Report: South Dakota Removes Hundreds Of Native American Children From Their Homes, Collects Millions In Federal Funds
By Tanya Somanader and Marie Diamond on Oct 27, 2011 at 12:20 pm
There was a time in this country when thousands of Native American children were forced from their homes by public and private agencies, then sent to boarding schools where the school founder’s motto was “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” This practice wiped out cultural ties and traditions from an entire generation on which tribes depended to carry on their legacies. In 1978, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act, a law meant to ensure that Native American children stay with Native American families, especially when placed in foster care.
But an NPR investigation reveals that 32 states are “failing to abide by the act,” with the most egregious violations occurring in South Dakota. In this state, “Native American children make up only 15 percent of the child population, yet they make up more than half the children in foster care.” According to the investigation, “the state is removing 700 native children a year, sometimes in questionable circumstances,” claiming generic “neglect” when there isn’t any. State records reveal that “almost 90 percent of the kids in family foster care are in non-native homes or group care.”
Meanwhile, these questionable decisions to break up families create a massive inflow of federal money into the state:
Every time a state puts a child in foster care, the federal government sends money. Because South Dakota is poor, it receives even more money than other states – almost a hundred million dollars a year.
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http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/27/354306/south-dakota-removes-native-american-children/?mobile=nc
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