Active Efforts means affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts intended primarily to maintain or reunite an Indian child with his or her family. Where an agency is involved in the child-custody proceeding, active efforts must involve assisting the parent or parents or Indian custodian through the steps of a case plan and with accessing or developing the resources necessary to satisfy the case plan. To the maximum extent possible, active efforts should be provided in a manner consistent with the prevailing social and cultural conditions and way of life of the Indian child’s tribe and should be conducted in partnership with the Indian child and the Indian child’s parents, extended family members, Indian custodians, and tribe. Active efforts are to be tailored to the facts and circumstances of the case (examples are provided in the revised federal regulations).
Canadian First Nations means the indigenous peoples of Canada, also called First Peoples.
Customary adoption means the permanent placement of an Indian child without termination of parental rights, but the parent or Indian custodian cannot have the child returned upon demand.
Disrupted adoption means the permanent placement of a child (with or without termination of parental rights in the case of an Indian child) is at risk, or has resulted in the child coming back into the care and custody of the department.
Dissolved adoption means an adoption in which the legal relationship between the adoptive parents and adoptive child is severed, either voluntarily or involuntarily, after the adoption is legally finalized. This results in the child’s return to (or entry into) foster care or placement with new adoptive parents.
- For a parent or Indian custodian, the place at which a person has been physically present and that the person regards as home; a person’s true, fixed, principal, and permanent home, to which that person intends to return and remain indefinitely even though the person may be currently residing elsewhere.
- For an Indian child, the domicile of the Indian child child’s parents or Indian custodian or guardian. In the case of an Indian child whose parents are not married to each other, the domicile of the Indian child’s custodial parent. Per 25 C.F.R. § 23.2
Federally recognized tribe means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for the services provided to Indians by the Secretary of the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaska Native Village. 25 U. S. C. 1903(8)
Impasse means a deadlock between CA and the LICWAC or child’s tribe following thorough discussion by the CA case worker of the case plan and case decisions with the worker’s supervisor and managers and the LICWAC or tribal designee does not concur with the department’s plan and decisions.
Indian ancestry means a child or family who have American Indian/Alaska Native heritage. A child does not have to be an Indian child as defined by ICWA to be ethnically Indian.
Indian child means any unmarried and unemancipated person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member or citizen of an Indian tribe or (b) is eligible for membership or citizenship in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member/citizen of an Indian tribe. 25 U.S.C. § 1903 (4); 25 C.F.R. § 23.2. A child who meets this definition is subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Indian child’s tribe means (a) the Indian tribe in which an Indian child is a member or eligible for membership or (b), in the case of an Indian child who is a member of or eligible for membership in more than one tribe, the Indian tribe with which the Indian child has the more significant contacts. 25 U.S.C. § 1903(5)
Indian custodian means any Indian who has legal custody of an Indian child under applicable Tribal law or custom or under applicable State law, or to whom temporary physical care, custody, and control has been transferred by the parent of such child. An Indian may demonstrate that he or she is an Indian custodian by looking to Tribal law or Tribal custom or State law. 25 U.S.C. § 1903(6)
Indian tribe means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for the services provided to Indians by the Secretary of the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaska Native Village. 25 U.S.C. § 1903(8)
Imminent risk of serious harm (used in risk only intakes and coordination with law enforcement) means:
Imminent - Having the potential to occur at any moment, or there is substantial likelihood that harm will be experienced.
Risk of Serious Harm - A high likelihood of a child being abused or experiencing negligent treatment or maltreatment that could result in one or more of the following outcomes:
- Death
- Life endangering illness
- Injury requiring medical attention
- Substantial risk of injury to the physical, emotional, or cognitive development
Local Indian Child Welfare Advisory Committee(LICWAC) serve in an advisory capacity to Children’s Administration (CA) caseworkers and supervisors by recommending appropriate case plans and services for Indian families. LICWAC recommendations are included in the Court Report.
Memoranda of Understanding may also be referred to within CA regions as a Memorandum of Agreement. The MOUs clarify roles and responsibilities of both CA and the tribes to enhance coordination and cooperation between the Tribal governments of Washington State federally recognized tribes and CA in providing appropriate child welfare services to Indian children.
Native American Inquiry Referral(NAIR) means the centralized CA business process the CA caseworker uses to inquire and verify whether a child is a member/citizen or eligible for membership/citizenship with a federally recognized tribe and meets the definition of Indian Child as defined in federal and state ICWA.
Non-federally recognized tribe means any tribe, Band, or other organized group of community of Indians that has not been recognized as eligible for services provided to Indians by the Secretary of the Interior. Such a tribe may refer to itself as a “landless” tribe.
Qualified Expert Witness means:
- A professional qualified to testify regarding whether the child’s continued custody by the parent or Indian custodian is likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage to the child and should be qualified to testify as to the prevailing social and cultural standards of the Indian child’s Tribe.
- A person may be designated by the Indian child’s Tribe as being qualified to testify to the prevailing social and cultural standards of the Indian child’s Tribe.
- The court or any party may request the assistance of the Indian child’s Tribe or the BIA office serving the Indian child’s Tribe in locating persons qualified to serve as expert witnesses.
- The caseworker regularly assigned to the Indian child may not serve as a qualified expert witness in child-custody proceedings concerning the child.
Tribal Court means a court with jurisdiction over child custody proceedings and which is either:
- A court of Indian offenses; or
- A court established and operated under the code or custom of any federally recognized Indian tribe; or
- Any other administrative body of a federally recognized Indian tribe that is vested with authority over child custody proceedings. 25 U.S.C. § 1903(12)
Tribal/State Agreement may also be referred to within CA regions as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The MOUs clarify roles and responsibilities to enhance coordination and cooperation between the tribal governments of Washington State federally recognized tribes and CA in providing appropriate child welfare services to Indian children.