This article discusses a task force report, which reveals that over the past 40 years, state and federal agencies have failed to live up to their obligations under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The purpose of the act is to ensure that Native American children remain within tribal families. Prior to the act, Native American children were eight times more likely to be placed into foster care. The report found that California was not providing the services that it is obligated to provide under the act.
The task force stated that agencies failed to understand or properly apply the law. The task force operated under the instruction of several tribal chairs. Prior to the law an alarmingly high number of Native American children were being placed in non-Native American foster homes. The law provides protection for tribal children who are in the foster-care system. There are children lost in the system who do not know what their tribal affiliations are.