Child Abuse Hotline - 505/346-2867

 

It is the policy of Indian Affairs (IA) to provide social services to improve the quality of life for eligible Indians and their families that live on or near Indian reservations and to protect the children, elderly and disabled from abuse and neglect.  These services include, but are not limited to: assistance in solving problems related to family functioning and interpersonal relationships; referral to the appropriate resources for problems related to illness, physical or mental handicaps, drug abuse, alcoholism, and violation of the law; and protective services.  The Secretary has selected Indian Affairs as its representative for these actions.   Specifically, the Office of Indian Services, Division of Human Services has been assigned specific roles and responsibilities to carry out this function.

The Final Guidance for the Native American Children’s Safety Act (NACSA), Public Law 114-165 was signed by the Principal Deputy Assistance Secretary – Indian Affairs on May 17, 2018. The NASCA was enacted on June 3, 2016 and it required DOI to issue guidance on appropriate placement standards for Tribes no later than two years after the date of enactment of the Act.  The Act requires that before a Tribe can place a child into foster care, both: 1) a criminal records check, including a fingerprint-based check of national crime data bases of all adults in the home and 2) a check of Tribal and state abuse and neglect registries (this to include a check of all states where the individual has lived in the past 5 years).  A dear Tribal Leader’s Letter was signed by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs and is being distributed to all of the 571 federally recognized Tribes.

The final guidance is available on the BIA’s website at:  https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/assets/bia/ois/NACSA%20Guidelines%20FINAL%20-%20May%202018.pdf