Indian Child Welfare Act

Gov. Gordon signed two bills related to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) into law on March 7th. Last session, the Wyoming legislature created a version of the law for the state when the federal law was under consideration by the Supreme Court. Very broadly, ICWA aims to keep Native children in Native communities in foster care and adoption cases.

The state’s Indian Child Welfare Act Task Force met for the first time in Riverton to discuss next steps after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 1978 federal law earlier this summer.

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act, several states in the Mountain West are preparing their own laws to protect tribal rights should the court deem ICWA unconstitutional.

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA was passed as a direct response to the forced assimilation policies of the federal government. As a result, many Indian children lost connection to their culture because of boarding schools as well as a high number were removed from their families and put into non-Indian homes.

The Indian Child Welfare Act still stands, with some of its key provisions weakened by a sharply divided U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals this month....

After initially upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in August, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has announced that it will re-hear legal…

So far, 325 tribes and states, including Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado, have joined forces to preserve a law that gives Native families preference in…