This brief guide from Casey Family Programs lays out strategies for recruiting and retaining tribal foster families for American Indian and Alaska Native children, ensuring that indigenous children can stay in their communities. "American Indian and Alaska Native children thrive with families that reflect their culture," says the guide "especially if they need to be placed in out-of-home care. To preserve these connections, the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) lays out preferred placements for out-of-home care when a child who meets the ICWA’s definition of an “Indian child” is not able to be safe at home."
This guide includes information on preferred placements for Native children, in order of priority; practices for successfully recruiting Native foster carers, as well as for retaining those carers; and the four primary strategy areas for effective recruitment and retention (infrastructure and resources, advocacy, policy, and agency practices).
View the online guide here.
