A new task force will make recommendations to the Department of Justice to address the impact of violence against American Indian and Alaska Native children.

The task force grew out of the Obama administration's Defending Childhood initiative. A report highlighted the need to protect Native children from violence, abuse and neglect.

"American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) children have an exceptional degree of unmet need for services and support to prevent and respond to the extreme levels of violence they experience," the Report of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence stated. "The federal government has a unique legal responsibility for the welfare of AIAN children."

To address the needs, the task force will hold four hearings throughout the country. The first one takes place December 9 in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Incidentally, the Defending Childhood report also called for better compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Tribes have been asking the Obama administration to investigate the removal of Indian children from their Indian families.

Get the Story:
Task Force to Study Crime on Indian Reservations (The New York Times 11/15)

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DOJ schedules hearings on violence against Native children (11/14)
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