Native American Children’s Safety Act Headed for President’s Desk UPDATED

“Legislation requiring all adults living in potential foster homes to undergo background checks before a Native American child can be placed there has passed Congress and is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama.

The bill, dubbed the Native American Children’s Safety Act, was sponsored by North Dakota Republicans Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Kevin Cramer in their respective chambers. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., was a cosponsor of the bill, which a news release issued this week said “implements protections for Native American children placed by tribal courts into the tribal foster care system.”

The background checks cover criminal activity, state and tribal child abuse and “neglect registries,” according to the news release. There is currently no requirement that Native American tribes conduct background checks on everyone living in a foster care house.

Adults who join the household after the foster care child is placed there would be required to go through a background check under the legislation, and foster homes would be required to undergo recertification periodically.

In an interview, Hoeven pointed to trouble on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation a few years ago as an impetus for the bill.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced in September 2012 that it would take over social service programs for the tribe, and critics at the time said the tribe had ignored reports of child abuse and neglect. In reviews, BIA teams had cited illegal foster care placements and a lack of criminal background checks on foster homes, according to Forum News Service.

“It really goes back to that period in 2012, 2013, when we were working on those problems,” Hoeven said.

Hoeven was unsure when Obama may sign the bill and pointed out that the president is out of the country. He didn’t anticipate any opposition from Obama on the legislation.

“Native American children are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to be victims of abuse or neglect than other American children,” Cramer said in a statement. “The standards in this bill mirror existing national requirements for non-tribal foster care placements, ensuring tribal children receive care at least equal to the protections afforded non-tribal children.””

Bill to help protect Native American children heading to president’s desk [The Dickinson Press 5/26/16 by John Hageman]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law a measure meant to bolster protections for Native American children placed into the tribal foster care system.

The law, which comes years after serious flaws were uncovered in the child welfare system of a Native American tribe in North Dakota, requires background checks before foster care placements are made by tribal social services agencies. The measure requires that agencies review national criminal records and child abuse or neglect registries in any state in which a would-be foster parent has lived in the preceding five years, and also forces foster care homes to undergo periodic safety recertifications.

Republican U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, of North Dakota, said the measure ensures that Native American children living on a reservation have the same protections when assigned to foster care that children living off the reservation have.

“A decade ago, we worked in North Dakota to ensure that all adults living in a foster home were background checked to protect the children in their care, and now we have extended that same safety net for children in tribal foster care in North Dakota and across the nation,” Hoeven said.

Federal experts say some children living on reservations experience a form of post-traumatic stress from exposure to family turmoil. The symptoms are comparable to those of military veterans returning from war zones. And federal statistics show that Native American children have the third highest rate of victimization at 11.6 per 1,000 children of the same race or ethnicity. In 2009, more than 7,000 Native American children were victims of child abuse.

The Native American Children’s Safety Act, sponsored by Hoeven, comes five years after federal and state authorities found serious deficiencies with the administration of foster care on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The ineffectiveness of the tribe’s child social services was so severe that the federal government had to intervene, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs took over control of the system.

One case exemplifying the flagrant mistakes of the child protection system involved a woman who was awarded custody of infant twin girls despite a history of child neglect. She ended up being sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2013 for the death of one of the children, who was thrown down an embankment.

The background check requirement under the law signed Friday applies to everyone living in a potential foster care house, not just the parents. A background check will also be required for any adult who moves into the home after the foster child has been placed with a family.

Erik Stegman, executive director of the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute, agreed with Hoeven that the new law’s requirements will put Native American children on “equal footing” with other children entering the foster care system.

“It does have broad tribal support, and we do hope that it improves the situation for Native youth,” Stegman said. “We definitely believe that tribal courts and other tribal welfare system officials should have that information and that by having that information they are able to make better determinations for what’s in the best interest of the Native children in their communities.””

Obama Signs Bill Protecting Children in Tribal Foster Care [ABC 6/3/16  by Regina Garcia Cano/AP]