Chat: Indian child welfare in Washington

Thursday, April 5, 2007  

Toni Lodge, the director of the NATIVE Project/NATIVE Health, participated in an Internet chat about the Indian Child Welfare Act for The Spokesman Review.

Lodge sits on the Local Indian Child Welfare Advisory Board, which helps resolve child custody issues. She blames "institutional racism" for failures to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

"Many times, the institutional racism is manifested by lack of publicly funded rehabilitation services like substance abuse treatment or mental health counseling services," she says.

A full transcript of the chat can be read on the newspaper's website.

Get the Story:
Indian expert sees 'institutional racism' (The Spokesman Review 4/5)

Relevant Links:
National Indian Child Welfare Association - http://www.nicwa.org

Related Stories:
Woman fought for custody of nephew under ICWA (4/4)
Opinion: ICWA tears children from their families (3/29)
MSU law school discusses Indian Child Welfare Act (03/16)
Cheyenne-Arapaho girl battles chronic lung disease (03/16)
Court asserts jurisdiction in Seneca child case (3/14)
White boy most dangerous threat to Seneca Nation (3/5)
Film to focus on Alaska Native woman taken from family (3/2)
Minnesota tribes sign child welfare agreement (2/23)
Death of teen ruled an accidental overdose (02/15)
Judge won't let siblings attend teen brother's funeral (12/20)
Washington teen's death called a failure of ICWA (12/18)
Court wants Tohono O'odham twins with siblings (12/07)
Navajo Nation seeks role in adoption of baby (10/30)
Navajo Nation seeks role in adoption of baby (10/30)
Navajo Nation challenges adoption in Utah (10/26)
Woman connects adopted Indians with tribal roots (07/03)
U.S. Supreme Court won't hear Indian child welfare case (05/02)
Christian Mag: Children at mercy of ICWA tribes (04/14)
California appeals court rules in ICWA transfer case (03/10)
Paper concludes series on Indian child welfare (01/06)
Rapid City Journal runs series on Indian child welfare (1/5)
South Dakota panel pressed on Indian child welfare (10/04)
White Earth Band seeks control of child custody case (09/15)
Meskwaki mother decides not to give up baby son (08/26)
Oglala Sioux Tribe seeks role in child welfare case (8/25)
Indian mother gives up son to non-Indian couple (08/15)
Child welfare case handed to Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (8/8)
Meskwaki mother asks tribe not to hold up adoption (07/28)
9th Circuit rules against tribe in California ICWA case (07/20)
Meskwaki mom wants son to go to non-Native family (07/06)
Adopted Navajo child to return home to reservation (06/22)
Wisconsin tribes form child welfare partnership (06/16)
GAO calls for better state data in ICWA cases (04/08)
Failures cited in child abuse on Utah reservation (03/21)
Couple says mother didn't want son in her tribe (03/01)
Hearing slated on custody dispute over Indian boy (02/28)
Yellow Bird: A nation cannot flourish without children (02/01)
Indian mother in South Dakota wants adopted son back (01/31)
Navajo child welfare case sparks legal battle (01/31)
New Mexico infant law said to conflict with ICWA (01/28)
Iowa announces foster care plan for Indian children (11/24)
Alaska opinion backs away from tribal courts (11/01)
Alaska wants to reduce tribal powers in child welfare (09/09)
Fort Peck Tribes sign child welfare agreement (09/07)
Dispute over child welfare contract continues (09/06)
South Dakota Supreme Court supports ICWA case (08/27)
Choctaw Nation helping man in child custody battle (07/06)
Foster care commission seeks tribal inclusion (05/19)
Judge cites ICWA in returning drug addicted baby (03/22)
Native children living in poor, single-parent homes (03/19)
S.D. tribes unhappy with gutting of ICWA bill (02/24)
Bill seeks study of Indian child welfare system in S.D. (02/05)
High rate of Indian adoptions in Iowa protested (01/13)