By Ann Nicholson
August 24, 2001
A study conducted by the George Warren Brown School of Social Work's (GWB) Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies will assist American Indian communities in better accessing much needed federal funding for adoption and foster care services.
The "Tribal-State Title IV-E Intergovernmental Agreements: Facilitating Tribal Access to Federal Resources" study --which is part of a major national project on American Indian child welfare --also has contributed to proposed new federal legislation.
"The study is the first to document current tribal-state agreements and overall barriers in tribal access to one of the largest federal sources of funding for child welfare," said Eddie Brown, D.S.W., associate dean for community affairs and director of the Buder Center. "Our research found that although Congress intended that IV-E funding serve all eligible children, American Indian children under tribal court jurisdiction are denied equal access to this crucial funding.
"The lack of a uniform standard for tribal-state agreements and the inability of tribes to enter into IV-E agreements directly with the federal government also affect the delivery of appropriate and effective services to the thousands of eligible children in Indian country each year."
The study supports a proposed bipartisan amendment to Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, which would allow direct funding from the federal government to tribal communities. U.S. Sen. Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) is sponsoring the Senate version (S. 550) and U.S. Rep. David Camp (R-Mich.) is sponsoring the House version (H.R. 2335).
"The amendment acknowledges the goals of tribal sovereignty and self-determination, recognizing the preference of tribes to work directly with the federal government," said Gordon E. Limb, Ph.D., lecturer and assistant director of the Buder Center. "The legislation opens up access to those tribal communities that currently don't have state agreements. But it also allows the 75 American Indian tribal governments with IV-E agreements in 14 states the choice of continuing agreements with those state governments."
In addition to Brown and Limb, other researchers for the Buder study were Leslie Scheuler Whitaker, MSW '89, a senior evaluator for Philliber Research Associates and doctoral student at GWB, and Buder scholars Chey A. Clifford, MSW '00, and second-year student Ric Munoz.
The IV-E study documents the history of child-welfare legislation for American Indians, gives an overview of funding sources, discusses current governmental relationships and notes that state governments are assuming primary responsibility for IV-E eligibility determination and foster care maintenance. The project included not only the monumental task of gathering and examining the numerous tribal-state agreements, but also involved focus groups and telephone surveys with tribal and state officials.
The study recommends means of strengthening provisions of IV-E agreements, including allowing tribal communities better access to funding for training and administrative costs. Since direct federal funding is uncertain, the study also calls for the development of a model IV-E funding agreement for consideration by tribes and states.
The National Indian Children's Alliance (NICA) sponsored the study, which is the first of several to be conducted by the Buder Center. The Casey Family Programs, the National Indian Child Welfare Association, Brown and four other nationally renowned American Indian social work experts formed the alliance last year. The goal is to improve child welfare services for American Indians, conduct national research and influence policy. In September, the Buder Center will host an authors' forum of the NICA research groups to evaluate and discuss projects.
"Child welfare policymakers and practitioners often lack accurate and up-to-date information about the child welfare needs of American Indian children when they develop new programming, laws and funding proposals," Brown said. "The result is that improvements in child welfare services often do not reach American Indian children. The studies conducted by the Buder Center and the other NICA research groups will provide accurate and reliable data for NICA to advocate for the needs of American Indian children and become an important voice in the public policy dialogue on child welfare."
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