September 2014Vol. 15, No. 8Tribal Foster Care, Adoption Needs Assessment

The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Tribes (NRC4Tribes) works to help Tribes address and meet their child welfare needs and promotes culturally competent and appropriate service delivery for American Indian and Alaska native children, youth, and families. The NRC4Tribes conducted a needs assessment in order to examine Tribal child welfare practices and evaluate challenges, issues, and gaps in practice.

The NRC's findings related to foster care and adoption revealed that the services offered by Tribal child welfare programs varied greatly. The assessment discusses some of the differences in the services offered; the role and challenges of Tribal child welfare collaboration with State and local agencies; and some of the philosophies, attitudes, and approaches behind Tribal child welfare practices. Other topics addressed include the following:

• Foster care funding
• Foster parent recruitment, licensing, and training
• Needs of Tribal foster care programs
• Tribal foster parents' perceptions of the Tribal child welfare program

The assessment includes a table describing strengths of Tribal programs shared by Tribal foster and adoptive parents. Access the Tribal foster care and adoption findings here:

http://www.nrc4tribes.org/Tribal-Foster-Care-and-Adoption-Findings.cfm

The complete report, Findings From the National Needs Assessment of American Indian/Alaska Native Child Welfare Programs, is available through the NRC4Tribes website:

http://www.nrc4tribes.org/files/NRCT%20Needs%20Assessment%20Findings_APPROVED.pdf (6 MB)