Cramer Legislation to Protect Native American Children Receives Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bill introduced by Congressman Kevin Cramer to create uniform standards for the placement of Native American children into foster homes received a hearing yesterday in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs. The Native American Children’s Safety Act would finally implement an across-the-board minimum protection for children placed in foster care under the direction of a tribal court. Senator John Hoeven has introduced the legislation in the Senate.

During the hearing, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior, Larry Roberts, as well as Congressman Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), acknowledged Cramer’s efforts to protect native children, including the hearing held last month to examine child welfare on Spirit Lake Reservation.

“Congressman Cramer, I want to thank you for your leadership on this issue. Safety of native children is of utmost priority for the department and we’ve talked about this before in the past. We strongly support the principles of your legislation,” said Roberts during the hearing.

Under the legislation, a background check must be conducted on all adults living in a potential foster home before a tribal court can place any child there. This must include a National Instant Criminal Background Check as well as a search of child abuse or neglect registries in any state the individual has lived in the preceding five years. Any adult 18 years or older who moves into the home after placement of the child would also be required to undergo the same thorough check.

“While uniform standards for foster homes exist at the national level, Native American tribes have a complex and uneven series of procedures and guidelines which vary from tribe to tribe,” said Cramer. “This bill makes sure there are adequate background checks for every person who lives in a foster home before placing a child there.”

The hearing also examined the Indian Tribal Self-Determination in Land Consolidation Act, which would improve the land buy-back program for tribes established through the court settlement Cobell v. Salazar. As part of this settlement, the Department of the Interior recently signed an agreement with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe allowing a buy-back of 230,000 parcels to take place.