Indian Child Welfare Act

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) provides State courts the unique opportunity to promote Tribal and family connections for Indian children. But measuring ICWA compliance can be a challenge. There is no uniform system for data collection, leaving many jurisdictions unsure of how well they're actually doing. Furthermore, many State courts fail to check whether the children before them are eligible for Tribal membership.

Current Efforts

The Center is targeting these needs by developing tools to promote knowledge about ICWA's substantive requirements and instruments to measure ICWA compliance.

Specific efforts in this area include: 

• Refining tools for measuring compliance with ICWA
• Updating a comprehensive train-the-trainer curriculum and assisting CIPs in customizing it for their States
• Developing online ICWA training opportunities