On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, the Department of Interior, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), published a notice soliciting grants from Indian Organizations to establish and operate off-reservation Indian child and family service programs. 

 

Indian child and family service programs are to provide services for stabilizing Indian families and Tribes, preventing the breakup of Indian families, and, in particular, to ensure that the permanent removal of an Indian child from the custody of their Indian parent or Indian custodian shall be the last resort.

 

The notice, published in the Federal Register, provides all the needed information for applicants with an application deadline of no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, July 16, 2021. The BIA will not consider proposals received after this time and date.

 

Congress has not provided funding for the program in the recent past, but in FY 2020, Congress appropriated $1.0 million, with an additional $1 million provided in FY 2021. Funding is authorized under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).