The Supporting America’s Children and Families Act was approved in the House of Representatives on Sept. 18. National Indian Child Welfare Association is advocating for the Senate to hear the bill before the end of November.

NICWA has supported and worked on this legislation as it increases “funding for
tribes under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, reduces administrative burdens, and requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to collect data and provide technical assistance to states and tribes regarding implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA),” according to the NICWA website.

“We need the Senate to act on this bill,” David Simmons, director of Government
Affairs and Advocacy for NICWA, said. “We’re very strongly encouraging all tribes
and tribal allies of Indian Child Welfare Act allies to send letters to their senators asking them to urge that this bill be heard by the full Senate before the end of November. … We need to make sure that our senators know … that this is a high priority. There are other things that they need to do as well. We understand that, but this should be a high priority, and it’s long overdue.”

Simmons said the child welfare programs the federal government offers have flexible funding for child welfare services.

“The bill … reauthorizes Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, which has two … major child welfare programs that the federal government offers,” Simmons said. “These programs … do a variety of things, but … one of their real hallmarks is that they have a lot of flexible funding that can be used for a continuum or variety of child welfare services, including prevention, reunification of children who have to be removed from their homes, even placing them in more permanent homes, like Guardian homes or relative homes or even adoptive homes.”

Simmons said this funding can also be used for tribes to get professional training for their staff who work in child welfare. Additionally, it increases funding for the Tribal Court Improvement Program from $1 million to $2 million and will increase the number of grantees if implemented. The court improvement program helps tribal juvenile courts or family courts to improve
their processes with child welfare services, Simmons said.

“Equally important is the recognition in this bill that many tribes … who are much smaller than states have to meet the same … requirements as a much larger state that gets much more money does. And in this bill, for tribes who get smaller amounts of funding, the Secretary of HHS has the authority to modify those administrative requirements to make the program less administratively
burdensome to them,” Simmons said.

The bill includes provisions with the Indian Child Welfare Act. One of these is requiring states to collect and report data regarding Native children’s cases. Simmons said this will give them a picture of how states are doing since ICWA was enacted and how they can improve. It will also require HHS to help states and tribes working to implement ICWA.

“I think this is about getting data and getting more support so that we can actually know that what we’re doing is going to make a difference. … I always remember that the Indian Child Welfare Act is … probably the only major federal child welfare law that doesn’t have a review and regular data collection attached to it. And if you don’t have data, it’s pretty hard to know if what you’re planning to do or what you have been doing is making a difference.”

Simmons said tribes engaging in federal child welfare programs can exercise
sovereignty and be in the “driver’s seat” with programs and funding that align with their values and traditions.

“We need to be at the table. … We need to be able to have our voices heard. We need to make sure that the federal government is providing resources, and not just any kind of resources, but ones that work in our communities too,” Simmons said.

Simmons said he thinks of the tribal leaders and advocates who have provided
support to NICWA over the years. He said they try to ensure that people have the tools and information they need if they want to do something positive for Native children and families.

According to their website, “NICWA works to support the safety, health, and
spiritual strength of American Indian and Alaska Native children along the broad
continuum of their lives. We support tribes in building the capacity to prevent child abuse and neglect through positive systems change at the state, federal, and tribal levels.”

For more information and resources for contacting senators visit https://www.nicwa.org/policy-update/.