The Federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was signed into law in 1978 in response to high numbers of Indian children being removed from their families & communities at alarming rates.
As threats to Federal ICWA loom, New Mexico has the opportunity to safeguard and expand upon important protections for Indian children and families.
The New Mexico Tribal Indian Child Welfare Consortium (NMTIC), New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (NM CYFD), the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (CSVANW), and Bold Futures have formed a work group to draft and pass this critical legislation.
How are we leading the work?
Tribal leaders, Tribal ICWA workers, advocates and other stakeholders have come together to expand upon federal ICWA in the 2022 New Mexico Legislative Session.
Our work group is led by and centers the participation of tribal nations by actively seeking their representation and engagement throughout the process. This includes facilitated meetings where we build strategy and actively seek tribal expertise.
Part of the process centered on the expertise of members of the New Mexico Tribal Indian Child Welfare Consortium (NMTIC); NMTIC includes tribal ICWA Social Workers representing 23 tribes in NM. NMTIC carries significant on-the-ground expertise working on ICWA cases and knowledge of specific issues related to each tribe. This is of immense value and is incredibly important to the process of determining what needs to be addressed in the statewide ICWA.