Indian Child Welfare Act would protect future generations, advocates say

Mara Silvers and JoVonne Wagner

via Montana Free Press

House Bill 317, sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, would create the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act, a policy similar to the federal law known as ICWA that puts guardrails on the removal of Native children from their families and restricts placement of Native children with non-Native families and guardians. The seminal 1978 ICWA was implemented after decades of wrongful child removals from Native families, followed by foster care and adoption placements that disconnected children from their culture, extended family and...