As we learn more about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its immediate impacts, we are developing greater awareness of the potential far-reaching impacts it may have on different populations, systems, and geographies. While children and caregivers in the child welfare system will experience some of the same impacts as the general population, they may also experience issues that are unique to them and require solutions that are tailored to their unique circumstances. NICWA is working to research and distribute accurate information for tribal and urban Indian child welfare programs to inform and support planning and programmatic response.

Tribal Child Welfare Resources

Team-Based Child Protection: CPTs and MDTs

February 16, 2021

In this webinar, Terry Cross (Seneca Nation) and Natalie Moyer (Nicarao descent) welcome participants to explore common experiences and challenges in utilizing team-based approaches to child welfare including Child Protection Teams (CPTs) and/or Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs). The primary focus will be on discussion of what policies and procedures are commonly in use or that may be needed. Common themes based on the existing literature will serve to begin the conversation about the real-life experiences of child welfare professionals in tribal settings. Based on the information gained from the webinar, NICWA will create and share a briefing paper offering guidance on the development of policies and procedures for tribal CPTs.

Identifying and Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect

January 14, 2021

Join NICWA founder and senior advisor Terry Cross (Seneca) to learn more about the increased risks of child abuse or neglect during the pandemic and learn how to take steps to actively prevent it. Native cultures and communities have long held that keeping children safe is a collective responsibility of the whole community. Leaders, service providers, educators, family, neighbors, and community members— we all play a role in ensuring child safety.

Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month is a great opportunity to celebrate our children as sacred by holding community events and educating our communities about what we can all do to support the well-being of children and prevent abuse and neglect. Plan now for how your community can celebrate Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month in April 2021.

Presenter: Terry Cross, DHL(hon), MSW, ACSW, LCSW, Founder and Senior Advisor, NICWA

Watch Recording

Delivering Positive Indian Parenting Virtually? Share Your Experience

December 16, 2020

In the pandemic environment, have you been delivering NICWA’s Positive Indian Parenting (PIP) training virtually? Maybe you are planning or hoping to do so? If so, please join NICWA founder and senior advisor Terry Cross (Seneca) for a dialogue about adapting PIP for virtual delivery. In this two-hour virtual conversation, share your experience and learn from other PIP trainers about the benefits and challenges of delivering PIP during COVID-19. Your experience and needs will help to shape materials that NICWA is currently developing to support virtual delivery of PIP. A drawing will be held to award four participants with $100 Amazon gift cards.

Presenter: Terry Cross, DHL(hon), MSW, ACSW, LCSW, Founder and Senior Advisor, NICWA

Back to School: Understanding the Challenges Our At-Risk Children and Families Face

November 19, 2020

The pandemic has created additional challenges for many school-aged American Indian and Alaska Native children and their families, especially those at risk of child abuse and neglect. Hardships such as social isolation, unemployment, reduced access to support services, and adjustments to a hybrid or virtual school environment have increased stress in many families already challenged before the pandemic.

In this webinar, presenters from the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) and the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) will provide information on the increased stressors for at-risk families. We will discuss how COVID-19 interacts with risk factors for child abuse and neglect, protective factors and other resources to help reduce risk during a pandemic, and examples of promising practices that schools and child welfare agencies are using.

NICWA Listening Session on Promoting Social Justice for Tribal Children and Families: Perspectives on Redesigning Child Welfare 

October 22, 2020

NICWA has begun to talk with child welfare advocates to explore how other communities and organizations are viewing child welfare redesign work. President of NICWA’s board of directors, Gil Vigil, President of NICWA’s board of directors, and David Simmons, NICWA’s government affairs and advocacy director, held a listening session to share what we are hearing from other child welfare advocates and hear from tribal voices regarding their perspectives and experiences.

Indian Child Welfare: Practice Impacts and Responses to COVID-19 in State Agencies

COVID-19 Webinar: Indian Child Welfare Practice Impacts and Responses

COVID-19 Webinar: Funding Opportunities for Human Services

COVID-19 Webinar: Indian Child Welfare 

Administration for Children and Families: Native American COVID-19 Resources
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is providing information and resources to support tribes and Native communities responding to COVID-19, including relevant Office of Management and Budget and ACF grant flexibilities, ACF program office information for Native communities, and general information about COVID-19.

California Indian Legal Services: Active ICWA Efforts During the Pandemic
California Indian Legal Services has published a blog post identifying ways that active efforts can continue to be provided to tribal families to support ICWA compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oregon Department of Human Services: Maintaining Active Efforts During COVID-19 
The Oregon Department of Human Services Child Welfare and Tribal Affairs Unit is providing information regarding maintaining active efforts during a pandemic (Oregon).

Resources for Families

Center for Child Welfare: The Power of Connection: How Resource Families Can Support Adolescents Through the COVID-19 Crisis
The Center for Child Welfare recorded a webinar exploring why resource and foster families are so important to adolescents during this national crisis, and practical tips and guidance for the best ways resource families (and all families) can support youth in foster care right now to weather this challenge and thrive.

Centers for Disease Control and Protection: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information
The CDC is publishing resources to help individuals and communities plan for and respond to the coronavirus, including how to protect yourself from the coronavirus, what to do if you are sick, guidance documents, and frequently asked questions.

Centers for Disease Control and Protection: Keep Children Healthy during the COVID-19 Outbreak
The CDC published guidance for parents and caretakers that includes information on keeping children active, socially connected, helping children cope with stress, and watching for signs of illness.

Centers for Disease Control and Protection: Support for Teens and Young Adults
The CDC published guidance on how to support teens and young adults that includes mental health resources and a list of resources to help manage stress related to COVID-19.

Centers for Disease Control and Protection: Coping with Stress
The CDC released resources on coping with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Coping with stress in a healthy way will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.

Centers for Disease Control and Protection: Grief and Loss
The CDC published guidance to help the people who are experiencing grief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grief is a normal response to loss during or after a disaster or other traumatic event. Grief can happen in response to loss of life, as well as to drastic changes to daily routines and ways of life that usually bring us comfort and a feeling of stability.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Study Examining COVID-19  
A recently released study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined how COVID-19 has affected Native communities across the country. The study found that the “the cumulative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among [American Indians/Alaska Natives] was 3.5 times that of non-Hispanic whites.” Read the full CDC press release.

Centers for Disease Control and Protection: Support for People Experiencing Abuse
The CDC published guidance to support people who are experiencing abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Violence is a serious public health problem. Social distancing measures can lead to more time in the home or in the same space as an abuser, increasing the risk for abuse. This can include child abuse and neglect, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse.

Centers for Disease Control and Protection: At Home 
The CDC published resources for getting your household ready for COVID-19 including a household checklist and resources for living in close quarters and shared housing.

Child Welfare League of America: COVID-19 Information, News, & Resources
The Child Welfare League of America has created this webpage to share tips, sample policies and protocols, and resources to support children, youth, families, and the workforce that serves them.

Children’s Defense Fund: Useful Resources for Children and Families During the COVID-19 Crisis
The Children’s Defense Fund is collecting tools and resources for families seeking assistance; families looking for health coverage; children and families in the child welfare system; immigrant families; parents and caregivers looking for educational resources; families seeking self-care and wellness resources; foundations, organizations, and advocates who need information; and legislators and policymakers, as well as state-specific and other resources.

FosterClub: The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Emergency: Information and Assistance for Young People in and from Foster Care
FosterClub is gathering a list of resources, information, and opportunities to find support for foster youth and alumni, policymakers and advocates, child welfare professionals, foster parents, and caregivers.

Grandfamilies.org: COVID-19 Resources
Grandfamilies.org is collecting resources related to COVID-19 that support grandfamilies and other relative care providers, child welfare service providers, and policymakers.

Generations United: COVID-19 Resources
Generations United is sharing resources and responses to the coronavirus on a dedicated resource page, including a COVID-19 Fact Sheet for Grandfamilies and Multigenerational Families and a CARES Act Summary on Grandfamilies.

National Child Traumatic Stress Network: Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has produced this factsheet to help parents and caregivers think about how an infectious disease outbreak might affect their families—both physically and emotionally—and what they can do to help their families cope.

Prevent Child Abuse America: Coronavirus Tips & Resources for Parents, Children, Educators & Others
Prevent Child Abuse America has published tips for parents, children, educators, home visitors, early childhood and child development professionals, communities, employers, policymakers, and others about staying connected, staying active and engaged as a family, managing stress and anxiety, and more.

Sesame Street: Caring for Each Other
Sesame Street is continuing to create and share videos, games, articles, printable activities, apps, and other resources for parents and families spark playful learning, offer children comfort, and care for each other during the COVID-19 health crisis.

Zero to Three: Tips for Families: Coronavirus
Zero to Three has created resources for families on talking about the coronavirus in age-appropriate ways, the importance of self-care, activity guides for social distancing and time at home, and ways parents and relatives can stay connected to children when they can’t be together in person.

Resources for Tribal Leaders

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Study Examining COVID-19 
A recently released study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined how COVID-19 has affected Native communities across the country. The study found that the “the cumulative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among [American Indians/Alaska Natives] was 3.5 times that of non-Hispanic whites.” Read the full CDC press release.

Center for Indian Country Development: COVID-19 Resources for Indian Country
The Center for Indian Country Development is maintaining a resource page to assist tribal governments and tribal businesses in responding to the economic consequences of the coronavirus, including grants, loans, and other resources.

Center for Indian Country Development: COVID-19 and Indian Country: Early Snapshot Reveals Disproportionate Economic Exposure and Uncertainty
This report from the Center for Indian Country Development shares the results of a survey showing that the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately exposes tribal governments and tribal economies to economic hardship.

National Congress of American Indians: COVID-19 Resources for Indian Country 
The National Congress of American Indians is collecting resources and information about a broad range of topics related to COVID-19 in Indian Country.

National Urban Indian Family Coalition: Update & Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Webpage
The National Urban Indian Family Coalition is collecting resources and information to help urban Native communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, including its report, Resiliency in Crisis: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Urban American Indian Nonprofit Sector, that outlines the needs of urban Native communities and organizations related to the COVID-19 pandemic and makes recommendations for federal and philanthropic responses.

Tribal Law and Policy Institute: Indian Country COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Resource Page
The Tribal Law and Policy Institute is collecting information and resources concerning relevant tribal, federal, and state issues, initiatives, and resources for effectively addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

General Child Welfare Resources

American Bar Association: COVID-19 and Child Welfare Cases
The American Bar Association recorded a webinar that highlights the federal government’s recent guidance on emerging legal issues in child welfare cases. The webinar also helps attorneys and judges apply that guidance in case-by-case decision-making on topics like visitation and family time, access to services in the case plan, due process and civil rights protections during remote court hearings, reasonable efforts findings, family reunification, termination of parental rights timelines, and other important aspects of a child welfare legal proceedings that may be affected by the pandemic.

Child Trends: COVID-19 Publications and Blog Posts
Child Trends has collected its COVID-19 publications and blog posts on one page to help policymakers, program staff, and parents understand how best to support all children during the pandemic, such as articles on telehealth, supporting children’s well-being, supporting families in under-resourced communities,  and ways to support children’s resilience.

Child Welfare Information Gateway: COVID-19 State Child Welfare and Related Health Resources
Child Welfare Information Gateway is maintaining a list of state-specific guidelines and responses to the COVID-19 emergency.

Child Welfare League of America: COVID-19 Information, News, & Resources
The Child Welfare League of America has created this webpage to share tips, sample policies and protocols, and resources to support children, youth, families, and the workforce that serves them.

Child Welfare League of Canada: Expanding Role and Reach: A Community-Based Child Welfare Response to COVID-19 Summary Brief
The Child Welfare League of Canada provides a summary brief that includes information on the current context and impact of the pandemic in child welfare practice.

Children’s Bureau: COVID-19 Resources
The Children’s Bureau is providing updates and guidance related to children involved in the child welfare system, foster care providers, the child welfare workforce, and more during the pandemic. Selected specific examples of administrative guidance provided by the Children’s Bureau are included in our Federal Administrative Guidance section below.

FosterClub: The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Emergency: Information and Assistance for Young People in and from Foster Care
FosterClub is gathering a list of resources, information, and opportunities to find support for foster youth and alumni, policymakers and advocates, child welfare professionals, foster parents, and caregivers.

Grandfamilies.org
Grandfamilies.org is collecting resources related to COVID-19 that support grandfamilies and other relative care providers, child welfare service providers, and policymakers.

National Conference of State Legislatures: COVID-19 Child Welfare Resources
The National Conference of State Legislatures has produced four resource guides to help state legislators address the negative impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on children, families and caseworkers involved with the child welfare system. The resource guides address COVID-19 related to child welfare caseworkers, congregate care facilities, foster and kinship caregivers, and older youth in the child welfare system.

National Conference of State Legislatures: COVID-19 Human Services Resources
The National Conference of State Legislatures has created new informational resources addressing five broad human services policy areas: child support and family law, child welfare, early care and education, economic security, and housing and homelessness. These resources include issue summaries, state responses, federal actions, and topical resources.

Turtle Talk: Child Welfare-Specific COVID-19 Court Documents
Turtle Talk, the leading blog on legal issues in Indian Country, is collecting child welfare-specific court documents and other resources on this page.

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

NCAI: COVID-19 Response Fund for Indian Country
The National Congress of American Indians is accepting applications from tribal nations affected by COVID-19 for $5,000 grants on a rolling basis.

Federal Administrative Guidance

Children’s Bureau: Termination of Parental Rights and Adoption Assistance
This letter from the Children’s Bureau to state and tribal child welfare leaders clarifies federal requirements regarding termination of parental rights petitions. The letter clarifies requirements under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act pertaining to termination of parental rights. 

Children’s Bureau: Conducting Effective Remote Hearings in Child Welfare
This guide from the Capacity Building Center for Courts describes best practices and other recommendations for remote or virtual hearings in child welfare cases.

Children’s Bureau: Guidance About Seeking Personal Protective Equipment for Child Welfare Workers
This letter from the Children’s Bureau suggests that child welfare leaders seek to have child welfare workers and service providers classified as level 1 emergency responders, which would allow them to have greater access to personal protective equipment.

Children’s Bureau: Adjustments to Allow Continuation of Service Provision Under Current Public Health Guidelines
This letter from the Children’s Bureau suggests adjustments that child welfare leaders might make to continue serving children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, including to caseworker visits and videoconferencing, Child and Family Services Review Program Improvement Plans, Title IV-E eligibility reviews, child abuse and neglect investigations, and other legislative and regulatory flexibility.

Children’s Bureau: Information Memorandum (best practices, resources, and recommendations for foster care)
This memorandum from the Children’s Bureau provides information on best practices, resources, and recommendations for using foster care as a support for families in a way that mitigates the trauma of removal for the child and the parents, expedites safe and successful reunification, and improves child and family well-being outcomes. It emphasizes the importance of tribal and state child welfare communities building and supporting relationships between resource families and parents to facilitate improved engagement of parents, promote timely reunification, build protective capacities in parents, and strengthen overall child and family well-being, while ensuring child safety.

Children’s Bureau: Letter Regarding Child Welfare and Judicial Proceedings Guidance
This letter from the Children’s Bureau provides guidance on how child welfare agencies and courts should work together to best balance child safety-related statutory requirements and public health mandates by using flexible means to continue holding required judicial proceedings.

Children’s Bureau: Fingerprint and Caseworker Visit Requirements During COVID-19 Response Guidance
This letter from the Children’s Bureau advises child welfare leaders of the flexibility of certain requirements regarding fingerprint-based criminal records checks and caseworker visits to a child’s home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Children’s Bureau: Existing Title IV-E Flexibility
This letter from the Children’s Bureau to state and tribal child welfare leaders describes existing flexibilities in the Title IV-E program that may help agencies better serve children, youth, and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Children’s Bureau: Use of Court Improvement Programs to Assist Dependency Courts in Response to COVID-19
This letter from the Children’s Bureau encourages state court administrators and chief justices to engage their Court Improvement Programs to assist dependency courts in their response to COVID-19, particularly in acquiring and supporting telework and video-conferencing equipment and software to continue case oversight.

Children’s Bureau: Use of Federal Funds for Cell Phones and Personal Protective Equipment
This letter from the Children’s Bureau to child welfare leaders addresses the availability of federal funding to assist with the purchase of cell phones and plans as well as personal protective equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation: Improving Human Services Using Virtual Technical Assistance
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation has created a research brief and one-page summary about virtual technical assistance initiatives that highlights lessons learned from key informant interviews with federal staff and virtual technical assistance providers.