NRC4Tribes Events and Announcements

Three of the nation’s leading tribal organizations announced they are in the early stages of pursuing litigation to protect the civil rights of Veronica More

NICWA shares the outrage reverberating through Indian Country today. It is incomprehensible that, in its decision, the South Carolina Supreme Court took the added measure of forbidding the state Family Court from holding hearings to determine what is in Veronica's best interest. More

NCAI is astounded and alarmed that the South Carolina Supreme Court has issued an order to transfer Veronica, the daughter of Dusten Brown, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, to the adoptive couple and doing so without holding a hearing to determine the best interests of the child. More

South Carolina’s high court ruled 3-2 that the Capobiancos are the only party properly seeking to adopt the girl in the state and ordered a Family Court to finalize the couple’s adoption. More

In a split 5-4 opinion by Justice Alito, with a strong dissent from Justice Sotomayor, the Court limited ICWA, but did not eliminate it More

Promising Futures: Best Practices for Serving Children, Youth, and Parents Experiencing Domestic Violence is a website developed by FUTURES to help domestic violence advocates enhance their programming for children and their mothers. More

In an awe-inspiring show of solidarity, dozens of other native leaders representing tribes and every major national Indian organization in the country, as well as older Indian adoptees and tribal elders, were also in attendance. Hundreds of Indian people had made the journey to Washington to support Dusten Brown, Veronica, and the Cherokee Nation in upholding the letter and spirit of the the Indian Child Welfare Act. It was, perhaps, the most significant show of force by native people in Washington since the opening week of the National Museum of the American Indian in September 2004. More

When asked on the SCOTUS blog about the case involving the ICWA, they replied, "no word today. Earliest we could hear would be on Thursday at 10 a.m. This case is probably taking a while both because it was argued in April and because the Justices seemed to find it difficult." More

This is a must watch for advocacy for early childhood. The website also tells more about the entire documentary and shorter video learning modules. This is going to be an awesome tool to use to “Tell the Story.” More

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is searching for an individual to serve as a Program Coordinator (Victims Assistance) for the Office of Justice Services for the Pine Ridge Agency. Do you have experience serving the needs of victims directly affected by violent crimes? More

This ICWA educational resource video is the culmination of the ongoing collaboration between the Mississippi Courts, Child Welfare Agency, and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in consultation with the National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues and the National Resource Center for Tribes. The video was produced by Mad Genius, Inc., Ridgeland, Mississippi. More

I am writing to emphasize how important it is for states and tribes to work together and to engage in ongoing, meaningful consultation around the delivery of child welfare services More

Close to half the states have had a reunification event at this point and these events bring important focus to the first priority of child welfare systems when removal cannot be prevented. More

Register for next month's webinar on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, from 3-5 PM EDT - Building a Culturally Responsive Workforce: The Texas Model for Undoing Disproportionality & Disparities in Child Welfare, the 8th session in What Works for the Workforce: Leadership Competencies in Action - A National Webinar Series on Leading Change to Strengthen the Child Welfare Workforce. More

Reclaiming Our Space, Vision & Voices to Strengthen the Grassroots Advocacy Movement to End Violence Against Native Women. Early Bird Registration: $100 by May 13, 2013 After May 13, 2013, Registration $150 More

The Children’s Bureau is pleased to announce that the 2013 National Foster Care Month website is now online More

The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 16, 2013 on an Indian Child Welfare Act case involving a South Carolina couple who were ordered to turn over a 27-month-old girl to her biological father More

The U.S. Supreme Court this week will hear an emotional family challenge to longstanding federal law on the adoption of Native American children, with several states, tribes and children's welfare groups lining up to support the current rules. The 18 states that have signed onto a brief supporting the federal law are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. More

The American Indian Justice Conference offers tribes across the nation an opportunity to develop plans to enhance tribal systems while providing essential information on matters concerning court development, drug and alcohol abuse strategies, SORNA implementation, and other relevant topic areas. More

Each year, during the third week of April, Chicago Safe Start hosts CEV Prevention and Awareness Week to help lead efforts to increase awareness and reduce the impact of children's exposure to violence. The intention is to highlight the unique challenges we face as a nation for preventing, treating and caring for children exposed to violence. More

On April 5, 2013, from 1:30-3:30 pm (EST), NCAI, in partnership with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, will host a webinar on implementation of the Violence Against Women Act's expanded tribal jurisdiction provision, and what issues it presents for Indian tribal governments. More

This Webinar is designed to help participants think critically about the possible benefits and drawbacks of utilizing domestic violence and/or sexual assault advocates as expert witnesses. More

The First Lady launched Let’s Move! as an initiative dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation. Let’s Move! in Indian Country focuses on improving the health of American Indian and Alaska Native children. More

The Missing and Exploited Children's Program (MECP) invites you to view April's presentation on multi-disciplinary team (MDT) investigations. This webinar is the second in our series on reducing the trauma to victims of abduction and exploitation during the investigation and recovery process. More

The focus of the Symposium is on strengthening and healing children, families, and the community through tribal-state collaboration. There is no fee for this event. More

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and Casey Family Programs are pleased to announce the launch of ICWA Info, a new online resource for people working on Indian child welfare issues. ICWA Info is designed to provide the public with information and timely updates about all things related to Indian child welfare and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). More

Congress recently passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, or “VAWA 2013.” This new law includes significant provisions addressing tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence. These tribal provisions were proposed by the Justice Department in 2011. More

This webinar will focus on systems and institutions that battered women often must interact with as they navigate living in or leaving abusive relationships and the struggle and confusion that women often face as they try to satisfy the demands of each system. More

The 17th Annual Virtual Birth to Three Institute (vBTT) is a five-week online professional development experience that will run from May 28 – June 27, 2013. Each week will address one content track and will consist of one plenary webcast and two corresponding webinars. More

The webinar will provide ideas and resources to help responsible fatherhood practitioners understand and meet the needs of non-custodial fathers and their families. It will feature an overview of federal, state and local policies, partnerships and initiatives; explain how fatherhood practitioners can partner with local child support offices; and generally explore strategies to help non-custodial fathers and their families. More

The court system can be intimidating even to the most experienced advocate. The Victim Advocate Courtroom Academy is a one-day , action packed workshop designed to better familiarize an advocate with standard courtroom procedures, and provide them with the tools needed to feel confident in a courtroom setting. More

Applications must be received no later than March 25, 2013. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announces its Native American Service to Science Initiative. Service to Science is a national initiative operated by SAMHSA’s Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies and is dedicated to enhancing the evaluation capacity of innovative programs and practices that aim to prevent substance abuse and related mental and behavioral health problems or the underlying factors associated with increased risk. More

HOPE | Healing for Our People Everywhere - Seeking The Courage to Heal. The 3rd HOPE Conference endeavors to eliminate child sexual trauma in Indian Country by calling upon community leaders, social justice & victim advocates, legal expert counselors, survivors and community members to join us to address this issue. More

The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health is pleased to announce an upcoming Advanced Practice Series conference from our Training Institute (CEUs pending). Domestic violence and addiction are often addressed as separate issues even though a growing body of evidence demonstrates a clear and consistent association between the incidence of addiction and interpersonal violence (physical, emotional and sexual) in women’s lives. More

Session 11: The Handbook on Sensitive Practice for Health Care Practitioners: Lessons from Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Presented by: Candice L. Schachter, PT, PhD Adjunct professor, School of Physical Therapy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK Canada Dr. Schachter is the principal investigator of the Sensitive Practice Project. More

Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 3:00-4:30 PM ET / 2:00-3:30 PM CT / 12:00-1:30 PM PT In February of 2012, Dr. Charlyn Harper Browne and Susan Notkin of the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) presented in the NRCPFC Webinar, Focusing on Well-Being: Developing a Protective Factors Framework for Youth in Care. NRCPFC is pleased that they will build on that presentation and provide updated information about their work in this upcoming event. More

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement is to make one-time grants to Tribes, Tribal organizations, or Tribal consortia. Due Date for this current funding opportunity is May 14, 2013 More

This course is designed for professionals interested in an introduction to the field of infant mental health and intervention with infants, toddlers, and their parents. More

Post Date:02/05/2013 / Application Due Date: 03/07/2013. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement is to establish, by awarding a cooperative agreement, a multimedia national adoption recruitment campaign to promote the adoption of children from the public child welfare foster care system to ensure that they have permanent adoptive homes with loving families and to establish a support system for the states in the utilization of the new media and appropriate recruitment response mechanisms so as to meet the requirements of the Child Health Act of 2000. More

Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2013, from 1-2:30 pm ET. Presenters will provide an in-depth overview of evidence-based practices (EBP) in child welfare, including the definition, relevance for the workforce, and implementation processes/strategies, and share a range of examples of jurisdictions that have effectively implemented EBP, discussing current trends, challenges and controversies, as well as lessons learned and tips for success. More

The deadline to submit proposals is 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on March 1, 2013. First Nations Development Institute (First Nations is a national Native nonprofit organization established in 1980 to work with Native peoples, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, and is a catalyst for social and economic justice. Our mission is to assist Indigenous peoples to control and develop their assets and, through that control, build the capacity to direct their economic futures in ways that fit their cultures. First Nations funds tribal programs and Native nonprofits located in or near Indian Country, including Hawaii and Alaska. More

The Child Maltreatment report series presents national data about child abuse and neglect known to child protective services agencies in the United States. Presenters will discuss key highlights from the most recent report, Child Maltreatment 2011, and share additional findings that shed light on emerging issues and trends in child abuse and neglect More

NRC4Tribes consultants attended a NRC4Tribes consultant orientation in December 2012.During the two-day meeting, consultants learned more about Children's Bureau practice in the provision of technical assistance for Tribes and States. More

This fourth webinar entitled, Promoting the Development and Maintenance of Successful Tribal Foster Care and Adoption Programs, will provide information about the findings of the NRC4Tribes needs assessment, how to access free TA through the T/TA Network, a discussion on T/TA available to help improve tribal foster care and adoption programs, and a discussion by a foster care and adoption specialist with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. More

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC), in partnership with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is pleased to announce awards for the FY 2012 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Grant Program. More

This is a recording of the third in a series of webinars focusing upon the recommendations of the needs assessment. This third webinar entitled, Supporting the Development of Management Information Systems for Tribal Child Welfare Programs, focuses upon the findings of the NRC4T needs assessment, how to access free TA through the T/TA Network, Organizational Assessments, as well as one tribal child welfare agency’s experiences in receiving an assessment. More

This is the second in a series of webinars focusing upon the recommendations of the needs assessment. (no recording of the presentation was captured) This second webinar entitled, Support the Use of Culturally Based Practices in Tribal Child Welfare, focuses upon the findings of the NRC4T needs assessment, how to access free TA through the T/TA Network, Organizational Assessments, as well as one tribal child welfare agency’s experiences in receiving an assessment. More

This is a recording of the first in a series of webinars focusing upon the recommendations of the needs assessment. This first webinar entitled, Support the Strengthening of the Tribal Child Welfare Program Infrastructure to Improve Practice, focuses upon the findings of the NRC4T needs assessment, how to access free TA through the T/TA Network, Organizational Assessments, as well as one tribal child welfare agency’s experiences in receiving an assessment. More

The NRC4Tribes conducted a Children's Bureau webinar to an audience of 69 participants providing an overview of who we are, who our partner agencies are, to explain our Vision, Mission, Philosophies, and Guiding Principles that we developed as we work together with the Children's Bureau to implement the NRC4Tribes. More