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The Indian Child Welfare Act, enacted in 1978, was designed to protect Indian children and enhance the stability of Indian tribes and families. It sets forth minimum federal standards applicable in proceedings involving the termination of parental rights, pre-adoption placement, and adoption placement. From its inception, there has been resistance to the Act's provisions, and opponents now have increased incentive to oppose the legislation on constitutional and other grounds in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. But the Obama Administration has taken important steps to promote increased and uniform compliance and address a number of lingering implementation issues. The issuances by the Department of the Interior of non-binding guidelines in 2015 and of legislative rules in 2016 are opportunities for states to promptly examine their current practices and standards and voluntarily adopt the guidelines and regulations as enforceable state requirements. New York State is an example of a state that has evidenced support for implementation of the Act, but in a number of respects its current requirements fall short of the federal recommendations and rules. This Note urges states, with jurisdictions such as New York taking a leadership role, to act now to adopt the guidelines and regulations. Doing so will conform existing state practices to best practices and federal standards and, importantly, signal a strong commitment to the Act and to the best interests of Indian children, tribes, and families.
I. Introduction
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA)1 was enacted "to protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their families and the placement of such children in foster or adoptive homes which will reflect the unique values of Indian culture . . . ."2 The legislation included findings
(3) that there is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children ... ;
(4) that an alarmingly high percentage of Indian families are broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from them by nontribal public and private agencies and that an alarmingly high percentage of such children are placed in...