Cal-ICWA Presentation at NICWA Conference 4/12/10

Cal-ICWA  is presenting a workshop at the National NICWA Conference.  Our workshop, “Improving ICWA Compliance: Technology and Community Driven Design,”  will be held April 12 from 3:30 to 5:00pm (Ross Island Room).

Workshop Summary:

The health of Native Nations depends on the wellness of their youth.  Indian Dispute Resolution Service’s three year study of health services for Indian foster youth in California reveals startling numbers regarding the state of Indian children who are placed into foster care. Disproportionality and poor health outcomes such as mental illness, homelessness and suicide are linked to meager compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Recent research on Indian foster youth in California indicates that the conditions do not exist for compliance with ICWA.  The solution requires more than training social worker staff.  Creating the conditions for compliance with ICWA also requires improving data collection and accuracy; and facilitating county and court communication with Tribal Nations.

In California, child welfare case management systems are not structured to meet the data requirements for Indian child cases.  Nor do state case management systems facilitate the county, court, and Tribal communication requirements of ICWA. To improve data and communication processes, state systems must incorporate the data elements specific to identifying and managing Indian child cases.

There is a technology tool that will improve compliance with ICWA, and therefore, improve outcomes for Native youth and the future of Tribes:

Ayazuta is a web-based ICWA information system designed collaboratively by the stakeholder community to create data and communication conditions required for compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

This workshop will concentrate on the Tribal Notice requirement of the ICWA.  We will focus on how technology and community driven design are being used to drastically improve implementation and compliance with tribal noticing, radically reduce time spent with paperwork, and allow Social Workers and Tribes to concentrate on the best outcomes for Native American children.

In this Workshop, participants will:

1. Understand the primary process issues with ICWA implementing the Tribal Notice requirements of ICWA
2. Understand the potential for technology and community driven design in Tribal Notice procedure.
3. Understand that ICWA compliance need not be onerous, but rather is an invaluable tool for counties, Tribes, Indian children and families.

The National Indian Child Welfare Association’s 28th Annual “Protecting Our Children” National American Indian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect will be held in Portland, OR, April 12-14. For more information, please contact: Laurie Evans | Project Support National Indian Child Welfare Association Phone: (503) 222-4044, ext. 124 E-mail: laurie@nicwa.org