June 2012Vol. 13, No. 5Tribe to Operate Child Welfare Services
The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe in Washington recently became the first Tribe in the nation allowed under new Federal rules to operate its own foster care, adoption, and other child welfare services. This shift in control over child welfare services is a result of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.
Prior to the passage of Fostering Connections, States made decisions regarding guardianship. Fostering Connections gave Tribes the right to apply for child welfare funding directly from the Federal Government through title IV-E of the Social Security Act and manage their own child welfare services.
Now, the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe can evaluate child abuse and neglect reports and operate its own foster care, adoption assistance, child support, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families programs. The Tribe also plans to develop, in partnership with the State of Washington, a Medicaid and food benefits eligibility pilot program for Tribal members in Kitsap County.
For more information, read the Tribe's press release:
http://www.pgst.nsn.us/images/Title_IV-E_release.pdf (72 KB)
Related Items
- More information on the Tribe, its history, government, culture, and people is available on the Tribe website:
http://www.pgst.nsn.us/home - For information on the Fostering Connections title IV-E provisions, visit the Administration for Children, Youth and Families website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/ebrochure2011/ACYF_CBPage4.htm
- Children's Bureau Express last wrote about the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe in "Tribal-State Agreement Benefits Children" (March 2009).