Statistics of Native American Adoptions in Utah

Statistics are revealed in this article about the recent Baby Veronica Supreme Court Decision.

“ICWA has been at the center of several adoption disputes in Utah in recent years. In 2010, the Utah Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the Navajo Nation that sought to undo the adoption of two siblings by a non-American Indian family. The Utah court said the tribe acted too late and neither ICWA nor the quasi-sovereign status of tribes trump state filing requirements. In 2011, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling in a Utah case, said a district court erred in finding a birth mother’s rights had been improperly terminated after her child was later deemed to be a member of the Cherokee Nation. The appellate court said while the baby’s grandmother was a registered tribe member, ICWA only covers full members, not those with temporary status such as that bestowed on the child.

In Utah, 598 American Indian children were in state foster care over the past five years. Of those, 82 were adopted — 60 by non-American Indian families and 22 by American Indian adoptive parents, according to data provided by Liz Sollis, spokeswoman for the Division of Children and Family Services.

Casey Family Programs, Child Welfare League of America and Children’s Defense Fund had joined with 15 other national child welfare organizations in filing an amicus brief in support of ICWA. The groups said in a statement Tuesday the ruling threatens to “undermine principals that represent the gold standard in child welfare” and is a “step backward for children and families.”

“While this case was a disappointing setback, we are committed to continuing and strengthening our work with tribes, states and the federal governments to ensure that Indian children and families continue to benefit from the best approaches and legal safeguards in child welfare,” said David Sanders, Casey Family Programs’ executive vice president. “We can’t allow this decision to turn the clock back on decades of innovative and important improvement in our approach to child welfare.””

Supreme Court: Act doesn’t apply in Indian girl’s adoption

[The Salt Lake Tribune 6/25/13 by Brooke Adams]

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