Here is “
A History Lesson“:
An excerpt:
Reformers are still trying to save Indian children by taking them
away from Indian families and tribes. Mr. Sandefur would rather force
Indian children into state court systems by undoing ICWA, perhaps
because they can be more easily plucked from state systems by the
private adoption market. There have even been calls to greatly expand
the number of Indian children in foster care. Literally no ethical
person seeks to put more children in foster care. Studies show what
should be inherently understood—plucking children out of a community
they know and putting them in stranger foster care is actively harmful
to kids (there’s a reason Casey Family Programs is putting a billion
dollars into reducing the number of kids in foster care). Eighty percent
of child welfare removals are due to neglect. Our children do deserve
better: better services, better wrap around care, a better understanding
of the mental health issues and chemical dependency that plagues their
parents. They don’t deserve to be taken from everything familiar—their
neighborhood, schools, and extended family—because of system failures in
our society.
Imagine a child welfare proceeding where the judge meets with the
parties for two hours before the hearing to engage in problem solving
and to brainstorm creative ideas to best serve the child, followed by a
formal hearing that may last two or more hours. Compare that to a state
court hearing that lasts mere minutes, and where there are systematic
financial pressures for “permanency,” in other words, to place children
in foster care, terminate parental rights quickly, and adopt them out.
It’s not even a comparison.
Prior entries
here and
here.
[My humble opinion is the billion dollar adoption trafficking industry needs to keep Indian kids in the pipeline to make money - and that is not in the best interest of an Indian child... Trace (adoptee and erased]
Posts
