Committee on Indian Affairs United State

Safeguarding to the Seventh Generation Committee on Indian Affairs United State

Native youth are two and a half times more likely to experience incidents involving child abuse or neglect than children of any other race or ethnicity. This figure is alarming and unacceptable. It is also deeply troubling that placement in foster care of the child could also lead to that child's further involvement into the juvenile and criminal justice systems later in life. We need to break that cycle. We need to start turning the cycle of foster care to juvenile delinquency to prison around. This is something that we see across the United States, and it's a current concern both on-reservation and off the reservation. The title, ["Safeguarding to the Seventh Generation", ] is based on Tribal wisdom that we consider the effects of our decisions upon the protection, safety, and well-being of the children seven generations from now. With this in mind, [we] will examine how the Native American Children's Safety Act of 2016 is being implemented; what else could be done to improve the lives of children in this community [Spirit Lake Indian Reservation] and other Native communities; and how other Indian communities can benefit from these efforts