Improving Compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act: A Guide for Juvenile and Family Courts

This technical assistance bulletin provides juvenile and family courts with practice recommendations and tools to improve compliance with the letter of the ICWA as well as with the “spirit of the ICWA” through services and supports. The first, most critical and ongoing step is to develop respectful and authentic relationships with tribes to fully implement the ICWA and best serve Native children. Following the development of relationships, courts should collaborate to examine practice, build understanding through training, develop an action plan, and monitor the action plan to ensure accountability and progress. Judges and child welfare workers must commit to a course of action that is inclusive of tribal voices and that leads to real and sustainable change for Native children and families.