November 2024Vol. 25, No. 9New Toolkit Provides Guidance on Understanding and Applying ICWA

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 outlines guidance and regulations that govern child welfare practice involving American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children. It upholds the rights and cultures of AI/AN families by outlining protections to keep children with their families, cultures, and tribes. To help professionals apply ICWA to their work, the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare released a new toolkit. It is designed for child welfare, substance use, legal, and health-care professionals who work with AI/AN families affected by substance use.

The ICWA Active Efforts Support Toolkit includes a guiding document, the Active Efforts Support Tool, and the following learning modules:

• Module 1: "An Introduction to the Indian Child Welfare Act and Active Efforts"
• Module 2: "An Introduction to the Five Points of Family Intervention"
• Module 3: "The Role of Collaborative Partners in the Implementation of Active Efforts"
• Module 4: "An Introduction to the ICWA Active Efforts Support Tool"

"Active efforts" refers to an ICWA provision requiring professionals to make affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts to maintain or reunite AI/AN children with their families before involuntary foster care placement or termination of parental rights. These efforts should be customized for each family and be consistent with the tribe's social and cultural conditions and way of life.

While ICWA was established in response to a traumatic history of family separation in AI/AN families in the United States, its principles of taking active, intentional steps to preserve families can be applied to work with many families involved with child welfare, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

Explore the toolkit and share it with your networks to work toward improved outcomes for AI/AN families.