Native children; and many more issues. 

The commission would further be directed to use the results of the study and analyze existing federal data relating to Native children to develop plans and goals for federal policy; recommend improvements to programs that serve Native children; recommend improvements in data-collection regarding Native children; and identify models of successful federal, state and tribal programs in the areas studied. 

This bill will ensure Native children’s safety by bringing attention to the issues, creating dialogue, and introducing solutions to the problems in the child welfare system.  Sixteen co-sponsors have signed onto the bill since it was introduced in October 2013. This bill was assigned to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Take action! Please voice your support by calling or writing your U.S. senators today and ask them to support the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  To find contact information for your senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

To read the full text of the bill, track the bill or express support, go to https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s1622. Also, click on the “TRACK THIS BILL” button to sign up for updates about when this bill is scheduled for debate, has a major action such as a vote, or gets a new co-sponsor, when a committee meeting is scheduled, when bill text becomes available or when a bill summary is written.

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

ACTION ALERT
Your Support Can Help Protect Native Children!

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (Democratic/Nonpartisan League - North Dakota) introduced Senate Bill 1622, which would create the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  This act would require the president and Congress to appoint individuals who have significant experience and expertise in Indian affairs to the commission.  The commission would conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state, local and tribal programs that serve Native children.  This would include an evaluation of many issues such as the impact of concurrent jurisdiction on child welfare systems; barriers that Indian tribes and Native Hawaiians face in applying, reporting on and using existing public and private grant resources; barriers to inter-agency coordination on programs benefiting Native children; and many more issues. 

The commission would further be directed to use the results of the study and analyze existing federal data relating to Native children to develop plans and goals for federal policy; recommend improvements to programs that serve Native children; recommend improvements in data-collection regarding Native children; and identify models of successful federal, state and tribal programs in the areas studied. 

This bill will ensure Native children’s safety by bringing attention to the issues, creating dialogue, and introducing solutions to the problems in the child welfare system.  Sixteen co-sponsors have signed onto the bill since it was introduced in October 2013. This bill was assigned to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Take action! Please voice your support by calling or writing your U.S. senators today and ask them to support the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act.  To find contact information for your senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

To read the full text of the bill, track the bill or express support, go to https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s1622. Also, click on the “TRACK THIS BILL” button to sign up for updates about when this bill is scheduled for debate, has a major action such as a vote, or gets a new co-sponsor, when a committee meeting is scheduled, when bill text becomes available or when a bill summary is written.

Evidence: what came after ARENA and the Indian Adoption Projects

RAINBOW PROJECT after ARENA [note the date is 1984 and the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in 1978... Would this be a violation of federal law??]

READ HERE:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5RgeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FWIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3240%2C9319399

The Pittsburgh Press - Aug 30, 1984