Markey, Lujan Press Obama Admin. on Indian Children Foster Care Abuses

WASHINGTON (December 7, 2012) – More than one year after an investigation by National Public Radio revealed widespread and troubling abuses of the foster care system in South Dakota as it relates to Indian children in the state, conditions in the state are reportedly getting worse. Accordingly, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal Indian affairs, and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Indiana and Alaska Native Affairs, today pressed the Obama administration’s lead Indian affairs official on why the agency has yet to hold a promised summit on the matter, and why the tribes of South Dakota have been left no recourse but to take action themselves.

The NPR investigation revealed that many Indian children were being removed from their families, in violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act. A separate report conducted by a consortium of tribal directors in South Dakota has found these charges to be credible, including the charge that the State is profiting from removing Indian children from their families for placement in non-Indian homes in violation of the ICWA.

Rep. Markey and Luján’s letter sent today to Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, asks why his department had not yet held a summit on the matter, even though his predecessor, Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk, had promised to do so. That letter can be found HERE.

“South Dakota is taking matters into its own hands because the federal government has failed to take the proper actions to protect these Indian children,” said Rep. Markey. “I strongly urge the Obama administration to take immediate steps to examine this issue and take swift action to protect the Indian youth and tribal families of South Dakota. This has gone on long enough.”

“It’s long past time that the federal government acts to protect these Indian children and follow through on the commitment to hold a summit that addresses these abuses,” Rep. Luján said. “On an issue this serious that impacts the well-being of children, too much time has passed without appropriate steps being taken.  The federal government has a responsibility to act in order to ensure the welfare of these children is of the utmost concern.”

Contact: Eben Burnham-Snyder, Rep. Ed Markey, 202-225-6065

Andrew Stoddard, Rep. Luján, 202-225-6190