What Is ICWA and Why Is It Important?
Adoption is a process that is often overlooked when people think about how a family is created, but it is a process that happens more often than you think it does. Many women consider adoption as an option, especially if they are faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Regardless of your situation, you yourself may have considered adoption.
The Colorado adoption process would provide your child and yourself with a new future. Although there are many resources available that talk about the process of adoption, there are not as many resources that talk about the adoption of Native American children. You may be of Native American descent, so the adoption process of your child may be a little different because of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which works to protect the cultural heritage of Native Americans. You may be wondering what that means for your adoption process, and luckily, you have come to the right place to learn what this means for you.
What is the ICWA?
In short, the ICWA is a federal law that governs the removal and out-of-home placement of American Indian children who are within the state’s custody. In other words, this law works to protect Native American children while preserving the culture and stability of Native American tribes. In action, the ICWA works to preserve Native American culture by prioritizing keeping Native American children with their relatives or other Native American families.
Adoption agencies in Denver are given an ICWA case have to take special measures to ensure the child is safe and that their culture and heritage are maintained. In order to be considered a Native American child, the child must be a registered member of a federally recognized Native American tribe or be eligible to be a member of a federally recognized tribe.
It is also important to note that Congress intended for the law to be only applied to involuntary custody proceedings. In other words, the law typically only applies to when a child is taken into protective services because the parents had their parental rights taken away by the court. However, many courts have begun to use ICWA in voluntary adoption processes. This has created tension between a mother who wants to place her child in a non-Native American family and the Native American tribe who wants the child to remain close to the tribe. Each state interprets the ICWA differently when dealing with voluntary adoptions.
Why is the ICWA Important?
In order to understand why the ICWA is important, we have to understand the history of why the ICWA was implemented in the first place. The ICWA was enacted in 1978 as a response to the studies that showed Native American children being separated from their families and placed outside of their communities even though relatives were available. The removal of Native American children from their families was disproportionally high. In fact, the impact of these removals was that the culture of Native American tribes was threatened because Native American children would lose touch with their culture, never knowing their background, culture, and history.
As such, Congress saw it fit to create a law that would protect the heritage and culture of Native American children. The implementation of the ICWA has promoted the protection of Native American children by requiring higher levels of parental engagement and has encouraged efforts to keep families together. These measures help reduce the trauma a child may experience when they are placed in foster care, and by helping the child maintain their culture, they are more likely to be resilient and to be able to create a deep bond with their family.
Colorado Adoption
If you are a Native American pregnant woman, the adoption process can still be a process where you can get help. By contacting Adoption Choices of Colorado, our staff will help you through the process of adoption, and we will help you with all the paperwork needed for adoption.
After contacting our staff, our birth parent counselors will work closely with you to create an adoption plan to map out what you want your adoption to look like. You will be able to choose how open you want your adoption to be, which means you will be able to choose if you want to have contact with the family you have chosen for your baby. Afterward, you will be able to look at the waiting family profiles to see which family is the best match for you.
The adoption process may seem daunting, but it is a process you do not have to go through alone. By contacting our staff, we will diligently work with you so that you can make the best choices for yourself and your baby.
If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy and want to learn more about your adoption options, contact Adoption Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
Meet the author: Victoria is a sophomore at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and she is currently a Literature, Media, and Communications major. She currently runs her own blog, where she shares her poetry and creative writing projects. When she is not working or studying for school, she is often reading or writing, as she seeks to pursue a career in writing.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!