Senators consider native foster children placements

Native foster children would have more culturally appropriate placement opportunities under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Feb. 26.

Introduced by Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash, LB566 would change provisions of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to clarify the responsibilities of Nebraska child welfare providers by strengthening state law and defining key areas of the law. The bill also would ensure Native American tribes have a voice in judicial hearings involving native children.

Coash said Nebraska has not changed the law since it was adopted in 1985. Native American children are overrepresented in Nebraska’s child welfare system, he said, accounting for 7 percent of those available for adoption. The clarifications proposed in the bill would allow ICWA to better address local needs, he said.

“We want to pass a bill to help keep native children out of foster care and reunite them with their culture,” Coash said.

Jill Holt, representing the Nebraska ICWA Coalition, testified in support of the bill, calling it the “gold standard,” for child welfare practices. Maintaining native children’s ties to their culture and tradition are critical for the survival of native families, she said.

“The bill provides much needed protection for tribal children,” Holt said. “It is instrumental in reducing the highly disproportionate number of native children in the Nebraska child welfare system.”

Kim Hawekotte, executive director of the State Foster Care Review Office, also spoke in favor of the bill. While native children make up 2 percent of the state’s juvenile population, she said, they represent 6 percent of Nebraska foster children who have been in out-of-home care for more than three years.

Darla LaPointe, representing the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, also testified in support of the bill. Federal standards contained in ICWA are vague, she said, and the bill would provide much needed clarification of standards needed to place Nebraska’s native children with families.

“The importance of the tribe having a say in placement of children cannot be overstated,” LaPointe said.

Susan Sapp, a Lincoln adoption attorney, testified in opposition to the bill, saying that ICWA places strict limitations on options for parents who voluntarily place their native children for adoption. Language in the bill may make direct placement adoptions even more difficult, she said.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.