Yes. In enacting the Indian Child Welfare Act, Congress noted the particularly harmful consequences of the unwarranted removal of Indian children from their families by nontribal public and private agencies, and their alarmingly high placements in non-Indian foster and adoptive homes and institutions. State court child custody proceedings involving an adoptive placement of an Indian child, whether privately arranged or conducted by a state agency, are subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Does the Indian Child Welfare Act afford access to adoption records for Indian youth?
Two provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act provide a means for an adopted Indian, eighteen or older, to obtain information relating to his or her adoption.
Section 1917 of the Act provides for release, upon application, of certain information by the court that entered the final decree.
Section 1951(b) of the Act provides for a similar release of information by the Secretary of the Interior. The Indian Child Welfare Act gives an adopted Indian child, who is eighteen or older, the right to access his or her adoption records to identify the biological parents' tribal affiliation so as to establish tribal membership in the tribe of a parent and to access "such other information as may be necessary to protect any rights flowing from the individual's tribal relationship."
25 U.S.C. 1917
Does the Indian Child Welfare Act give a tribe any rights to the Indian adoptee's biological parents' information?
Yes. In accordance with
1951(b) an Indian tribe can request the Secretary of the Interior to disclose necessary information in its central registry to establish an adopted Indian child's enrollment or to determine "any rights or benefits associated with that membership."
How does recruitment of Indian families play into placement?
Recruitment of Indian foster and adoptive families is perhaps the most critical component necessary to implement the ICWA. If foster and adoptive families meeting ICWA’s placement preferences are not available, the Indian Child Welfare Act’s intent to maintain Indian children within their tribal culture and community cannot be fulfilled.
How are non-Indians in general and non-Indian family members involved in placement?
The Indian Child Welfare Act treats non-Indian parents and extended family members the same as Indian family members, with regard to placement preferences, although a family member’s ability to foster or maintain an Indian child’s connection to his or her tribe or culture is an appropriate factor to consider in determining placement of the child.
How do tribal values apply to placement?
One of the primary purposes of the ICWA is to foster or maintain the connections between an Indian child and his or her community, tribe and culture. This purpose is achieved by placing an Indian child who requires placement within his or her tribal community. Tribal values apply to placement since placement within the tribe or tribal community by definition fulfills the purposes of the ICWA. Legislative history of the ICWA documented the failure of state social services agencies and state courts to view tribal values and conditions as legitimate, and concluded that many removals of Indian children and placement of those children in non-Indian homes occurred for inappropriate reasons.