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Native American Search
Indian Child Welfare Act
| Why is my Native American heritage important? |
In 1978 the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed due to the high number of Native American parents that had their children unnecessarily removed from their care and placed in non-tribal homes. Having Native American in your heritage allows you to cite this Act when petitioning the court and this can be very effective in opening sealed adoption files.
Section 1951b of the Indian Child Welfare Act is of particular interest to adoptees. It allows adult Native American children access to their birth information so that they may enroll in their tribe. Although the birth parents reserve the right to file a veto, the adoptees are entitled to tribal notification so that they may process their tribal rights and privileges.
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| How do I take advantage of the Indian Child Welfare Act? |
Judges will often request some sort of proof that the adoptee is Native American when using the Indian Child Welfare Act. However, the agency that handled the adoption (or the court file itself) may contain a notation referencing the adoptee's Native American ancestry.
If you have documentation of your Native American ancestry, be sure to include it with your court petition. Also include a copy of the Indian Child Welfare Act so that the judge is well informed of your rights.
If you have any reason to believe that you are even the smallest bit Native American, you should cite the Indian Child Welfare Act in your petition. Include affidavits from family members (adoptive and birth) who have told you that you have Native American blood, as well as any 'official' agency or other documents to support your claims.
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| What are the possible outcomes? |
Your petition will have several possible outcomes. It can be denied outright, and you will receive nothing. You might be denied identifying information, but receive censored copies of documents, or merely a summary of non-ID compiled from the documents themselves.
The judge might also choose to appoint a confidential intermediary (CI). The intermediary will be given the file and will conduct a search for your birthparents, usually the birthmother if you have not already found her. She will then be asked for permission to release identifying information to you. The irony is that in many cases, you still will not be given the court file or the documents contained within it, even if your birthparent(s) agrees to exchange identifying information.
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| How can TIPS help me in this process? |
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TIPS will prepare all the necessary legal papers to petition the court to act as the confidential intermediary (CI) in your investigation. In the case of the Indian Child Welfare Act, sometimes the Court will appoint a tribal intermediary who will process your tribal enrollment in addition to seeking permission from your birthparent(s) to exchange identifying information. This is an infringement on the mandates of the Federal Act, but that does not seem to have stopped judges from doing it.
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