Worried about a pending U.S. Supreme Court case, some states aim to pass new laws ensuring American Indian children can stay in their tribal communities even if they’re placed in the child welfare system.
Later this year, the court will rule on a long-standing federal law designed to ensure that Native American children removed from their homes by state agencies are not displaced from tribal communities.
Tribes, advocates and many state child welfare agencies fear that a court decision striking down the Indian Child Welfare Act, known as ICWA, could threaten decades of work to ensure that Native kids are not removed from their communities and culture.
