Rep. Gallego Bill to Protect Native American Children Approved in Committee
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved the Native American Child Protection Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Chairman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples and Ranking Member Paul Cook (R-CA).
The bipartisan legislation improves and reauthorizes several programs within the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act in order to improve the prevention, investigation, treatment, and prosecution of family violence, child abuse, and child neglect involving Native American children and families. Originally established in 1990, the grant programs are the only tribal-specific prevention and treatment programs for Native children who are at risk of being abused or have been abused.
Indian Child Abuse Treatment Grant Program: The bill improves and reauthorizes the Indian Child Abuse Treatment Grant Program to provide funding to tribal governments to establish treatment programs and culturally-appropriate services for the victims of child abuse and neglect.
National Indian Child Resource Services Center: The bill establishes a new National Indian Resource Services Center to provide tribes with technical assistance, advice, and training on addressing child abuse, family violence, and child neglect. It will also support efforts to improve intergovernmental coordination between federal and tribal personnel responding to those issues.
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Program: The bill improves and reauthorizes the establishment of tribal programs that investigate, prosecute, and prevent incidents of child abuse, child neglect, and family violence in Indian Country.
"The federal government has a solemn trust responsibility to ensure the protection of children, the most vulnerable members of Indigenous communities," said Chairman Gallego. "Unfortunately, there are extremely limited resources to develop culturally-specific child abuse and neglect treatment, investigation, and prevention programs. I'm proud that the Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved my bill to ensure that Tribes are able to access resources to keep their children safe and healthy."
The Native American Child Protection Act has been endorsed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA).