Hoeven, Cramer Announce Final Passage Of Native American Children's Safety Act

Press Release

Senator John Hoeven and Congressman Kevin Cramer today announced that the Senate and now the House have passed S. 184, the Native American Children's Safety Act, which Hoeven authored and introduced in the Senate. Congressman Cramer led the effort to get the same legislation, H.R. 1168, passed in the House June 1, 2015. S. 184 passed by voice vote today. The measure now goes to the president's desk for signature. The legislation implements protections for Native American children placed by tribal courts into the tribal foster care system.

"Our bill ensures that Native American children living on reservations have all of the same protections when assigned to foster care that children living off the reservation have," Hoeven said. "The measure requires background checks for all adults living in a foster home, which will help to protect children placed there at an already difficult time in their lives."

"Native American children are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to be victims of abuse or neglect than other American children," said Cramer. "And, children exposed to violence are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, suffer from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic disorders. The standards in this bill mirror existing national requirements for non-tribal foster care placements, ensuring tribal children receive care at least equal to the protections afforded non-tribal children."

Currently, there is no requirement that Native American tribes conduct background checks on everyone living in the foster care house, yet there has been abuse and harm committed by adults living in the same foster care home as the children.

The Native American Children's Safety Act requires background checks to be conducted on all adults living in a potential foster home before a tribal court may place a child in that home. The check would include a national criminal records check and a review of child abuse or neglect registries in any state in which the individual under review has lived in the preceding five years.

A background check would also be required of any adult who moves into the home after placement. To ensure the ongoing safety of children placed in foster care, a certified home would be periodically subject to another round of checks before it could be recertified. Tribes also have the flexibility to require additional checks if they want.

Highlights of the Native American Child Safety Act:

Requires that all prospective foster care parents and adults living in the home undergo a background check prior to the placement of a Native American foster care child

Requires that background checks include checking for criminal activity as well as state and tribal child abuse and neglect registries

Requires that adults who join the household after the foster care child has been placed there also undergo background checks

Requires that foster care homes undergo recertification periodically, to ensure they remain safe for foster care children

Allows a tribe the flexibility for additional requirements that they determine necessary within its existing authority.

The bill sets out that the Department of Interior will work with Tribes to establish necessary procedures to ensure the safety of foster care children

The bill requires the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which currently does not conduct these background checks in every case when placing Native American foster care children in foster care homes, follow these same requirements when acting on behalf of the Tribes

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