Court Reform and American Indian and Alaskan Native Children: Increasing Protections and Improving Outcomes

This Technical Assistance Brief, a joint publication of the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and the NCJFCJ, has found that additional improvements in data collection and collaboration between courts and public agencies are required to better meet the unique needs of American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) children in court dependency cases, and offers additional recommendations to strengthen the foster care system’s response to the needs of AI/AN children. Partially funded by OJJDP, the report provides a preliminary examination of recommendations made in a 2004 study by the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, focusing on State and Tribal Court involvement in Indian child welfare matters and opportunities for enhancing court systems for AI/AN children. (August 2009) CAN-64