Indian Country Braces for Battle With Adoption Industry Over ICWA Guidelines

Last month, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn announced the release of new guidelines in the Federal Register to ensure that state and federal courts comply with the statutes set forth in the Indian Child Welfare Act. Prior to publishing the guidelines, the BIA held five public listening sessions across the country that were attended by hundreds of tribal members, judicial organizations and child welfare professionals. The BIA also received hundreds of written comments from interested parties across the country, nearly all of whom requested strengthening and updating the language in the guidelines.

Two weeks later, on March 12, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys (AAAA) fired back with its own press release expressing its outrage that the BIA had published the guidelines without input from its membership. In a statement from AAAA, president Laurie Goldheim, accused the Bureau of Indian Affairs of “a purposeful effort to bypass” its membership, even though the department had publicly worked on gathering input for over a year.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/03/30/indian-country-braces-battle-adoption-industry-over-icwa-guidelines-159800