Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Online Training Course
This course is designed to help those involved in the out-of-home placement of American Indian children understand and comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA). The course presents key provisions of ICWA in non-legal language, as well as recommended performance steps for state, county, and tribal child welfare workers. In addition, the course gives general information about American Indian and Alaskan Native cultures.
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Fees and Registration
Individuals
- $50 Register Online Now »
Or submit a printed registration form PDF
Groups
Contact NICWA at (503) 222-4044 or by email to register and set up group payment.
| Number of users | Cost per user | Administration fee |
| 0-25 | $50 | $100 |
| 26-49 | $44 | $150 |
| 50-74 | $38 | $200 |
| 75-99 | $32 | $250 |
| 100-499 | $25 | $300 |
| 500-999 | $15 | $500 |
| 1000+ | $10 | $750 |
Course Description
Course Content and Format
This course presents the provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) in the order a child welfare worker might encounter them in an ICWA case. The course provides an explanation of the law in non-legal language and outlines the recommended performance steps associated with effective social work practice. Information is provided both to support practice and to ensure appropriate case records.
Audience
The audience for this program is anyone involved in the out-of-home placement of American Indian children throughout the United States, including:
- Social workers from tribal social service agencies, including staff social workers, executive directors, and members of boards of directors
- State and county social workers, including staff social workers, supervisors, and training personnel
- Social work professors and students
Course Objectives
After completing this course, learners should be able to:
- Explain the circumstances that have shaped American Indian child welfare policies
- Explain the purpose of ICWA
- Explain ICWA and the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) principles of good social work
- Use the ICWA performance path to handle a simulated case situation
By using this course material, learners should be able to:
- Explain how a child welfare worker should handle a case involving an American Indian child in compliance with ICWA
- Explain how to handle the out-of-home placement of an American Indian child in compliance with both ICWA and ASFA
- Identify a resource for additional information about integrating ICWA and ASFA
- Explain the optimum tribal response at various stages of an out-of-home placement of an American Indian child
- Explain cultural factors to consider when handling cases involving American Indian children and families
- Identify the rights of all parties when an American Indian child is placed outside the home
Length of Course
The course will take three to six hours to compete, including the test. It is divided into sections and can be completed in several sessions. Learners may log in to continue the course at any time.
Certification of Completion
This course can be used for both learning about ICWA and as a reference while handling an ICWA case. A Certificate of Completion is available for those who receive a score of at least 80% on the Certificate of Completion test. Learners who do not pass the test may retake it as many times as they wish.
The Certificate of Completion test may be taken at any time during the course to help learners gauge their knowledge of ICWA.
Technical Requirements
For this course to operate properly, your computer must have Firefox, or Internet Explorer version 6.0 or newer.