Indian Child Welfare Act
Because an alarming number of Indian children were removed from their homes and their tribes, in 1978 Congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA),a federal law designed to protect Indian families from "abusive child welfare practices that resulted in the separation of large numbers of Indian children from their families and tribes through adoption or foster case placement." ICWA puts in place federal safeguards for the removal of Indian children from their homes to both protect the interests of Indian children, and gives Indian tribes a voice in the process.
