U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said the Justice Department will step up its enforcement of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which is designed to prevent unnecessary seizure of Indian children from their families to place them into white foster homes. Chase Iron Eyes is the attorney for the Lakota People’s Law Project and says the announcement is good news after years of work to increase South Dakota’s compliance with ICWA and bypass the state with direct funding to the tribal social services efforts.

Iron Eyes says talks with the DOJ last week were productive. Five tribes are trying to obtain $300,000 grants to begin developing needed resources while the Standing Rock, Oglala, and Rosebud tribes are already using similar grants to study the feasibility of direct federal funding, according to Iron Eyes.

He says the state has a financial disincentive to transfer funds since South Dakota receives about $65 million each year to fund Indian children in white foster homes. As for the accusation that there are fewer available Indian foster homes to house children…

Eyes says direct federal funding would be used for rewriting certification policies for caretakers, developing training for Indian foster families, and building new homes and facilities so Indian children are raised in their own culture. He says it’s a constructive effort to improve overall conditions on South Dakota reservations.