Shaquita Ogletree
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a long-standing federal law protecting the well-being of Native children by upholding family integrity and stability within their community; and the “gold standard” in child welfare policy.
October 2018, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that ICWA was unconstitutional in its entirety based on the Equal Protection Clause and the 14th Amendment. January 2019 in defense of ICWA an impressive array of state and national organizations joined in support of Tribal nations and representatives headed by Casey Family Programs and joined by CWLA and other organizations. On Wednesday, March 13 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will be hearing oral arguments for the appeal of Brackeen v. Bernhardt (previously known as Brackeen v. Zinke).
The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) is hosting a Twitter chat on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at 12pm ET to educate people about ICWA, discuss why the law is important today, hear the Native youth perspective, and encourage people to get involved in standing up for ICWA. Simply tag, follow, retweet, and join the virtual conversation through the designated hashtag—#ProudtoProtectICWA.
For more information on the campaign, click here
