The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is seeking input on how to best support Indian Child Welfare Act implementation and approvals for foster care prevention services.
The request, which was published in the Federal Register, is related to the recent passage of the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act. That law, signed in early January, reauthorizes Title IV-B, which funds an array of child welfare services ranging from family preservation to post-adoption services.
“ACF believes that States and Tribes working together to ensure that the protections of ICWA are afforded to Indian children is paramount,” the notice says. It asks for comment on, among other things, what barriers states and tribes are experiencing in implementing ICWA, and what “specific supports” ACF could provide to mitigate those barriers. It also solicits feedback on the size of grants and technological barriers within the Tribal Court Improvement Program.
The Indian Child Welfare Act is older than almost every federal law in this arena, and was recently upheld 7-2 by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case over the constitutionality of several of its key provisions. Despite its presence in U.S. code for decades, there has long been frustration that the law’s protections for Indigenous families are unevenly enforced around the country. The Supporting America’s Children and Families Act requires ACF to develop training and technical assistance around implementation of ICWA, so this call for comment is partly a prelude to that.
ACF is also looking for comment on how to increase and diversify additions to the Prevention Services Clearinghouse, which was established as part of the Family First Prevention Services Act in 2018. That law enabled states to draw down Title IV-E funding to pay for services aimed at preventing the need for foster care in some cases, but only services that were approved by the clearinghouse.
“Since 2018, ACF has heard from many stakeholders that the number of programs and services rated by the Clearinghouse that meet the HHS practice criteria is limited, particularly programs and services that consider the culture and context of Tribal communities,” the Federal Register notice said.
The Supporting America’s Children and Families Act set aside money for competitive grants intended to increase the pool of evidence-based programs. ACF seeks input on two particular questions around this funding:
- How can ACF structure these grants to build evidence for programs and services that are adapted to the culture and context of the Tribal communities?
- What training and technical assistance is needed to be able to successfully engage individuals with lived expertise to develop and study new or adapted programs and services?
The notice also requests public input on how to reduce the administrative burden for states and tribes when it comes to complying with Title IV-B.