Greegor
January 12th 07, 10:25 PM
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/8510957p-8403993c.html
Alaska villages may proceed with foster care lawsuit
By ANNE SUTTON, Associated Press Writer
Published: December 22, 2006
Last Modified: December 22, 2006 at 05:42 PM
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska Supreme Court has cleared the way for
a four-year-old lawsuit challenging the state's foster care system to
proceed, although attorneys for the plaintiffs say they may seek to
settle the case out of court.
The lawsuit, filed by four Alaska native villages, contends that the
state has failed to follow federal laws regarding the care of native
children who are taken from their own families because of abuse or
neglect. It alleges that the state too often fails to find safe and
culturally appropriate homes for the children.
Native communities fear they are losing their children to the state
system, said Dorothy Larson, administrator of the Dillingham-based
Curyung Tribal Council, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
"The reason we did this was to make sure our children were served
better and we wanted to maintain their connection with their community
and their culture," said Larson. "That's the whole purpose of our case
is to bring that to light and to remedy it."
Federal law requires that social workers first try to place a child
with a relative or, failing that, to find another native tribal member,
preferably in the same community.
Larson said it is difficult for rural residents to meet state
requirements to be foster parents, partly because the process involves
traveling to Anchorage for training. And she said families need more
support from social workers who are already overburdened with large
caseloads.
The lawsuit was filed in 2002 but a year later the state sought to
block it before it went to trial by arguing, among other things, that
the villages did not have the legal standing to bring the lawsuit.
While both the Superior and the Supreme courts did dismiss some claims
against the state, the Dec. 15 high court ruling confirms the tribal
governments' authority to hold the state accountable.
Andrew Harrington, executive director of Alaska Legal Services Corp.,
which is representing the villages, said they will seek to prove, under
federal civil rights laws, that the state failed to implement the
Indian Child Welfare Act and other federal laws.
"The (lower) court should be able to go forward with those claims and
give the tribes the opportunity to prove their case and then have the
state take appropriate action to correct that," Harrington said.
State officials said they already have been working on the problem.
Department of Health of Social Services Deputy Commissioner Tammy
Sandoval said the state's Office of Child Services has taken a number
of measures to recruit more foster families, both native and nonnative.
"I don't think people are really aware of the need unless there is a
case that sort of highlights the issues. So we take the opportunities
we can to do a lot of community education," Sandoval said.
Those efforts have extended into villages with public service
announcements and advertisements, including messages printed on berry
buckets urging residents to become part of the safety net for children.
Sandoval said recruitment in Dillingham last spring opened up six new
native foster homes.
According to the original lawsuit, between 30 to 40 Curyung children
were in foster care, most of those in Anchorage.
Out of 36 Curyung children currently in out-of-home care, 20 are in
Dillingham or surrounding villages, four are in Anchorage and Bethel
while the rest are with licensed relative placements in locations
around the state, according to state officials.
Sandoval said the state also has been working with the Casey Family
Programs, a national child welfare organization that has helped develop
partnerships between tribes and states.
The group says a disproportionate number of ethnic children nationwide
are in foster care and Alaska is no exception.
About 60 percent of children in state custody are Alaska native,
although they account for only about a quarter of the state's
population of children. Recent studies also showed that Alaska native
children were an average of 6.5 times more likely to be placed in
foster care than their Caucasian counterparts.
Alaska villages may proceed with foster care lawsuit
By ANNE SUTTON, Associated Press Writer
Published: December 22, 2006
Last Modified: December 22, 2006 at 05:42 PM
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Alaska Supreme Court has cleared the way for
a four-year-old lawsuit challenging the state's foster care system to
proceed, although attorneys for the plaintiffs say they may seek to
settle the case out of court.
The lawsuit, filed by four Alaska native villages, contends that the
state has failed to follow federal laws regarding the care of native
children who are taken from their own families because of abuse or
neglect. It alleges that the state too often fails to find safe and
culturally appropriate homes for the children.
Native communities fear they are losing their children to the state
system, said Dorothy Larson, administrator of the Dillingham-based
Curyung Tribal Council, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
"The reason we did this was to make sure our children were served
better and we wanted to maintain their connection with their community
and their culture," said Larson. "That's the whole purpose of our case
is to bring that to light and to remedy it."
Federal law requires that social workers first try to place a child
with a relative or, failing that, to find another native tribal member,
preferably in the same community.
Larson said it is difficult for rural residents to meet state
requirements to be foster parents, partly because the process involves
traveling to Anchorage for training. And she said families need more
support from social workers who are already overburdened with large
caseloads.
The lawsuit was filed in 2002 but a year later the state sought to
block it before it went to trial by arguing, among other things, that
the villages did not have the legal standing to bring the lawsuit.
While both the Superior and the Supreme courts did dismiss some claims
against the state, the Dec. 15 high court ruling confirms the tribal
governments' authority to hold the state accountable.
Andrew Harrington, executive director of Alaska Legal Services Corp.,
which is representing the villages, said they will seek to prove, under
federal civil rights laws, that the state failed to implement the
Indian Child Welfare Act and other federal laws.
"The (lower) court should be able to go forward with those claims and
give the tribes the opportunity to prove their case and then have the
state take appropriate action to correct that," Harrington said.
State officials said they already have been working on the problem.
Department of Health of Social Services Deputy Commissioner Tammy
Sandoval said the state's Office of Child Services has taken a number
of measures to recruit more foster families, both native and nonnative.
"I don't think people are really aware of the need unless there is a
case that sort of highlights the issues. So we take the opportunities
we can to do a lot of community education," Sandoval said.
Those efforts have extended into villages with public service
announcements and advertisements, including messages printed on berry
buckets urging residents to become part of the safety net for children.
Sandoval said recruitment in Dillingham last spring opened up six new
native foster homes.
According to the original lawsuit, between 30 to 40 Curyung children
were in foster care, most of those in Anchorage.
Out of 36 Curyung children currently in out-of-home care, 20 are in
Dillingham or surrounding villages, four are in Anchorage and Bethel
while the rest are with licensed relative placements in locations
around the state, according to state officials.
Sandoval said the state also has been working with the Casey Family
Programs, a national child welfare organization that has helped develop
partnerships between tribes and states.
The group says a disproportionate number of ethnic children nationwide
are in foster care and Alaska is no exception.
About 60 percent of children in state custody are Alaska native,
although they account for only about a quarter of the state's
population of children. Recent studies also showed that Alaska native
children were an average of 6.5 times more likely to be placed in
foster care than their Caucasian counterparts.