[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CHILD PROTECTION AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM ON THE SPIRIT LAKE INDIAN
RESERVATION
=======================================================================
OVERSIGHT HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INDIAN AND
ALASKA NATIVE AFFAIRS
of the
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
__________
Serial No. 113-77
__________
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______
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COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
DOC HASTINGS, WA, Chairman
PETER A. DeFAZIO, OR, Ranking Democratic Member
Don Young, AK Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, AS
Louie Gohmert, TX Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ
Rob Bishop, UT Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Doug Lamborn, CO Rush Holt, NJ
Robert J. Wittman, VA Raul M. Grijalva, AZ
Paul C. Broun, GA Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU
John Fleming, LA Jim Costa, CA
Tom McClintock, CA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Glenn Thompson, PA CNMI
Cynthia M. Lummis, WY Niki Tsongas, MA
Dan Benishek, MI Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR
Jeff Duncan, SC Colleen W. Hanabusa, HI
Scott R. Tipton, CO Tony Cardenas, CA
Paul A. Gosar, AZ Jared Huffman, CA
Raul R. Labrador, ID Raul Ruiz, CA
Steve Southerland, II, FL Carol Shea-Porter, NH
Bill Flores, TX Alan S. Lowenthal, CA
Jon Runyan, NJ Joe Garcia, FL
Markwayne Mullin, OK Matt Cartwright, PA
Steve Daines, MT Katherine M. Clark, MA
Kevin Cramer, ND Vacancy
Doug LaMalfa, CA
Jason T. Smith, MO
Vance M. McAllister, LA
Bradley Byrne, AL
Todd Young, Chief of Staff
Lisa Pittman, Chief Legislative Counsel
Penny Dodge, Democratic Staff Director
David Watkins, Democratic Chief Counsel
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE AFFAIRS
DON YOUNG, AK, Chairman
COLLEEN W. HANABUSA, HI, Ranking Democratic Member
Dan Benishek, MI Tony Cardenas, CA
Paul A. Gosar, AZ Raul Ruiz, CA
Markwayne Mullin, OK Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, AS
Steve Daines, MT Raul M. Grijalva, AZ
Kevin Cramer, ND Peter A. DeFazio, OR, ex officio
Doug LaMalfa, CA
Doc Hastings, WA, ex officio
------
CONTENTS
----------
Page
Hearing held on Tuesday, June 24, 2014........................... 1
Statement of Members:
Cardenas, Hon. Tony, a Representative in Congress from the
State of California........................................ 4
Cramer, Hon. Kevin, a Representative in Congress from the
State of North Dakota...................................... 2
Young, Hon. Don, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Alaska.................................................. 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 2
Statement of Witnesses:
Black, Michael S., Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S.
Department of the Interior, accompanied by Darren Cruzan,
Director, BIA Office of Justice Services................... 6
Prepared statement of.................................... 8
Questions submitted for the record....................... 13
Chang, Joo Yeun, Associate Commissioner, Children's Bureau,
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC............... 19
Prepared statement of.................................... 21
Questions submitted for the record....................... 23
Fineday, Anita, JD, MPA, Managing Director, Indian Child
Welfare Program, Casey Family Programs, Seattle, Washington 47
Prepared statement of.................................... 49
Question submitted for the record........................ 52
McDonald, Leander R., Ph.D., Chairman, Spirit Lake Tribe,
Fort Totten, North Dakota, accompanied by Melissa Merrick-
Brady, Interim Director for Spirit Lake Social Services,
Fort Totten, North Dakota.................................. 37
Prepared statement of.................................... 39
Questions submitted for the record....................... 41
McDonald, Molly, Devils Lake, North Dakota................... 43
Prepared statement of.................................... 45
Additional Material Submitted for the Record:
List of documents submitted for the record retained in the
Committee's official files................................. 70
OVERSIGHT HEARING ON CHILD PROTECTION AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM ON THE
SPIRIT LAKE INDIAN RESERVATION
----------
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
Committee on Natural Resources
Washington, DC
----------
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:50 p.m., in
room 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Don Young
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Young, Cramer, LaMalfa; and
Cardenas.
Mr. Young. Subcommittee will come to order. Chairman notes
the presence of a quorum. The Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska
Native Affairs is meeting today to hear testimony on the child
protection and justice system on the Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation.
Under Committee Rule 4(f), opening statements will be
limited to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the subcommittee
so we may hear from the witnesses. However, I ask unanimous
consent to include any other Member's opening statement in the
hearing record, if submitted to the clerk by the close of the
business today.
[No response.]
Mr. Young. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. DON YOUNG, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA
Mr. Young. The subcommittee scheduled this hearing at the
request of our colleague, Mr. Cramer of North Dakota, because
of the alarming child abuse and neglect problems that have
plagued the Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation. Because this hearing
concerns his constituents, I would like to defer the remainder
of my time, after I read my statement, the opening statement,
to Mr. Cramer, after I briefly note my grave concern about the
state of child health, safety, and protection on the
reservation.
In my review of records Federal agencies provided to
committee staff, it does not appear that Federal officials and
tribal law enforcement have given allocations of abuse and
neglect of Spirit Lake Indian children the kind of timely and
serious attention that were clearly warranted. It took two
Federal whistleblowers, one of whom the Obama administration
attempted to punish, to flag these crimes for the media before
the media agencies dedicated the necessary resources and
personnel to respond.
I do note there has been a change in the tribe's
leadership, and that Chairman McDonald is trying to right the
ship. In his statement, Chairman McDonald states, ``The time
for placing blame on the tribe has passed. We are not the same
reservation we were in 2012. We have a plan. Now we need the
means to make it happen.''
I commend the Chairman for his forward thinking. The change
in leadership may not serve as an excuse to ignore the solemn
obligation of the Federal and tribal governments to serve
justice to those who harm and pose a threat to the children.
And this is one thing I am very passionate about emphasizing.
This is about the children.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Young follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Hon. Don Young, Chairman, Subcommittee on
Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
The subcommittee scheduled this hearing at the request of our
colleague, Mr. Cramer of North Dakota, because of the alarming child
abuse and neglect problems that have plagued the Spirit Lake Sioux
Reservation. Because this hearing concerns his constituents, I'd like
to defer the remainder of my time for an opening statement to Mr.
Cramer after I briefly note my grave concern about the state of child
health, safety, and protection on this Reservation.
In my review of records Federal agencies provided to committee
staff, it does not appear that Federal officials and tribal law
enforcement have given allegations of abuse and neglect of Spirit Lake
Indian children the kind of timely and serious attention that were
clearly warranted.
It took two Federal whistleblowers, one of whom the Obama
administration attempted to punish, to flag these crimes for the media
before agencies dedicated the necessary resources and personnel to
respond.
I do note there has been a change in the tribe's leadership and
that Chairman McDonald is trying to right the ship. In his statement,
Chairman McDonald states, ``The time for placing blame on the tribe has
passed. We are not the same reservation that we were in 2012. We have a
plan. Now we need to means to make it happen.''
I commend the Chairman for his forward-thinking. But I would
respectfully observe that we cannot forget the recent past. There must
be justice served on those who harmed or posed a threat to children.
I now yield to the Gentleman from North Dakota, Mr. Cramer.
______
Mr. Young. And I now yield the remaining of my time to Mr.
Cramer, and he may consume.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. KEVIN CRAMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
Mr. Cramer. Thank you, Chairman Young, Ranking Member
Cardenas, and distinguished members of the Indian and Alaska
Native Affairs Subcommittee. Welcome to this subcommittee
oversight hearing, ``Child Protection and the Justice System on
the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation,'' and thank you to all of
the witnesses that are here today.
Today is the fulfillment of my promise to have a public
hearing regarding the Bureau of Indian Affairs responsibility
over the Spirit Lake tribal social services program. Since the
BIA also has final accountability over the law enforcement
system, I believe this is an excellent opportunity to be
informed of the status of their efforts.
To provide a brief background, in April 2012 a
whistleblower by the name of Dr. Michael Tilus, Director of
Behavioral Health at the Spirit Lake Health Center, reported an
``epidemic'' of child abuse within the Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation, at the same time indicating a loss of confidence
in tribal leadership and their ability to protect vulnerable
children. In his report he cited numerous cases of negligence
by Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services. The only formal
recognition of Dr. Tilus's report was a reprimand by his
superiors.
Although this formal report was later rescinded, Dr. Tilus
was transferred off the Spirit Lake Reservation, and is now
stationed in Montana. Although in my opinion, his presence here
today would provide invaluable insights, his supervisors
declined to honor his invitation.
Thomas Sullivan, a colleague of Ms. Chang, from the
Administration for Children and Families, published from June
2012 until late March 2013 13 mandated reports detailing almost
100 incidents of abuse and professional misconduct by the BIA
and Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services. As with Dr. Tilus, Mr.
Sullivan's presence was also requested here today, but denied.
Although neither Dr. Tilus or Mr. Sullivan ever received
recognition by their superiors, they did receive validation on
October 2012 in the form of the Spirit Lake Nation's voluntary
retrocession of their 628 authority to administer social
services programs on the reservation, making the Bureau of
Indian Affairs not only the primary law enforcement authority
on the Spirit Lake Reservation, but for Child Social Services
as well.
Unfortunately, there continue to be repeated reports of
abuse and deaths on the reservation. It is my understanding the
BIA knew since spring of 2012 that Spirit Lake Tribal Social
Services was failing to safeguard the health and safety of
Indian children, yet waited until the fall of 2012 before
officially taking over their program. There are numerous
reports in that timeframe of dead or injured children as a
result of abuse. It would be unfortunate if the protection of
those children was secondary to other motivations.
I expect the committee to be briefed on BIA's almost 2-year
process of improving the welfare of my constituents, most
importantly the children of Spirit Lake. I agree with the
Chairman--it is about the children.
We should also be apprised of the BIA's exit strategy in
regard to social services, and what is the standard they hope
to achieve on Spirit Lake before the tribe can again take over
these responsibilities.
Additionally, what, if anything, is the BIA doing to
address the repeated allegations of a lack of accountability
for the child welfare and law enforcement services provided to
the citizens? Our hearings, like today, are public. All of our
votes are public. My duty carries with it a requirement to
respond to media and constituents to take account for my
decisions. Yet, I continuously hear complaints by media
attempting to cover Spirit Lake of an utter lack of
accountability to produce information.
As early as last year, a local television reporter covering
Spirit Lake was assaulted with a BIA officer nearby providing
no support to the victim.
We are honored to have here today Chairman Russ McDonald of
the Spirit Lake Nation. During the last year I have appreciated
working with Chairman McDonald after he took office. I hope
today's hearing will assist the Chairman and the Spirit Lake
Nation in addressing the many challenges associated with this
important issue.
We also have here today former Judge Molly McDonald. Judge
McDonald served 2 years on the Spirit Lake tribal court,
overseeing not only the criminal docket, but social services as
well. Her prior experience with the judicial system, not only
tribal but the U.S. Federal court system as well, during her
tenure as a probation agent, will provide this subcommittee
with concrete facts and objectives in order to facilitate not
just protection for the children of Spirit Lake, but justice
for past victims.
I am hopeful today's hearing will put a bright-enough
spotlight on the situation in Spirit Lake to bring about the
meaningful and urgent actions we owe these children.
With that, I yield back the remainder of my time. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Young. Mr. Cardenas.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. TONY CARDENAS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Chairman Young. I
would also like to start by thanking our witnesses. I want to
thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to bring
forth your knowledge and experience, so that we can better
understand this issue.
Today's hearing is about an important topic: child abuse.
Child abuse is wrong, period. And, as a society, we must ensure
our young ones are protected at all times.
In 2012, reports began to surface, alleging that child
abuse was rampant on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North
Dakota. These stories were covered by national press outlets
and led to Federal investigations into the situation on that
reservation.
At today's hearing I am looking forward to hearing
testimony from our Federal agencies dealing with this crisis to
see what they are doing to remedy the situation and to ensure
Spirit Lake children are protected.
As tough as an issue as this is, anyone who would use the
tragedy of the Spirit Lake situation for political gain, or who
would use it to make the case that tribes cannot manage their
own affairs, or should not be respected as sovereigns, is
seriously misguided. No one cares more for Native American
children more than their tribes and their Indian families.
Let us not forget that for over a century the United States
and the States actively sought to kidnap Indian children in
order to civilize them. In 1978, Congress repudiated these
practices by enacting the Indian Child Welfare Act, which
recognized the fact that Indian communities, while culturally
distinct from mainstream society, are more capable of providing
for their young than anyone else.
The committee is holding this hearing at the request of my
colleague, Congressman Cramer, and he has said that legislation
may be needed to deal with this issue. I agree with Congressman
Cramer. Legislation is certainly needed to deal with various
issues in Indian Country. But when we discuss legislation that
would affect tribes, we have to be careful to get our facts
straight.
First, tribes are inherently sovereign. This is a fact that
was recognized by our founding fathers, and that is enshrined
in the U.S. Constitution. The United States did not grant
sovereignty to tribes; it recognized it. So, when we craft
legislation aimed at aiding tribes, we have to do it from that
standpoint. Any measures which would erode a tribe's
sovereignty are an anathema to established Federal Indian
policy.
Second, social ills run rampant in impoverished
communities, and are not confined to communities of color or
Indian reservations. Let us not forget that communities all
across the United States deal with similar problems. I am
concerned because some fringe groups are using the situation in
Spirit Lake to make the case that tribes cannot manage their
own affairs, and that tribal communities are not fit to raise
their own children. Capitalizing on this crisis is sickening.
And, as elected leaders, we have a duty to make policy based on
sound research and congressional precedent, not on the
attenuated claims of fringe elements.
We also must concede that violence against women and
violence against children is inextricably linked. That is why I
am puzzled that the same Members of Congress that fought so
hard against provisions in the Violence Against Women Act that
would enable tribes to protect their own communities are now
turning their attention to Indian child welfare.
Progress is being made on the Spirit Lake Reservation. Back
in October of 2012, the tribe made the decision to retrocede
child protection services to the BIA. New tribal leadership
took the helm last fall, and in February a new social services
director was appointed. Both are here with us today, and the
tribe is using the lessons of the past to work with the State
and Federal partners to chart a positive course forward to
protect the children of Spirit Lake. DoJ and BIA police have
stepped up their commitment to arrest and prosecute individuals
who harm kids at Spirit Lake. The perpetrators involved in the
2011 and 2013 child deaths are both behind bars.
Of course, challenges remain. Both the tribe and the BIA
continue to face barriers to recruit and retain qualified
staff, due to the reservation's remoteness, poor housing
options, and bad publicity. Tight Federal budgets and a maze of
jurisdictions and bureaucracy complicate this process, and many
community members are skeptical, and continue to fear that kids
are not as safe as they should be. Federal, State, and tribal
officials all must take responsibility and work together.
I appreciate the recent collaboration between everyone, and
look forward to hearing your efforts to build a high-quality
foster care system at Spirit Lake. I am also interested to
learn what has been done to overcome the biggest barriers to
your work, and what Congress can do to remove some of those
barriers.
I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Young. I thank the gentleman for the gentleman's
information.
I did vote for the provisions for Violence Against Women. I
want you to know that. I wasn't one of those that didn't vote
for it, and worked hard to make sure they were included.
The first panel is Michael Black, Director of Bureau of
Indian Affairs. Michael, welcome back. He is accompanied by
Darren Cruzan, Director of BIA Office of Justice Services and
the Staff of Office of Indian Services.
We also welcome Joo Yeun Chang, Associate Commissioner,
Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health
and Human Services.
Thank you, you may be seated. I think you all know the
rules, how this is going to work. You have 5 minutes. If you
are doing something really good, I may let you go a little
longer. If not, I will shut you down. And then, when you get
done, we will have the full panel, and there will be questions.
I will probably have to leave and come back and leave and
come back. We have another hearing at the other end of the hall
that I have to be at for questions too. But Mr. Cramer will
chair the meeting when I am not here.
And, with that, I believe we will have Mr. Michael Black,
Director of the Indian Affairs, to proceed with his testimony.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL S. BLACK, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF INDIAN
AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY DARREN
CRUZAN, DIRECTOR, BIA OFFICE OF JUSTICE SERVICES
Mr. Black. Good afternoon, Chairman Young, Ranking Member,
and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the
opportunity----
Mr. Young. Make sure you use the microphones, guys. Just
that little button in front. I forget it, too.
Mr. Black. All right. Well, again, good afternoon, Chairman
Young, Ranking Member, and members of the subcommittee. Thank
you for the opportunity to present testimony for the Department
of the Interior on child protection and the justice system on
the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.
It is important to focus on Spirit Lake at this time,
because it is an example of the serious challenges that many
Indian reservations are facing. Throughout the country,
protection of children is a top priority for Federal, State,
tribal, and local governments. In a time of limited resources,
however, challenges remain in Indian Country and in many
States.
Sequestration inflicted additional challenges on Indian
Country in 2013, cutting over $6.2 million from BIA human
services, and $17 million from BIA public safety and justice.
Sequestration cuts for social services alone were equivalent to
eliminating 15 social service workers of tribal and BIA-
operated programs. The 2014 budget passed by Congress restores
many of these cuts inflicted by sequestration, but resources
remain constrained, making it difficult to meet all of our
needs in Indian Country.
For that reason, the President's 2015 budget includes
critical increases for both BIA human services and law
enforcement to support families and communities. The 2015
budget proposes the Tiwahe Initiative, with an increase of
$11.6 million in social services and job training programs to
address inter-related problems of child and family welfare,
poverty, violence, and substance abuse in tribal communities.
Tiwahe is the Lakota word for family. Through this initiative,
social services and job training programs will be integrated
and expanded to provide culturally appropriate programs to
assist and empower families and individuals through economic
opportunity, health promotion, family stability, and
strengthened communities.
Funding the Tiwahe Initiative is vital to addressing the
significant challenges faced by children on Spirit Lake
Reservation and Indian Country as a whole. We urge Congress to
take this request seriously.
The Spirit Lake Indian Tribe faces significant challenges
in restoring a stable and well-functioning social services
program. The BIA stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the tribe, as
it attempts to meet these significant challenges.
To the tribe's credit, the leadership at Spirit Lake has
been aggressive in seeking guidance, and reforming its
programs. It has, for example, sought assistance from the Casey
Family Programs, ACF, and the BIA, in order to reform and
improve all facets of their social services programs, from
foster care to tribal courts. In seeking improvements, the
tribal leadership has not shied away from scrutiny.
In addition to formal or informal program reviews, and
support by Casey Family Programs and ACF in recent weeks and
months, the tribe has obtained an extensive on-the-ground
review of its policing programs by the BIA Office of Justice
Services, and it has also undergone an extensive tribal court
assessment in the last several months. It is also working with
BIA to prioritize specific needs for training and technical
assistance for all court personnel.
Though addressing a systemic restructuring of the programs
will take time, the leadership at Spirit Lake has embraced the
need for improvements, and has sought assistance in many
corners. Such efforts provide confidence that the tribe is a
good partner, and that there is a strong will to address the
problems at the tribal level.
Since October 1, 2012, the BIA has had responsibility for
the social services programs previously contracted by the
tribe. The tribe continues to operate a title IV-E program
funded by ACF through the State of North Dakota with a Tribe-
State agreement for foster care placements. The BIA foster care
program actively works to transfer children to services under
the tribe's 4E program, provided the children meet the criteria
for the program.
Hiring permanent staff at Spirit Lake has proven to be a
challenge for BIA for several reasons. Similar to many States
across the country, both our BIA programs in this region and in
the State of North Dakota reported a shortage of qualified
social worker applicants. We have seen this repeatedly in
hiring certifications with no applicants at all, or unsuitable
applicants. We have increased our efforts at Spirit Lake by
offering bonuses and expanded outreach to non-Indian
candidates. Yet, despite these efforts, we have experienced
instances where the best candidate was selected, only to have
the individual later withdraw or fail to satisfy the background
check.
Another challenge has been the lack of available housing in
the area. And, finally, unsubstantiated allegations of
publicity regarding the Spirit Lake Reservation, even with
significant improvements that have been made since
retrocession, has significantly hindered permanent hiring.
As a result, the BIA continues to detail staff to cover the
advertised positions at Spirit Lake. And given all the factors
noted above, the Department is also pursuing contracting
options to provide longer-term stability until the program can
be permanently staffed.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on the issue
of child protection and the justice system on Spirit Lake
Indian Reservation. The Department is committed to doing its
part to ensure the safety and protection of the children of
Spirit Lake and at other reservations throughout the country. I
would be glad to answer any questions the subcommittee may
have. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Black follows:]
Prepared Statement of Michael S. Black, Director, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
Chairman Young, Ranking Member Hanabusa, and members of the
subcommittee, my name is Michael Black and I am the Director of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Thank you for the opportunity to
present testimony for the Department of the Interior (Department) on
``Child Protection and the Justice System on the Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation.''
It is important to focus on Spirit Lake because it is an example of
the serious challenges that many Indian reservations are facing.
Throughout the country, protection of children is a top priority for
Federal, State, tribal, and local governments. In a time of limited
resources, however, challenges remain in Indian country and in many
States. Sequestration inflicted additional challenges on Indian country
in FY2013--cutting over $6.2 million from BIA Human Services and $17
million from BIA Public Safety and Justice. Sequestration cuts for
social services alone were the equivalent of eliminating 15 social
services workers at tribal and BIA operated programs. As sequestration
took back millions of dollars from these areas, the Spirit Lake Tribe
retroceded social services to the BIA.
The Fiscal Year 2014 Budget passed by Congress restores many of the
cuts inflicted by sequestration, with BIA Human Services funding at
Fiscal Year 2012 levels and BIA Public Safety and Justice receiving an
increase of $3.7 million over Fiscal Year 2012 levels. Despite
restoring some of those cuts, resources remain constrained, making it
difficult to meet all of our needs in Indian country.
For that reason, the President's Fiscal Year 2015 Budget includes
critical increases for both BIA Human Services and BIA Public Safety
and Justice. To support Native American families and communities, the
2015 budget proposes the Tiwahe Initiative, with an increase of $11.6
million in social services and job training programs to address the
interrelated problems of child and family welfare, poverty, violence,
and substance abuse in tribal communities. Tiwahe is the Lakota word
for ``family.'' Through this initiative, social services and job
training programs will be integrated and expanded to provide culturally
appropriate programs to assist and empower families and individuals
through economic opportunity, health promotion, family stability, and
strengthened communities. Funding the Tiwahe Initiative is vital to
addressing the significant challenges faced by children on the Spirit
Lake Reservation and elsewhere in Indian country. We urge Congress to
take this request seriously.
To promote public safety and tribal community resilience, the 2015
budget request also includes resources to build on BIA Law
Enforcement's recent successes in reducing violent crime. A pilot
program will be implemented to lower repeat incarceration rates in
tribally operated jails on three reservations--Red Lake in Minnesota,
Ute Mountain in Colorado and Duck Valley in Nevada--with a new Priority
Goal to lower repeat incarcerations by a total of 3 percent by
September 30, 2015. The Alternatives to Incarceration Strategy will
seek to address underlying causes of repeat offenses, such as substance
abuse and lack of adequate access to social service support, through
intergovernmental and interagency partnerships. The critical needs of
Indian country are evident both at Spirit Lake and elsewhere. The
Department calls upon this committee to fully support the President's
Budget on these critical issues so that tribal communities have the
necessary tools to protect Indian children.
significant efforts to support improvements at spirit lake
The Spirit Lake Indian Tribe (Tribe) faces significant challenges
in restoring a stable and well-functioning social services program. The
BIA stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the Tribe as it attempts to meet
these significant challenges. To the Tribe's credit, the leadership at
Spirit Lake has been aggressive in seeking guidance in reforming its
programs. For example, it has sought assistance from Casey Family
Programs and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
In seeking improvements, the tribal leadership has not shied away
from scrutiny. In addition to formal or informal program reviews and
support by Casey Family Programs and ACF in recent weeks and months,
the Tribe has obtained an extensive on-the-ground review of its
policing programs by the BIA Office of Justice Services (BIA OJS). It
has also undergone an extensive BIA tribal court assessment in the last
several months, and is working with the BIA OJS, Division of Tribal
Justice Support, to prioritize specific needs for training and
technical assistance for all court personnel.
Though addressing programmatic challenges will take time, the
leadership at Spirit Lake has embraced the need for improvements and
has sought assistance in many corners. Such effort provides confidence
that the Tribe is a good partner and that there is a strong will to
address the problems at the tribal level.
background of spirit lake social services program
Prior to October 1, 2012, the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe operated the
Social Services programs under a P.L. 93-638 contract with the Federal
Government. Beginning in August of 2011, the Tribe operated the
programs under a Corrective Action Plan (CAP), which required the Tribe
to address activities that were identified in its yearly contract
review as required under the P.L. 93-638 contracting requirements.
Leading up to October 1, 2012, the Tribe had a year to complete the CAP
in order to maintain operation of the Social Services programs under
its P.L. 93-638 contract. The BIA monitored the Tribe's Social Services
programs and provided it with technical assistance to assist the Tribe
with maintaining these programs. Despite these efforts, tribal social
services continued to experience areas of poor performance. With likely
incompletion of the CAP, the Tribe chose to retrocede those P.L. 93-638
contracted Social Services programs to BIA. The Tribe retained
operation of the 477, Welfare Assistance, and ICWA programs.
Since October 1, 2012, the BIA has had responsibility for the
Social Services programs once contracted by the Tribe. The Tribe also
operates a Title IV-E program funded by ACF through the State of North
Dakota with a tribal-State agreement for foster care placements. The
children placed under the IV-E North Dakota State agreement are not
subject to BIA supervision since care, control, and custody lie with
the Tribe and the Tribe is responsible for oversight on those foster
care placements. The BIA foster care program actively works to transfer
children to services under the Tribe's IV-E agreement with the State of
North Dakota, provided the children meet the criteria for the Tribe's
IV-E program.
As of June 11, 2014, there are 26 children in foster homes, 63
children in relative care, and 8 in other placements, such as group
homes, treatment, etc. It is important to note that there are a total
of 97 children that are in the care, control, and custody of the BIA.
Regardless of the nature of the placements, the BIA Social Services
Program works closely with the Tribe and its Tribal Court to ensure
care and custody of the children is properly addressed in every case.
Immediately after the retrocession on October 1, 2012, the BIA
Social Services Program took the following actions:
Detailed 12 Social Workers to the Tribe to assist at
different periods of the transition during the first 30
days of operation after retrocession.
Established a new office, including work space for staff,
set up for computers, telephone lines, phones, fax
machines, and on-call cell phones.
Advertised six positions for the BIA Social Services
program.
Collaborated with the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribal Court to
establish care and control of children in custody, identify
the children in placement, and obtain court records.
Partnered with the Tribe to develop a protocol for Title
IV-E and IV-B (Family Preservation) to assist with
establishing an agreement between the two programs
regarding transferring of cases.
Inventoried stored case files to determine files needing
to be archived and files related to active cases.
Collaborated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Red
River Advocacy Center, and BIA OJS to complete forensic
interviews.
Attended meetings with the Spirit Lake Tribal Council in
order to network services.
Worked with the Department of Justice to complete
fingerprinting for children, aged 14 and older, that the
BIA would have care and control over and all adults living
in the home with them.
The continuing work of the BIA Social Services Program includes:
Providing child protection, child welfare assistance, case
management, emergency assistance, burial assistance, and
family and community services, as well as supervising
Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts;
Receiving, reviewing, and investigating reports of alleged
child abuse and/or neglect;
Maintaining and managing current and active case files for
97 children, as well as coordinating services for children
and families, making referrals, conducting permanency
planning, and supervising visits;
Participating in child protection and multi-disciplinary
teams and hosting team meetings to review on a regular
basis child abuse and neglect cases;
Hiring two additional in-house social services personnel
and working to recruit and hire four more; and
Rotating 19 social workers from other BIA agencies to the
Fort Totten Agency at various intervals since October 1,
2012, to provide support and expertise during the tribal
program's transition to BIA management.
The continuing work of the BIA OJS includes:
Working with the BIA Fort Totten Agency and Federal law
enforcement (U.S. Attorney's Office and Federal Bureau of
Investigations in North Dakota) on child safety and
protection at Spirit Lake;
Training BIA social services staff in the use of mobile
fingerprinting units and assisting with the fingerprinting
of foster parents;
Investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect at
Spirit Lake;
Continuing to work with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office in North
Dakota on all active Spirit Lake cases; and
Providing tribal court tribal advocacy training for tribal
judges, public defenders and prosecutors on cases dealing
with sexual assault of children.
BIA OJS, Division of Tribal Justice Support (TJS), also conducted a
comprehensive tribal court assessment for the Spirit Lake Nation's
Tribal Court. The assessment resulted in recommendations to assist with
Tribal Court staffing, Tribal Code development, and Tribal Court
Training. In addition, BIA OJS/TJS provided:
Immediate funding to the Spirit Lake Nation to assist with
staffing needs within the Tribal Court: positions have been
funded to assist in Child Welfare matters in the Tribal
Court: (a) Family Services Indian Child Welfare Presenter,
(b) Guardian Ad Litems (2 GAL Positions), (c) Juvenile
Public Defender.
A Tribal Court Bench Book; and Desk Book for Practicing
Lawyers and funding for Code development.
Funding for a Child Protection Title IV/E training
opportunity for the Tribe's juvenile tribal court judge.
staffing for social services and law enforcement at the spirit lake
sioux tribe
Hiring permanent staff at Spirit Lake has proven to be a challenge
for BIA for several reasons. Similar to many States across the country,
both our BIA programs in this region and the State of North Dakota
report a shortage of qualified social worker applicants. We have seen
this repeatedly in hiring certifications with no applicants at all or
unsuitable applicants. We have increased our efforts at Spirit Lake by
offering bonuses and expanding outreach to non-Indian candidates.
Despite these efforts, we have experienced instances where the best
candidate was selected, only to have the individual later withdraw or
fail to satisfy the background check.
Another challenge has been the lack of available housing in the
area. Finally, unsubstantiated allegations and publicity regarding the
Spirit Lake Reservation, even with the significant improvements that
have been made since retrocession, have significantly hindered
permanent hiring. As a result, the BIA continues to detail staff to
cover the advertised positions at Spirit Lake. Given all the factors
noted above, the Department is pursuing contracting options to provide
longer term stability until the program is permanently staffed.
When fully staffed, the BIA Social Service program at Spirit Lake
includes six permanent positions. These six positions are as follows:
1--Supervisory Social Worker: Manages all program element
operations and supervises social services staff; assists with
investigations and case management, as needed; assists on call
as needed; acts as liaison to other Federal, State, county and
tribal agencies and partners.
3--Child Welfare Specialists: Two of these positions are
focused on child protection/abuse and neglect investigations;
and one of these positions is focused on case management for
monitoring and services such as home visits for foster care and
relative placements and safety plans.
1--Social Services Representative: Tracks and screens new abuse
and neglect reports; coordinates court activities, home visits
and other assistance as needed.
1--Social Services Assistant: Assists with all phone and walk-
in traffic, filing, and all other administrative tasks.
Presently, the Supervisory Social Worker has been selected with a
reporting date of June 30, 2014, and two of the Child Welfare
Specialist positions are advertised.
Currently, there are 14 sworn law enforcement positions at the BIA
Fort Totten Agency. These 14 positions include the Chief of Police and
2 Special Agent Investigator positions. There is one vacant police
officer position. The Tribe has one certified officer hired for a
tribal police officer position. There is a second tribal officer
position, which is vacant. These two tribal police officer positions
will support the BIA staff at Spirit Lake. The BIA Fort Totten Agency
has also received a full time experienced Law Enforcement Assistant to
provide administrative support.
The BIA OJS conducted an initiative to assist the BIA Fort Totten
Agency with identifying and correcting mandatory BIA-OJS handbook
compliance deficiencies, as well as program leadership and first line
supervision mentoring. This initiative was led by the BIA OJS Assistant
Director, along with supervisors and agents from other agencies.
Evidence, Police Reports, case load, scheduling and communications
issues were of primary concern. Training in these areas was provided
along with best practice recommendations.
Regular weekly meetings were established between the local BIA OJS
management and the Tribal Chairman to discuss program activities as
well as to ensure that communication is improved and pending
investigations are briefed regularly. A BIA OJS Special Agent has been
assigned to monitor/work child abuse and child sexual assault cases for
the BIA Fort Totten area. He has direct contact with Social Services
three to five times per week. There are currently six open ``960
Reports for Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse'': three of these are
FBI cases and three are BIA cases.
process and performance improvements
Since retrocession, the BIA has adopted a number of significant
procedures and resource partnerships that not only ensure safety and
protection of children, but also engage the community in family
preservation activities designed to reduce instances of abuse. In
addition, the efforts at Spirit Lake also allowed program and BIA staff
to filter through some of the unsubstantiated cases through improving
mandatory reporting methodologies in coordination with other key
partners such as the medical facilities and school systems. The
mandatory reporter methodologies alone have resulted in a 40 percent
drop in child abuse and neglect reports. The methodologies have also
resulted in reports with information which facilitates a more rapid and
thorough investigation strategy. For the past few months, the number of
referrals has maintained even levels of approximately 50-80 per month.
BIA protocols have been established for all key social services
processes. Staff detailed to Spirit Lake either know or are trained on
the proper protocols for investigations, case management, foster care,
and all other key social services processes. This standardization has
led to more consistent and thorough processing and results across the
board. Most importantly, both foster care placements and abuse and
neglect reports are documented and tracked through a concise system.
Training has been coordinated and completed internally and through
other State and Federal Agency partners to improve services at Spirit
Lake.
Currently, the Social Services program operates under a 12-week set
of detail assignments, which establishes coverage for all vacant
positions. The number of detailees to Spirit Lake is reduced as
permanent hiring for vacant positions take place. The BIA will continue
to aggressively pursue hiring for these vacant positions until all
positions are filled.
The BIA also has other highlights of the positive improvements and
efforts at Spirit Lake, which include:
The BIA Social Services program continues to collaborate
with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Red River
Advocacy Center, and BIA OJS to complete forensic
interviews for children who report instances of mental,
physical, or sexual abuse.
The BIA staff has worked on encoding data and uploading
documentation for cases into the Financial Assistance and
Case Management System (FASS-CMS) that is utilized by all
BIA Social Services programs for thorough tracking.
The BIA staff is performing 24-hour per day on-call Child
Protective Services as of October 1, 2012, and has
partnered with BIA OJS, Office of Law Enforcement Services
to assist with investigations of referrals of allegations
of child abuse and/or neglect.
Since November 1, 2012, the Social Services program has
assumed the responsibility of leading bi-weekly Child
Protection Team (CPT) meetings, which allow multiple local
agencies to staff particular cases to best coordinate
physical and mental health services for children in the
BIA's care and custody. The members of this team are: BIA
Social Services, Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services, Ramsey
and Benson County Social Services staff, school district
staff, Indian Health Service staff, and local counseling
and family services providers. The meetings are usually
held the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month. All members
of this team sign confidentiality statements.
Since November 1, 2012, the Social Services staff
participates in the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings
coordinated through the Department of Justice's U.S.
Attorney's office to address those cases which are the
subject of criminal investigation and prosecution in either
Federal or tribal court. Members of this team consist of:
BIA Social Services, FBI, U.S. Attorney, Spirit Lake Tribal
Social Services, the Tribal prosecutor, BIAOJS, Office of
Law Enforcement Services, Spirit Lake Tribal Victim's
Assistance program, and Red River Advocacy (an organization
conducting forensic interviews of children). The next
meeting is not yet scheduled, but meetings will likely be
every 4-6 weeks depending on the volume of forensic
interviews. All members of this team sign confidentiality
agreements.
On November 30, 2012, the BIA Great Plains Regional
Office, Human Services, BIA Fort Totten Agency Social
Services, Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services, and the
University of North Dakota's Children and Family Services
Training Center co-presented mandatory reporter training to
the Spirit Lake community. The BIA also recently offered a
refresher course in mandatory reporting and processes for
filing a thorough abuse and neglect report at Candeska
Cikana (Little Hoop) Community College on April 29, 2014.
Since June 2012, the Social Services Coalition (SSC) meets
approximately once a month to communicate and collaborate
on providing effective delivery of social service-related
programs. Members of this coalition include all local
State, county, Federal, and tribal social service entities;
representatives from State district, tribal, and Federal
courts; Law Enforcement; the Victim's Assistance program;
the Tribal Council; and area leaders. The SSC works on
interagency services coordination and communication, inter-
agency community events like Child and Family Wellness
Fairs, and other community issues related to social
services, as they arise.
On January 8, 2013, the BIA Great Plains Region and BIA
OJS provided fingerprint training to Tribal and BIA Social
Services staff at the BIA Fort Totten Agency. The Agency
has received three mobile fingerprinting units that the
social services staff has begun to use for in-home
fingerprinting of adults in foster and relative placement
homes.
On March 12, 2013, a Child and Family Wellness Fair was
held in Fort Totten, North Dakota, where resource providers
shared information with the Tribe's community members on
topics such as domestic violence prevention and services.
The BIA has been participating in the Tribe's 5-year
strategic planning process in May and June 2014 for receipt
of Title IV-B funding to offer a variety of child and
family services. The plan has widespread stakeholder buy-in
and all service providers will benefit from expanded family
services available in the community. The Native American
Training Institute from Bismarck, North Dakota is
facilitating the planning and application process.
conclusion
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on the issue of
``Child Protection and the Justice System on the Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation.'' The Department is committed to doing its part to ensure
the safety and protection of children at the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe. I
would be glad to answer any questions the subcommittee may have.
______
Questions Submitted for the Record to Michael Black, Bureau of Indian
Affairs
Question 1. Please provide the name of the tribal social services
employee who recommended placing the two twin girls in the home of
their step-grandmother, Hope Louis Tomahawk Whiteshield? Is he/she an
employee of the BIA? Please provide all other instances where this
tribal social services employee placed children in foster homes who
subsequently experienced documented abuse, neglect, injury and/or
death. Please redact as necessary to protect the identity of minors.
Answer. Mr. Paul Hutchinson, Director, Spirit Lake Tribal Social
Services and Ms. Irenice Noseep, Spirit Lake Tribal ICWA Director are
the individuals who recommended the placement. Both persons were
employed by the Spirit Lake Tribe at the time and were not (nor have
they ever been) employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Additionally,
both persons are no longer working for the Spirit Lake Tribe. As this
placement was accomplished using tribal transfer of jurisdiction under
ICWA, any records of these employees placing children would have to be
obtained from the Spirit Lake Tribe.
Question 2. As stated during the hearing, please provide a
spreadsheet indicating the status of investigations regarding the
allegations of Thomas Sullivan in his mandated reports. Please redact
as necessary to protect the identity of minors.
Answer. Spreadsheet is attached.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Question 3. What capacity does the BIA possess to enter into or
encourage joint aide agreements with surrounding government entities to
help augment the available resources for Spirit Lake? Has the Spirit
Lake tribe entered into such agreements with the surrounding ND State
and/or county entities? Have they done so in the past? If so, why not
presently?
Answer. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been working to develop a
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Spirit Lake Tribe to bring all
components of the Spirit Lake Child Welfare system into a more unified
system. This includes an effort to co-locate BIA and Spirit Lake Tribe
child protection, foster care, and ICWA services under one roof to
increase communication and collaboration to protect Spirit Lake
children. We are actively seeking portable space that will serve our
space needs for this endeavor through the collaboration of our BIA
Housing staff and facilities staff. We are in preliminary discussions
about including the local county, which is already using a tribal
building as a satellite office.
BIA is also working closely with the tribe to incorporate technical
assistance from Casey Family Programs to strengthen overall child
welfare practices. The BIA has been participating in the planning
meetings and participating in child welfare training needs to ensure
the agencies are working together and closing any gaps between systems.
The proposed draft MOA formalizes our efforts to share training and
information, as well as encourages the development of unified processes
and procedures for operations mindful of the ultimate plans for
eventual tribal re-assumption of all programs once the tribe has
completed its long-term capacity building efforts.
Although, BIA has not had any formal written agreements in the past
with the surrounding government agencies, BIA has been participating in
the Spirit Lake Coalition Meetings and new Spirit Lake Children's
Coordinating Council with representation from the Ft. Totten Agency,
Regional level and Central Office level. The BIA also participates in
the multi-disciplinary teams which review cases for possible
prosecution and other efforts, such as collaborative community family
services fairs or outreach and training regarding suicide prevention or
substance abuse.
Question 4. As stated by the Interim Director for Spirit Lake
Social Services during the June 24, 2014 hearing, there could be as
many as 30 or more children still unaccounted for as the result of
alleged improper placements. What kind of investigation was done in
regard to these allegations? Could you please provide the work product
regarding your investigation(s) to this committee? If no investigation
was undertaken, please provide an explanation as to why not. Please
redact as necessary to protect the identity of minors.
Answer. The Spirit Lake Tribe has hired an individual who has been
conducting the investigation into the allegation that a certain number
of children remain unaccounted for as a result of improper placements.
This figure has been reported in the media as ranging from 30 to 100
children, primarily by Ms. Betty Jo Krenz, a licensed social worker and
mandatory reporter. Mr. Thomas Sullivan has also repeated these
allegations as a self-identified mandatory reporter. Both individuals,
as mandatory reporters, have a responsibility to file mandatory reports
through the proper process at this location, which starts with the
filing of a formal report of abuse and neglect (also known as a 960
report form in North Dakota). Law Enforcement interviewed Mr. Sullivan
directly to receive any information in his possession about specific
instances of abuse and neglect and Mr. Sullivan has not provided a
specific list with identifying information regarding victims and/or
perpetrators to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has provided the background
information requested by the tribal investigator of these allegations.
Any information specific to the tribal investigation would need to be
made to the Spirit Lake Tribe. The Bureau of Indian Affairs urges
Representative Cramer and any other individuals receiving such reports
to strongly encourage and insist that those individuals immediately
come to Bureau of Indian Affairs Social Services and file an official
report of abuse and neglect, particularly any mandatory reporters, who
are required by law to do so. They can do so in person or over the
phone at any time.
Question 5. When acquiring new BIA personnel for the Spirit Lake
Tribe, what role does the tribe play in such hiring decisions?
Answer. The Spirit Lake Tribe has given permission to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs to waive Indian preference in hiring to assist in
filling positions. Tribe does not play a role in the selection process
of new Social Services staff of Bureau of Indian Affairs at Agency
locations.
Question 6. Please provide the jurisdictional breakdown between the
BIA and the tribe regarding Social Services on the Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation. Do yon have authority to assume all responsibility for
social services programs on the Spirit Lake reservation?
Answer. The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides child protective
services as well as initial and emergency foster care placement and
case management and will continue to do so until, at some later date,
the tribe successfully contracts those functions. In order to do so, it
must be able to demonstrate sufficient capacity.
The tribe has an IV-E agreement with the State to provide foster
care for children meeting Title N-E eligibility requirements. Although
the Bureau of Indian Affairs would make emergency placements based on
suspected or substantiated cases of abuse and neglect, all Title IV-E
eligible cases would normally be transferred to Tribal Social Services
Foster care. The transfer of these cases is not happening due to the
lack of staff resources at Tribal Social Services.
The tribe operates a broad range of social services programs not
involving child protective services and foster care which are either
self-funded or funded through other Federal sources. The Bureau of
Indian Affairs has the authority to intervene to ensure child safety.
Question 7. What efforts have you made to address the lack of
accountability of your agents on the Spirit Lake as expressed by Molly
McDonald during the June 24, 2014 hearing?
Answer. BIA has consulted with Labor Relations to address
performance and conduct issues with staff. Several Officers/Agents have
resigned/retired and are no longer with the agency, one has voluntarily
stepped down to a lesser grade. Additionally we conduct case file
reviews locally every 45 days to ensure cases are progressing
appropriately.
Question 8. During the June 24, 2014 hearing, there was discussion
regarding a BIA Special Investigator and reports of purported domestic
abuse inflicted by him against his wife. Have these allegations been
investigated by the BIA? Were formal charges ever filed? If not, please
provide an explanation.
Answer. Raised in the Sullivan Allegation labeled 38J: ``This was
investigated and the wife was interviewed by law enforcement. She
advised she was never abused or assaulted and that she put the language
in the letter that way because she was mad at the other female and
wanted to get her fired.'' No charges were filed in this case and the
investigation is closed based upon the admission of the wife to
falsifying this information.
Question 9. Does the BIA currently have an office of Ombudsman
program to serve as an intermediary between tribal members and the BIA?
Is it possible to create such a position within your existing
authority?
Answer. The BIA does not have an office of Ombudsman program. The
BIA currently has twelve (12) Regions located throughout the United
States and each Region has a Regional office and several agency
offices. These offices assist in the local administration of BIA
programs for tribes and for tribal members. Tribes and tribal members
living on or off Indian lands can contact their local agency or
Regional office regarding the administration of BIA programs. These BIA
Regional and agency offices currently assist as the direct link between
tribes and tribal members and the BIA.
Question 10. Patricia Denice White alleges her infant grandson was
improperly returned to the child's drug dependent mother by Tribal
Court without adequate safeguards in place to protect the child from
future harm. Please inform this committee of all steps taken to insure
the safety of this child.
Answer. The child referenced in this question is under the care,
control and custody of the BIA Social Services program and is placed in
a relative environment with the maternal grandmother. The placement is
also subject to protective strategies which include the mother going
through drug and alcohol abuse treatment. At this time, it appears that
the mother is doing well with all treatments and complying with random
and scheduled visits with a staff social worker.
Question 11. Is it true, on or about June 24, 2014, two BIA Law
Enforcement Officers allegedly responded to the home of Patricia Denice
White? If true, is it also correct the same officers failed to validate
any facts which purportedly initiated the purpose of their visit? It is
alleged your Officer's presence at the home of Ms. White was initiated
due to Ms. White and her daughter Britnee Iceman's participation in the
June 24, 2014 hearing. Please respond to this allegation. What have
your officers done to investigate the source of this information for
making a false report to police (or similar crime)?
Answer. We received only one report in our automated records
management system regarding Patricia Denice White, which was reported
on May 24, 2014 and listed a Denise White. There are no reports on the
radio log regarding Denise White/Patricia Denice White matching that
date. There were no IMARS entries for Brittany Iceman or Patricia
Denice White.
On May 24, 2014 a female called requesting an officer to come to
her residence because of a potential domestic incident between her
nephew and his girlfriend. Dispatch relayed the information to the on
duty officer. The reporting party called back and canceled the call for
service.
Question 12. According to the Grand Forks Herald, on or about
November 28, 2013 seven additional BIA Law Enforcement Officers were
assigned to the Spirit Lake Tribe. What was the purpose of their
assignment? How long were these officers ultimately deployed to the
Spirit Lake Indian Reservation? Why this period of time?
Answer. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services senior
leadership has developed and ultimately implemented a ``Corrective
Action Support Team'' (CAST) philosophy to assist OJS District and
Agency management assess critical programmatic issues. CAST will take
immediate action to correct very specific challenges when needed. The
primary goal of CAST is to ensure no material weaknesses exist in
agency level operations. OJS senior management arrived at the Fort
Totten Agency to conduct an assessment of critical operational
functions.
In addition to the analytical review aspect of this initiative, the
CAST was able to provide real time coaching to employees and managers
on a large variety of topics and disciplines. Leadership mentoring was
afforded to the Chief of Police and the Police Lieutenants over the
CAST period.
The CAST deployment was approximately 2 weeks long. This allowed
for specific corrections and or compliance activities undertaken at the
agency.
Question 13. When my office receives reports of inadequate conduct
or investigation by your law enforcement or Spirit Lake Tribal Social
Services, whom should we contact on their behalf? Is there someone
specifically in your Aberdeen Office I and my constituent's questions
should be referred to?
Answer. For issues related to the Spirit Lake Tribal Social
Services, the tribe would be the contact.
For issues related to law enforcement see contact information
below:
Chief of Police Raymond Cavanaugh, Fort Totten Agency Chief of Police,
Fort Totten, ND, (701) 766-4231
Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Jeremiah Lonewolf, District I Office
Aberdeen, SD, (605) 226-7347
Special Agent in Charge, Mario Redlegs, District I Office, Aberdeen, SD
(605) 226-7347
Question 14. Do your law enforcement officers have squad video
installed in their police vehicles? If so, do all your Law enforcement
officers receive training in regard to their use? Are your law
enforcement officers mandated to use their squad video during all
investigations? Why or why not?
Answer. Uniformed Police Officers have the WatchGuard Camera System
installed in their police unit. BIA OJS works with the Indian Police
Academy and the Watch Guard Company to provide training to law
enforcement officers. In-Car Video usage is addressed in the BIA/OJS
Handbook 2nd Edition under Section 2-25 In Car Video (See Attached).
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Young. Thank you, Michael.
Just a moment. Ms. Chang.
STATEMENT OF JOO YEUN CHANG, ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER, CHILDREN'S
BUREAU, ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, WASHINGTON, DC
Ms. Chang. Thank you. Good afternoon. Chairman Young and
members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to
testify today. The Administration is committed to partnering
with Spirit Lake to improve child safety and child well-being
on the Spirit Lake Reservation, and we are grateful to you for
having this hearing and bringing attention to the issues
affecting the delivery of child welfare services at Spirit Lake
Nation. My name is Joo Yeun Chang, and I am the Associate
Commissioner of the Children's Bureau in the Administration for
Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.
The Bureau administers the Federal foster care and adoption
assistance programs, as well as a range of prevention and post-
permanency initiatives. We also provide technical assistance
and training on a range of child welfare topics to States,
counties, and tribes. Today I would like to talk about three
things. The first is the Administration for Children and
Families' role in supporting child welfare at Spirit Lake. The
second is our observations for our most recent trip to Spirit
Lake. And finally, a summary of our recommendations to the
tribe.
ACF provides financial support for social services,
primarily through Titles 4B and 4E of the Social Security Act.
These funds are available to States, tribes, and territories,
and can be used to cover a range of child welfare services,
from prevention to foster care, adoption, and guardianship. The
Spirit Lake Tribe is a direct Title 4B grantee, and receives
title IV-E foster care and adoption assistance funding
indirectly through an agreement with the State of North Dakota.
In addition to financial support, ACF also provides
technical assistance and training on a range of child welfare
topics, including organizational and workforce development,
prevention, and permanency in child welfare. We have a
dedicated national resource center for tribes, as well as a
number of subject matter resource centers, including a few that
have worked with the Spirit Lake Tribal Social Service Agency
over the years.
In response to allegations of child abuse and neglect on
the Spirit Lake Reservation, ACF has, in the last 7 years,
conducted a series of investigations and assessments, and has
issued recommendations on how to address these issues.
Most recently, on April 9 and 10 of this year, I, along
with some of my colleagues at ACF, including Lillian Sparks
Robinson, Commissioner of the Administration on Native
Americans, and Marrianne McMullen, ACF's Deputy Assistant
Secretary for External Affairs, conducted a listening session
at Spirit Lake. We met with a range of stakeholders, including
current and former Social Service staff, current and former
tribal court judges, BIA staff, school administrators, as well
as State and county social service officials. The goal of our
listening session was to get a better understanding of the
current structure of social services at Spirit Lake, including
the division of roles and responsibilities between the tribe
and the BIA post-retrocession, and to develop recommendations
for improvement. Much of what we found during this most recent
visit is consistent with our previous assessments.
The most urgent issue facing child welfare practice at
Spirit Lake is the lack of adequate staff to meet minimum
standards of practice in both child protection and foster care
casework. In addition, we encourage the development of a
uniform operations manual that covers activities including
investigation, and a child welfare practice model.
We also noted the need to develop a data and tracking
system to enable both the tribe and the BIA to understand who
it is that they are serving, the needs of children in their
care, the case goals, and to ensure that they are able to track
child outcomes over time.
We also note the importance of recruiting and training
foster care and kinship homes, as well as increasing community
engagement and communication.
A new recommendation focuses on the need to clarify roles
and responsibility between the tribe and BIA, while maintaining
consistent policies across both organizations to ensure
seamless transfer of responsibilities back to the tribe.
Following the return of BIA-funded programs in 2012, BIA has
assumed most child welfare services, including child protection
services, investigations, initial placement decisions, and
ongoing case management of non-IV-E cases.
I want to conclude by saying that, although challenges
remain, we want to acknowledge the strengths that exist at
Spirit Lake that we think can be the building blocks to
transform this child welfare system. Perhaps the most notable
strength is the commitment of new leadership under Chairman
McDonald and the work of the BIA. We also acknowledge the
commitment of the community and its neighbors to persist in
efforts to keep children at Spirit Lake safe from harm.
We recently shared our observations and recommendations
with the Chairman, and welcome an opportunity to work with the
Spirit Lake Tribe, BIA, and community stakeholders to implement
these recommendations.
I would be happy to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Chang follows:]
Prepared Statement of Joo Yeun Chang, Associate Commissioner,
Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services
Chairman Young and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
inviting me to testify. The Administration is very concerned about
child safety and well-being at the Spirit Lake Reservation. We are
grateful to you for having this hearing and bringing more attention to
the issues affecting the delivery of child welfare services at Spirit
Lake Nation.
I am Joo Yeun Chang, Associate Commissioner of the Children's
Bureau. I have worked as a national advocate on child welfare policies
both as a senior staff attorney at the Children's Defense Fund and
immediately prior to my appointment to the Bureau, I worked at Casey
Family Programs Foundation where I worked closely with State and local
child welfare agencies. In my current role, I oversee the Federal
foster care and adoption assistance programs as well as a range of
prevention and post-permanency initiatives.
Today, I will speak about the Administration for Children and
Families' (ACF) role in supporting child welfare services at Spirit
Lake and our work to date. I will also discuss our observations from
our most recent trip to Spirit Lake and finally, I will provide a
summary of some recommendations.
acf's role in supporting child welfare services at spirit lake and our
work to date to address the numerous challenges facing spirit lake
The Administration for Children and Families provides financial
support for social services on the reservation through funds from title
IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act to eligible States, tribes,
and territories for the provision of child welfare-related services to
children and their families. The Spirit Lake Tribe of North Dakota is a
title IV-B grantee and receives title IV-E dollars through an agreement
with the State of North Dakota.
Title IV-B funds are available to promote the development and
expansion of coordinated child and family services programs that use
community-based agencies, family support services, family preservation
services, adoption promotion and support services, and time-limited
family reunification services. Title IV-B is a formula grant under
which Spirit Lake has received approximately $320,000 since 2011.
Title IV-E of the Social Security Act provides funds for States and
tribes to provide foster care, transitional independent living programs
for children, guardianship assistance, and adoption assistance for
children with special needs. Only the public agency or tribe designated
to provide a program of foster care is eligible to apply for and
receive direct title IV-E funding. Individuals and private entities may
apply to the title IV-E agency as sub-grantees or contracted providers.
Spirit Lake has not applied and is therefore not eligible to receive
direct title IV-E funding. They do, however, have an agreement with the
State of North Dakota to administer foster care and adoption assistance
payments for eligible children and youth at Spirit Lake.
ACF provides technical assistance and training on a range of child
welfare issues from prevention to post-permanency. We have a dedicated
National Resource Center for tribes as well as subject matter resource
centers who have worked with the Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services
(SLTSS).
findings from our most recent fact finding trip to spirit lake
In response to allegations of child abuse and neglect on the Spirit
Lake Reservation, ACF has conducted a series of investigations and
assessments, followed by recommendations on how to address issues
facing the Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services.
Between 2007 and 2014, ACF was involved in the following four
reviews of the Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services department:
1. National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement (NRCOI),
April 30 to May 3, 2007
2. North Dakota IV-E file review, January 17-20, 2012
3. National Resource Center for Tribes, Organizational Assessment,
November 2012-February 2014; and
4. North Dakota IV-E file review, May 7-8, 2013
Most recently, on April 9 and 10, 2014 ACF leadership, including
Lillian Sparks Robinson, Commissioner of the Administration on Native
Americans, Marrianne McMullen, ACF's Deputy Assistant Secretary for
External Affairs and I conducted listening sessions at Spirit Lake. The
listening sessions included meetings with a range of stakeholders from
the Spirit Lake tribal child welfare system, including current and
former social workers, current and former juvenile judges, Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) staff, school district staff, North Dakota State
and county human services staff, and law enforcement. The goal of the
listening session was to better understand the current structure of
social services at the Spirit Lake Reservation including the division
of roles and responsibilities between the tribe and BIA to offer
recommendations for improvement.
Many of the findings and related recommendations from ACF's most
recent visit are similar to those contained in the previous
assessments. A new recommendation focuses on the need to clarify roles
and responsibilities between the tribe and BIA while maintaining
consistent policies and practices to ensure seamless transfer of
responsibilities back to the tribe. Following the return of the BIA
funded programs from the tribe back to BIA, a process known as
retrocession, BIA assumed responsibility for most child welfare
activities including investigations of abuse and/or neglect as well as
foster care services for children who are not eligible for title IV-E
reimbursements. The tribe maintained responsibility for placement and
care of children who, at the time of retrocession, were in foster care
and receiving Federal reimbursement for a portion of their out-of-home
costs through a title IV-E agreement with the State of North Dakota. At
the time of retrocession, this represented approximately one-third of
the foster care population. In addition the tribe provides services and
supports related to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
Although there have been some improvements since the tribe
retroceded many child welfare functions to BIA, a number of gaps
remain. The most urgent issue facing child welfare practice at the
Spirit Lake Reservation is the lack of adequate staff to meet minimum
standards of practice in both child protection/investigation and foster
care casework.
In addition, a common theme that emerged from the ACF listening
session and the previous four reviews was the lack of specific
protocols and procedures to direct and guide staff activities on a
range of child welfare activities from child maltreatment
investigations, assessment, placement, and foster care services to the
delivery of services in the community. The lack of documentation
extends from safety assessments and plans to services provided to
families. This results in an inability to support active efforts to
provide case management to families.
Previous reviews also noted the lack of comprehensive assessments
for cases involving placement in out of home care. Comprehensive
assessments lead to well thought-out and individualized case plans.
Previous reviews found little evidence of case management, supportive
services, or minimal, reasonable efforts to reunite families. In
addition, the lack of available supportive services and foster home
placements has led to fragmented cases with little to no direction. Of
the homes that were licensed, many lacked the appropriate documentation
of background checks, home studies, and licenses. BIA has addressed
some of these issues for BIA social services, most notably the safety
checks prior to placement. However, we recommend that BIA and the tribe
develop short-term and long-term staffing solutions and jointly develop
a policies and procedures manual.
summary of our recommendations
Based on information gathered to date, ACF has identified seven
priority recommendations to be addressed through a coordinated action
plan between SLTSS, BIA, and other stakeholders including the team at
HHS, and State and county child welfare agencies.
The seven priority recommendations are:
1. Develop a comprehensive strategy to support the development of a
short- and long-term workforce;
2. Create a uniform process for conducting and documenting
investigations;
3. Develop a basic operations manual outlining policies and
procedures for child welfare case services, including
investigations;
4. Develop and implement a data tracking/information system that
would enable the tribe to manage its caseload and
understand who is being served, their needs and case goals
and track case outcomes;
5. Develop and implement a plan for recruitment of foster/kinship
homes;
6. Provide training for the Tribal Court on requirements of title
IV-E funding; and
7. Increase community engagement and increase communication.
Although challenges remain, we want to acknowledge the strengths
that exist at Spirit Lake that can be harnessed to transform its child
welfare system. Perhaps the most important strength is the commitment
of new leadership under Chairman McDonald and the work of the BIA. We
also acknowledge the commitment of the community and its neighbors to
persist in efforts to keep its children safe from harm and able to grow
and thrive in adulthood. We recently shared our observations and
recommendations with the Chairman and welcome an opportunity to work
with the Spirit Lake Tribe, BIA, and community stakeholders to
implement them.
The Administration also looks forward to working with you to
address this crucial issue and improve services to Spirit Lake Tribal
Social Services.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I
would be happy to answer any questions.
______
Questions Submitted for the Record by the Hon. Kevin Cramer to Joo Yeun
Chang, Associate Commissioner, Children's Bureau, Administration for
Children and Families
Question 1. Please provide this panel with any and all performance
reviews for Thomas Sullivan.
Answer. Staff from the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) will be in touch with your staff to discuss this sensitive
personnel material.
Question 2. Is it true that Thomas Sullivan has been recognized for
his work to prevent Child Abuse and Neglect of American Indian
Children? Specifically, did he receive a certificate of appreciation
from the Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council?
Answer. In a memo accompanying his 2010 personnel review, Mr.
Sullivan said that he received this award. The Administration for
Children & Families (ACF) has no other record of such an award.
Question 3. Is it true Thomas Sullivan helped to design, develop
and test in 10 States a pediatric consultation program directed to
improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Project Head Start's
health care program? As the result of his efforts, did the American
Academy of Pediatrics agree to operate this program nationally,
resulting in highly effective consultation being provided to Head Start
programs by board-certified pediatricians in every community in this
country?
Answer. Tom Sullivan has served as ACF's Regional Administrator in
Region 8 since 2002. His work with ACF has been in the Region 8 States
of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
ACF has no records indicating that he undertook the work described
above while at ACF. I have no direct knowledge of his work prior to
serving with ACF or of work he has performed outside of Region 8.
Question 4. Did Thomas Sullivan help evaluate the operation of the
Watts Neighborhood Health Center in south-central Los Angeles when it
first opened, helping to close a loophole which assisted the Center in
recovering financially?
Answer. Tom Sullivan has served as ACF's Regional Administrator in
Region 8 since 2002. His work with ACF has been in the Region 8 States
of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
ACF has no records indicating that he undertook the work described
above while at ACF. I have no direct knowledge of his work prior to
serving with ACF or of work he has performed outside of Region 8.
Question 5. Did Thomas Sullivan work with a Community Board
representing Chelsea, MA, helping to design and direct a survey of the
health needs of the community and then negotiate with the General
Director of Massachusetts General Hospital on behalf of the Community
Board for the establishment of a health center in that community on
terms including how the center's progression to opening would be
staged, what services would be offered, hours of operation etc.? As the
result of his efforts, is the health care center in question providing
desperately needed services for the very poor residents of that
community?
Answer. Tom Sullivan has served as ACF's Regional Administrator in
Region 8 since 2002. His work with ACF has been in the Region 8 States
of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
ACF has no records indicating that he undertook the work described
above while at ACF. I have no direct knowledge of his work prior to
serving with ACF or of work he has performed outside of Region 8.
Question 6. Is it true Mr. Sullivan consolidated Federal staff from
three different offices in a single office with regulatory
responsibility for monitoring the health and safety of nursing homes
and intermediate care facilities in New England, ultimately developing
and implementing a policy of unannounced inspections which has improved
the quality of service of nursing homes and institutional health care
providers?
Answer. Tom Sullivan has served as ACF's Regional Administrator in
Region 8 since 2002. His work with ACF has been in the Region 8 States
of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
ACF has no records indicating that he undertook the work described
above while at ACF. I have no direct knowledge of his work prior to
serving with ACF or of work he has performed outside of Region 8.
Question 7. Did Mr. Sullivan work collaboratively with an Air Force
General and his reserve staff to design and implement a plan to conduct
weekend health fairs all across metropolitan Boston staffed by Air
Force medial and administrative personnel providing basic medical care
to people who, in some cases, had not been seen by a physician in
years?
Answer. Tom Sullivan has served as ACF's Regional Administrator in
Region 8 since 2002. His work with ACF has been in the Region 8 States
of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
ACF has no records indicating that he undertook the work described
above while at ACF. I have no direct knowledge of his work prior to
serving with ACF or of work he has performed outside of Region 8.
Question 8. Did Mr. Sullivan conduct a major evaluation of the
Oklahoma system for delivering services to people with developmental
disabilities, demonstrating higher quality care could be provided at
lower total cost in small community residences than in large, isolated
institutions? Did Mr. Sullivan provide expert witness testimony
regarding these efforts in Federal Courts, lead seminars for White
House, OMB congressional and executive branch staff and testify before
State legislative committees in New England and Oklahoma?
Answer. Tom Sullivan has served as ACF's Regional Administrator in
Region 8 since 2002. His work with ACF has been in the Region 8 States
of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
ACF has no records indicating that he undertook the work described
above while at ACF. I have no direct knowledge of his work prior to
serving with ACF or of work he has performed outside of Region 8.
Question 9. Considering these facts, and in light of the testimony
of Chairman McDonald who indicated he offered Mr. Sullivan a chance to
work with the Spirit Lake Tribe, why does the Administration for
Children and Families not feel Mr. Sullivan should have an expanded,
and more critical role, in your agencies' efforts on Spirit Lake?
Answer. The issues of child safety, child protection, and foster
care are child welfare issues. Within HHS and the ACF, the Children's
Bureau within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families has
responsibility for overseeing child welfare. Established in 1912, the
Children's Bureau is the oldest Federal agency for children. The
Children's Bureau provides matching funds to States, tribes, and
communities to help them operate every aspect of their child welfare
systems--from prevention of child abuse and neglect to adoption--and
the information systems necessary to support these programs. The
Children's Bureau seeks to provide for the safety, permanency, and
well-being of children through policy guidance, grants to support and
evaluate services, and productive partnerships with States, tribes, and
communities. In addition, the Bureau makes major investments in staff
training, technology, and innovative programs.
Within the Children's Bureau, oversight of child welfare practice
and interagency collaborations are managed at the highest level by the
Associate Commissioner. The Bureau's central office staff, located in
Washington, DC, and regional staff work together to provide child
welfare policy and practice guidance to States and tribes.
Prior to an ACF reorganization in 2006-07 during the Bush
administration, regional administrators had direct supervisory
authority over regional program directors and, consequently, regional
program work. Since the reorganization, regional program managers (such
as for the Children's Bureau) began reporting directly to program
directors at headquarters. Regional administrators such as Tom Sullivan
assumed different duties. The primary responsibilities of the regional
administrator include: providing regional ACF leadership through
representing ACF on Federal coordinating bodies and by maintaining
strong and positive relationships with State, tribal territory, and
local government partners, as well as with university, philanthropic,
and other community partners; leading high-priority cross-cutting
initiatives for the agency, such as Affordable Care Act outreach and
anti-human trafficking initiatives; providing administrative support
for all ACF regional offices and staff; leading emergency preparedness
and response efforts; and providing for communications support, from
local stakeholder communication to maintaining the regional Web site.
Regardless of personal interest in a program area, it would not be
appropriate for Mr. Sullivan or any regional administrator to assume
the responsibilities of the Children's Bureau for child welfare work.
This would also apply to other ACF program work, such as child support
enforcement, Head Start, and Child Care. This specific program work is
done by each program office, each of which has a director at the
Federal headquarters.
ACF has made clear to Tom Sullivan that he has the freedom in his
personal capacity to express his views on Spirit Lake. ACF has
encouraged him to report any and all allegations of abuse and neglect
to the appropriate parties including law enforcement. ACF has also made
clear to Mr. Sullivan that the Children's Bureau has responsibility
over these matters, and, to the extent that he has official matters to
discuss, he should raise them with the Children's Bureau.
The Children's Bureau is leading this effort for ACF and manages
the work with both the tribal leadership and the tribal social services
staff. The Children's Bureau also is the principal liaison with the
State of North Dakota, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Department
of Justice to address child protective issues at Spirit Lake. The
Bureau has child welfare staff from within the Bureau, as well as
national tribal child welfare experts, involved in the work of child
protection at Spirit Lake.
Question 10. Considering Dr. Tilus was initially reprimanded for
his efforts to improve the conditions for vulnerable children and
adults on Spirit Lake, has HHS implemented any reforms to encourage
behavior like that exhibited by Dr. Tilus?
Answer. Dr. Tilus is not an employee of ACF, and I am not in a
position to comment on any agency or departmental actions undertaken
with respect to him. To the extent that you are asking more generally
about agency efforts to encourage employees to speak without fear of
retribution, ACF requires all employees to take annual training on the
No Fear Act, which includes information about the rights of
whistleblowers and the legal protections afforded them, and sends out
periodic notices to remind employees to take this mandatory training.
Question 11. During your testimony it is my understanding you
indicated Thomas Sullivan had not been to the Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation. In subsequent conversations I have been informed that he
actually has, at least on several occasions. In light of this
information, would you like to take this opportunity to amend your
testimony?
Answer. When I testified, it was my understanding that Mr. Sullivan
had not visited Spirit Lake.
I have since learned that he has traveled to Spirit Lake on the
three occasions listed below. Two of the trips are documented in the
government travel reservation system GOVTRIP and the third (December 7-
10, 2010) is reported by Mr. Sullivan.
1. November 14-17, 2010--Tom Sullivan met with the executive
director of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Center at
the University of North Dakota and then visited the Fetal
Alcohol Clinic on the Spirit Lake Reservation.
2. December 7-10, 2010--Tom Sullivan attended a meeting with FEMA to
address human service needs arising from the flooding in
Devils Lake, ND.
3. July 5-9, 2011--Tom Sullivan reviewed flood damage and met with
the social services director.
______
Mr. Young. I want to thank the panel. I appreciate your
testimony. After this hearing is over, if there isn't
improvement, we will have another one. But it won't be just a
hearing.
Mr. Black, I take this a little personally. Your statement,
you relate Spirit Lake's Tribe social services problem to
sequestration. But those problems were occurring before
sequestration. Why do you think and why do you link
sequestration to the tribe's problems when it happened before?
You know, I have heard this sequestration excuse, Mr.
Black--every time there is a problem, it is sequestration. And
thank God for George Bush and sequestration, otherwise you guys
wouldn't have anything to stand on. So why do you link that,
when these occurred before sequestration?
Mr. Black. Well, I apologize for the misunderstanding, sir.
I am not equating, or wasn't trying to equate sequestration to
the problems that are faced out there at Spirit Lake. As you
stated, a lot of the problems happened long before
sequestration.
I guess the point I was trying to emphasize is the fact
that, at a time when we were reassuming the program, and trying
to deal with some of the shortfalls that we had out there,
sequestration just became a barrier to us getting to fully
where we need to be with the program and stuff, and getting
fully staffed out there. So it was just another impact on our
efforts to try and reform the program.
Mr. Young. OK. That is why I wanted to clarify that,
because, you know, again, we like to blame things for that when
this was occurring ahead, and you have admitted that in your
testimony, so that is good.
The Bureau was supposed to submit a report to the House and
Senate committees in jurisdiction on the progress of efforts
and advocacy of child placement and judicial review by the
tribe and the Bureau. That was passed in--I believe the
Appropriation Act of 2014. Are you working on that? Where is
the report?
Mr. Black. Yes, sir. We are currently still working on
that. We have just completed a number of different reviews,
including the review of our law enforcement program, the tribal
court system, as well as our social services program, and we
will be getting that report submitted.
Mr. Young. The 638 contract documents I have reviewed show
that the April 20, 2012--that the BIA Great Plains Region
officials reported high-risk findings at the Fort Totten Agency
that pose an immediate danger to the health, safety, and well-
being of children, either in placement or referred to
protective services. These findings stem from the BIA February
and March 12 site visit to the reservation. The tribe failed to
eliminate these high risks to the children. But again, the
agency allowed the tribe to continue operating a contract for 7
months, since the problem was identified, before the tribe
voluntarily retroceded the contract on October 1, 2012.
The question is they receded the contract. Can they go back
into this contract again? What is the criteria? They receded
it, so they really weren't acknowledging there was anything
wrong.
Mr. Black. Yes. And you are correct, sir. The tribe did
voluntarily retrocede the program. But it was following a year-
long process of a review that identified a number of corrective
actions that needed to take place. And, as you stated, there
were follow-up reviews in March, April, in August, as well as,
I personally led a strike team out there, including my Deputy
Director for Trust Services and Indian Services that summer,
around July or August, to sit down and meet personally with the
tribe. We attempted to provide them as much technical
assistance as we could, to bring the program back to where it
needed to be. Coming that September is when that decision by
the tribe was made to retrocede the program back to BIA.
Mr. Young. OK.
Mr. Black. As far as their ability to come back and
contract the program again, there would be nothing that would
prevent that from them, other than the fact that when that time
comes, if it comes, and the tribe indicates they are interested
in contracting the program again, we would be evaluating the
tribe's capacity, the situation with the program as it stands
when that happens, and then we would be reviewing it at that
point.
Mr. Young. How large is this tribe?
Mr. Black. Pardon me?
Mr. Young. How large is this tribe?
Mr. Black. You mean as far as the number of members?
Mr. Young. Yes.
Mr. Black. I don't know, right off the top of my head, sir,
I apologize.
Mr. Young. The reason I am asking that question is it is my
understanding that there are--and I know that--this is my
Ranking Member--there is a desire of self-determination, which
I support, desire of self-governance, which I support. But
there is also, my understanding, a shortage of qualified people
that, in fact, can take and are eligible for taking care of a
child.
If that is the case, I would like to know that, because--
and this goes back to the children. This is the common
denominator, the children. And I don't really have much truck
with the tribe who won't take care of their own children. I
have been very hostile in my career about--because I live with
them. And someone messes up, he got punished the right way.
There is no reason to abuse a child. I see I have my officer
sitting there, but that is the way I ran my shop. And my people
backed me up. There is no reason for a child that cannot
protect himself or herself to be abused, to be raped, have
incest, be beaten and starved. That is unacceptable. I
personally won't tolerate it.
Ms. Chang, what is your interface with the BIA on this? You
are a different agency, correct?
Ms. Chang. We are. We are part of the Administration for
Children and Families and----
Mr. Young. Have you been out there?
Ms. Chang. I have. I have been out there, and we have been
working closely with BIA since our visit in April.
Mr. Young. And you have made progress?
Ms. Chang. I think that we, as a community, have been
making progress in trying to figure out what the issues are,
and how we can address them.
Certainly, sir, your issue about identifying appropriate
families to care for children who are vulnerable is a critical
issue, not only at Spirit Lake, but, quite frankly, across the
country. Identifying, training, and licensing resource families
or foster families, as you might call them, is an issue that
all child welfare agencies at the State, county, and tribal
level really struggle with.
But the good news is that we do have some strategies about
how you can recruit them and train appropriate families, so
that there is a place for kids to go if they can't remain in
their homes. So we are encouraged by a desire to work on these
issues.
Mr. Young. I am going to suggest that we have a follow-up
report from Mr. Black and yourself in 6 months. And if I hear
of one child at Spirit Lake that went through that litany what
I said, then there is going to be more of a longer-term period
of a hearing. Because this is good words, it doesn't
necessarily accomplish something.
Mr. Black, this is not your problem. You are spending all
this money going to my State, trying to recognize and put in
land trust on tribes, supposedly to have them improve the
violence on children and the violence on women. And yet you
have this going on in Spirit Lake. Where is the rationale? If
you follow what I am saying, where is the rationale of doing
that?
That is supposed to stop this violence in children
according to you, the Department, and the violence on women.
And yet we have this going on in Spirit Lake, has been a
reservation you have been in charge for a long time--or the
agency has. Do they add up?
Mr. Black. Well, I am not sure if I am quite following the
correlation, Mr. Chairman, but----
Mr. Young. Well, the proposed fee to trust was based upon
stopping the violence and the mistreatment of children in
Alaskan tribes. And now yet we have an existing tribe and
reservation that this has been going on. If you wanted to spend
the money, I would suggest you spend it in Spirit Lake. I mean
just an idea. I just want you to think about it.
Mr. Black. OK.
Mr. Young. Mr. Cramer, would you mind--excuse me. He is
going to chair. You are going to--Mr. Cramer, you have to chair
for me, because I have to go down the hall--I will be back.
Mr. Cramer [presiding]. Recognize Mr. Cardenas.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Chairman Cramer. Mr. Black, I want
to commend you for taking on a responsibility that at times
must feel like a thankless job. Any time a group of human
beings is trying to help another group of human beings, yet you
are dealing with communities that have been at the brink of
genocide being exercised on them, you are talking about
communities that, even when that was--those efforts of such,
where they are actually killing human beings just because of
who they are, when that stopped, then you had other activities
such as taking their children away from them, trying to demean
them to the point where they say, ``You are not fit to raise
your own children,'' when you are dealing with communities like
that, it must be extremely difficult to try to act like things
are normal there, or that we can apply certain norms in those
communities.
I have a question for you as to when--in dealing what you
are dealing with in your opening statement, you talked about
resources. Do you feel as though you have been afforded the
adequate resources to address, in particular, this particular
issue at this sovereign nation?
Mr. Black. You know, quite honestly, sir, I would have to
say no, I don't think that we have the resources that are
really necessary, not only at Spirit Lake, but across the
country, to deal with child protection issues, social services,
law enforcement, and all of the other programs that we deliver.
As an example for Spirit Lake, we have been detailing
anywhere from 12 to 19 different people on various bases up
there to fulfill some of those permanent staff that we haven't
been able to hire. And, there again, that is just an additional
burden on our resources. It is also an additional burden on
those other reservations and tribes that we have to take that
staff from in order to fulfill the needs at Spirit Lake.
Mr. Cardenas. And when you are talking about trying to
attract appropriate staff, I mean, you are not just trying to
find people to answer phones, or you are not trying to find
people who are just going to do jobs that perhaps any American
could do if they were out of work. You are talking about people
with degrees, you are talking about people with expertise. Is
that what you are talking about? You are talking about people
like--with doctorate degrees, et cetera?
Mr. Black. Yes, sir. I am talking about people with masters
in social work, people with experience in dealing with child
protection and child issues and stuff.
And right now, as I stated in my testimony, there is a
serious shortage of those types of qualified applicants. And
then, you know, this is not an easy situation to walk into, I
think. So that challenge, I think, might be somewhat daunting
for some of the folks that we are looking to really try and
recruit and hire out there.
Mr. Cardenas. Now, let me understand. When you say it is
daunting, are you giving a----
Mr. Black. I am saying----
Mr. Cardenas. You said it could be daunting. I am asking
you a question. Are you giving up?
Mr. Black. No, sir.
Mr. Cardenas. I just want to be clear about that.
Mr. Black. In no way, shape, or form.
Mr. Cardenas. Because I have been in some of these
committees where, when somebody says something like that, and
they are just being honest and truthful about how daunting the
situation is, sometimes I see them get attacked as though they
are giving up, as though they are not trying. So I just want to
make that clear.
Mr. Black. Absolutely not.
Mr. Cardenas. Are you using every effort that you have
available to try to contribute to solving this problem?
Mr. Black. Yes, sir, we are. We have been reaching out
across the country to all of our BIA regional offices. We are
looking at--we have been talking with ACF, Casey Family,
anybody we can to bring the resources and personnel to bear on
this issue. We are even reaching a point now we are talking to
other tribes that have social work programs that have been
successful, and trying to recruit some of them to come up and
help us and identify some of the issues that they could help us
to resolve. And partly right now it is really needing
caseworkers on the street, right out there on the ground that
can really address some of the issues.
Mr. Cardenas. OK, thank you.
Ms. Chang, over at the Administration for Children and
Families, HHS, when you are dealing on a situation like this in
a sovereign nation, does it complicate things a little bit
compared to, say, doing something in maybe Detroit or Los
Angeles, or somewhere else in the country?
Ms. Chang. Absolutely. I think it is important to recognize
that you are working with a sovereign nation, that they have
their own rules and ways of governance that also may be foreign
to folks who work only with States and county-level
governments.
But the reality is that good child welfare practice is good
child welfare practice. And the good news is that the Chairman
and the BIA recognize that. And, as they have pointed out, as
Mr. Black has pointed out, the big challenge here is staffing.
And that can't be----
Mr. Cardenas. The biggest challenge.
Ms. Chang. Yes.
Mr. Cardenas. Many challenges, but the biggest challenge.
Ms. Chang. That is right. And it is a big challenge. And
what I think it calls for are creative solutions. And they have
reached out to us and, as he pointed out, other philanthropies
and private organizations. And I think we can develop creative
solutions to a very big challenge.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you. I yield back my time.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you, and thank the panel for being here.
And let me at the outset express some of my appreciation for
being here, but Director Black, for your willingness to be in
regular contact with me. You have been very responsive, very
professional, and I very much appreciate it throughout our
relationship. And I think building trust is an important part
of all of this. So thank you for that.
I do want to revisit a little bit of the history of this,
because this 7-month time gap that the Chairman referenced
between retroceding, the tribe voluntarily retroceding, and the
reassumption report that came out that said, ``Hey, there is
imminent danger here,'' what is the technical difference
between reassuming--had the BIA reassumed, as I understand it,
the contract--versus the tribe voluntarily retroceding? What
are the ramifications of those two differences, the
distinctions?
Mr. Black. Well, I guess the short version of that would be
in the case we are dealing with here, the tribe voluntarily
returned the program back to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for
us to operate.
If we were to go in and reassume the program, which was,
quite honestly, on the table at the time in our discussions
with the tribe, is that can somewhat become more of a longer
and lengthy process, because we do have to notify the tribe
that we are going to reassume the program, take it back from
them. They have their appeal rights and, quite honestly, I have
seen it in cases where it can go another year or longer before
we actually are able to take over the program, once it goes
through all of the appeal processes. So----
Mr. Cramer. But it is my understanding that if there is an
imminent threat, if there is an emergency situation--which I
believe, as I recall, this was designated--couldn't you have
reassumed----
Mr. Black. We could reassume it. It is not that that
wouldn't be without challenges. We could do an emergency
reassumption, you are correct, as you state, which we would
just roll in and take over the program at that point. We would
still have some wrangling, probably, to do over appeals. We
would immediately begin operation of the program, but----
Mr. Cramer. The reason I am curious about that is because
during that time period there were child deaths. Now, we
haven't even begun to really dig into other allegations of
abuse in terms of prosecutions, in terms of the number of
reports. We pretty much focused on child deaths.
So, looking back on it, I mean, do you ever regret and
think maybe we should have been a little more urgent in our
response? And I ask that question not just to relive history,
but as we go forward, and while I appreciate the optimism of
both the new Chairman and ACF, there is--in my view there is an
urgency to this, because it seems like the only time we are
hearing news out of Spirit Lake is when there is another dead
child.
And so, that is why things like this are--these moments are
important for us to have an open dialog that provides both
hope, as well as solutions, if that makes sense. So, I still am
a little concerned about that 6- to 7-month gap, and wish we
would have acted a little more urgently.
Let me ask this. Are you aware of the 13--I guess they are
called mandated reports from Tom Sullivan, the HHS or IHS
investigator that has worked on this situation, investigated
it?
Mr. Black. Yes, I am.
Mr. Cramer. Do you know if all of his allegations--and if
you have read them, as I have, you know that they are quite--
there is a lot there, and they are quite provocative, quite
serious, to say the least. Have any of them been investigated,
any of these allegations?
Mr. Black. Sir, we have investigated, through our Office of
Justice Services, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney, we
have investigated every one of the allegations in the Sullivan
reports. We have reached out to Mr. Sullivan personally,
through our OJS staff and investigators, to try and gather
information from those reports. And I can honestly say that
every one of those has been put into, basically, three
categories.
Where we are unable to substantiate the allegation after
further investigation, was there, was nothing located. Or a
number of them that were already investigated or were currently
under investigation at the time that we reviewed them.
Mr. Cramer. Well, given that we--I have a copy of all
those, they are public. Could we get a copy of all the
investigation reports that followed that trail after his
allegations?
Mr. Black. Sir, we would be happy to work with that. You
know, especially when we are dealing with children here, like
we are, we do have to protect the rights and the privacy of the
children and the individuals involved. But we would be happy to
work with you to generate some type of a report that we could
provide you----
Mr. Cramer. Well, I certainly----
Mr. Black [continuing]. That wouldn't affect any----
Mr. Cramer. You know, I certainly want to. Whatever way, if
it requires redacting information, that is fine. If it is just
kept to the committee--which the committee of jurisdiction does
have the right to those kinds of reports--but I would just as
soon work collaboratively with you on the best way to do that,
in a way that maintains the integrity of the process.
Mr. Black. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cramer. Are you familiar with a recent case of a 2-
month-old--it actually was an infant born 2 to 3 months ago,
diagnosed with having meth in the system, removed from the
mother, who was a meth addict, evidently? Has been returned to
the mother, and just in the last week or two--are you familiar
with that case, without naming any names?
Mr. Black. I am not familiar with that case.
Mr. Cramer. OK. We may ask that of the next witnesses.
My time has expired. However, I--we have any other--did you
want to--sure, yes, yes. So, OK, with that, we are going to
take another round of questions. I will recognize the Ranking
Member, my friend.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you very much. Ms. Chang, when it comes
to the activities that you are involved in at HHS, when you are
dealing with a sovereign nation and you have the BIA right by
your side, as they have jurisdiction as well over much that
happens when it comes to Federal activity, who reports to who
when it comes to taking further steps, and when it comes to
apprising one or the other of what you feel should be done in
order to remedy the situations like this? Who reports to who
between departments?
Ms. Chang. So I certainly can't say anyone reports to me
across agencies. I think we actually work quite well in the
spirit of collaboration. We have been talking very regularly
with BIA. We have been sharing our recommendations with the
Chairman. He has those. And we are looking forward to
continuing to work together.
I think this has to be done in partnership. Everyone has a
role to play. We have responsibilities, because we give funding
through our ACF programs for a number of services. We are
actively working with the tribe to make sure those dollars are
being used effectively. The BIA has their responsibilities. And
I think the goal here is to make sure that we are coordinating
our services and our efforts to improve, so that they are in
alignment and that they are actually cohesive.
Everyone here I can say really wants the same thing, which
is to ensure that children at Spirit Lake are safe. There
certainly are challenges here. But the only way that we can
address them is to work together. So we have been working very
collaboratively.
Mr. Cardenas. So you are saying in this situation you have
been working in a collaborative spirit, and it appears to be
working well when it comes to the new tribal chairman and his
administration. And then, when it comes to BIA, HHS, and
everybody else involved----
Ms. Chang. Absolutely. The Chairman has been really, I
think, outstanding in reaching out to all partners, and being
willing to say, ``What do we need to do better here,'' and is
willing to listen and to talk and be open. And I think, really,
that is also very important, is that everyone is willing to be
open and share with one another what is actually happening.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. And sharing what is happening is one
thing, but actually charting a course for taking proactive
actions, whether it is deciding that--say you do--you are
fortunate to find another MMW or a psychologist or somebody who
is willing to be hired, et cetera. Who is involved in that
decision as to who gets picked, et cetera?
What I am getting at is how long does it take between
knowing that you have something in front of you and a decision
can be made, which is good for the solution, yet at the same
time, what hurdles do you have to jump through before that
action can be taken?
Ms. Chang. Sure. So, to Chairman Young's point, this is
certainly a very urgent issue. I think we all recognize that.
Some of the recommendations we shared with the Chairman were
that there needs to be both short-term and long-term fixes that
are put in place, because of the nature of that urgency.
I think when you think about staffing, it is a little
challenging here, because you have both tribal staff, as well
as BIA staff, who need to be hired and recruited. Our
recommendation is that they come together to think of a joint
short-term and long-term recruitment and training plan, so that
they can get the same type of folks in who are trained
similarly, who are providing the same kind of services.
Because even though you have two different organizations
providing services, the child ultimately is the same, and we
need to make sure that the type of services they are getting
are equal, regardless of which organization is ultimately
responsible.
Mr. Cardenas. Well, one of the things that--whether it is
Mr. Black or you, Ms. Chang, if you could help me understand,
is there a barrier or a hindrance to getting good, qualified
people, or good, qualified candidates when it comes to cultural
sensitivity and understanding the particular constituency that
they are hired to work with?
For example, when I was in the city of Los Angeles--I don't
mean to sound light about it, but we had a police chief that
was from Boston. And every once in a while I would kind of have
to turn my ear a little bit to understand what he said. Again,
that is not all that critical, thank God, because I didn't work
for him, I didn't have to take orders from him. But when we
were collaborating, and sharing information, again somebody who
has perhaps some cultural differences, or somebody that maybe
you are communicating with, and you are not catching it the
first time, that can create difficulties.
So, my point is are you running into problems trying to
find individuals who may have the titles, yet, at the same
time, unfortunately, the cultural sensitivities might be amiss?
Mr. Black. I think to your point, Congressman, the cultural
sensitivity, I think, is kind of almost critical and important,
but the most important thing right now is, I think, finding
those qualified individuals that really care about what they
are doing and really come out there with the mission to make
the lives better of the children there at Spirit Lake.
I think it is important with any tribe that there is an
understanding of the cultural differences. But those are things
that I think we can teach, that we can educate those kinds of
people and that staff in. And I think, to Ms. Chang's point,
there is--we are also working really close with the tribe. And
at the same time we don't want to compete with them for these
employees, because it is--if one of us can get them, great.
But we want to be able to help each other to get to that
point where we can bring people in. There again, then that
allows us to improve that collaboration and educate those folks
as they come in on what they really need to know about the
community, about the culture, and then how they can best help
the children.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Chairman.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you. Before I leave you, Mr. Black, you
talked about unsubstantiated allegations leading to bad
publicity and making it difficult to attract people. Do you
have any specific allegations you can reference that are
particularly both unsubstantiated and--I use the word
``provocative'' or ``inflammatory''--that would be creating
this problem?
Mr. Black. I think there probably are some of those cases
within the report that we would be able to share with you after
we get the chance to really sit down. But there are some of
those in there, yes.
Mr. Cramer. Then one other question. Do you know the number
of--roughly the number of either prosecutions or even charges
filed for child abuse that did not lead to a child death in,
say, the last 2 or 3 years?
Mr. Black. I don't have those numbers with me, but we can
certainly coordinate with DoJ to get those numbers for you.
Mr. Cramer. The reason I ask that, I don't--and this is,
frankly, part of the problem where I live, and probably where
we all live, is that I don't read much about them. I don't see
much about it.
And I think--and maybe this leads to my first question for
you, Ms. Chang, on your site visit and what you have learned in
this process--it seems to me that there is a lack of
transparency, that there is--somewhere between corruption and
just fear, there is a lack of transparency is the best way I
can put it.
I mean we have reports of TV, you know, cameramen and
reporters being assaulted, BIA officers requiring them to
delete their video files, being locked out or left out of
meetings. Could you help me better understand that, or am I
just imagining this, or have you observed the same thing?
And again, not casting any allegation on why. But am I on
to something?
Ms. Chang. Sure. So I certainly think that there is a great
deal of community distrust. There is a high level of anxiety
among the community that I witnessed when I went there on the
site visit. And it is part of the reason why one of our
recommendations to the Chairman is that they come up with a
plan, in collaboration with BIA, to improve their communication
and community relationships. We think that is critical. Because
unless the community understands how BIA and the tribe is now
functioning, and can understand the system, I think there will
be always that heightened level of anxiety, which isn't good
for the community or the kids within that community.
One of the recommendations we have made is that they have
an ombudsman, who can really serve as a go-between between the
community members and both the tribe and BIA. But part of it
also is being transparent about what the process is.
One of the things we learned when we went out there is that
there is, quite frankly, not because of a lack of transparency,
but I think because, quite frankly, everyone is so busy doing
the work that they haven't necessarily taken a step back to
explain to the community, ``This is how things are structured
now.'' And so, some people weren't even--didn't realize that
they were supposed to send reports of abuse and neglect to BIA
and not to the tribal social service agency.
So those are some of the things that we think can be easily
addressed, and really help alleviate some of the anxiety within
the community.
Mr. Cramer. Ms. Chang, I assume that you have read the
mandated reports by Tom Sullivan?
Ms. Chang. I have.
Mr. Cramer. OK. You know Mr. Sullivan? Do you know him?
Ms. Chang. I do.
Mr. Cramer. OK. Do you know why he wasn't allowed to
testify today when we requested him?
Ms. Chang. So I think it is important to clarify that we
have made clear to Mr. Sullivan that the Children's Bureau is
the agency that has responsibility on matters related to child
protection, child welfare, and that to the extent--if he has
official matters to discuss, we have encouraged him to bring
that to the Children's Bureau.
In his personal capacity, he certainly has the right to
express his views, and we have encouraged him, whenever he has
allegations of abuse and neglect, to take them to the proper
officials who can actually address those issues.
Mr. Cramer. I have got to be honest. What you just said or
read sounds--it leads to suspicion by me that there is some
reason that you didn't want him, the person who investigated
for well over a year and has the most intimate knowledge of it.
I would ask--I guess I am the Chair, but, without
objection, I would like to have his mandated reports placed
into the record.
And we can determine what----
Ms. Chang. It is also my understanding that Mr. Sullivan
has never been to Spirit Lake. He has never acted on behalf of
the government in his conversations with individuals. He has
never been part of any of our investigations or assessments. We
have been on the ground, on the reservation, working directly
with the tribe and with the BIA. So, I just wanted to make that
point of clarification.
Mr. Cramer. OK. So I just want to make sure you are saying
he has never been to Spirit Lake.
Ms. Chang. That is my understanding.
Mr. Cramer. All right. We will try to verify that before
the end of the day.
Ms. Chang. Right.
Mr. Cramer. But I have a suspicion that are you not right
on that.
Mr. Chairman--OK. Well, my time has expired. Did you want
to--OK.
Mr. Cardenas, did you want another round? Would you?
[No response.]
Mr. Cramer. OK. Then we will dismiss this panel, realizing
that the record will be open for 10 more days, and the members
of the committee can submit questions in writing--will submit
questions in writing.
Thank you very much for your time, and we will take some
time for the second panel to assume their positions.
All right. We are now ready for the next panel of
witnesses. I will introduce all of you first, and then we will
call on you one at a time for your prepared testimony.
First, we are very honored to be joined by Chairman Russell
McDonald, Chairman of the Spirit Lake Tribe of North Dakota.
Mr. Chairman, welcome. Thank you for being here. He is
accompanied by Melissa Merrick-Brady, the Interim Director for
Spirit Lake Social Services. My understanding is Ms. Merrick
will not be providing testimony, but is available for
questions. Is that accurate? Very good, thank you.
Molly McDonald of Devils Lake, North Dakota. Molly is a
member of and former tribal judge for Spirit Lake. Judge
McDonald, thank you for being here.
And Anita Fineday, Managing Director of the Indian Child
Welfare Program at the Casey Family Programs in Seattle,
Washington. Thank you for making the trip out here.
All of the witnesses are again reminded their complete
written testimony will appear in the hearing record. We have
all received it, and I assume you have all read it. And you
have 5 minutes to summarize it.
With that, Mr. Chairman, you may begin the testimony. Thank
you for being here.
STATEMENT OF LEANDER R. McDONALD, Ph.D., CHAIRMAN, SPIRIT LAKE
TRIBE, FORT TOTTEN, NORTH DAKOTA, ACCOMPANIED BY MELISSA
MERRICK-BRADY, INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR SPIRIT LAKE SOCIAL
SERVICES, FORT TOTTEN, NORTH DAKOTA
Dr. Leander McDonald. Mr. Chairman, I would just also like
to reserve an opportunity for Ms. Brady to--if there is any
detailed information that we need, I might have to go to her
for those questions. Thank you, sir.
I would like to begin by thanking Chairman Don Young,
Ranking Member, and distinguished members of the committee for
the opportunity to let you know about progress being made to
strengthen the child welfare system on the Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation. Our children are our top priority, and we
appreciate your support in making sure they have access to the
same services, programs, and opportunities to succeed as any
other American child.
We have submitted a longer testimony for the record, but we
would like to use this opportunity to give background on who we
are, and where we are, and ask for help with our top
priorities.
My name is Leander Russ McDonald, Chairman of the Spirit
Lake Tribe, located in northeastern North Dakota. The Spirit
Lake Reservation was established by the Treaty of 1867, and
currently consists of more than 250,000 acres of land. Our
treaty guarantees that the Federal Government will provide for
the education, health, and welfare of the Spirit Lake Nation.
All these areas have been historically under-funded, resulting
in a lack of capacity, inadequate services, and gaps in the
system.
In October 2012, we retroceded the child protection
services program back to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but
nothing has changed, and the problems still remain. We have
experienced tragic child losses as a result of these failings
of the trust responsibilities, and we continue to struggle to
meet the child protection needs of our community.
Over the past 2 years, our tribe has been highlighted in
the media due to child protection issues, and has struggled to
recruit and retail child welfare and social workers, as a
result.
I recognize the fact that the tribe was slow to respond to
scrutiny in the past. However, I have made child protection
services a priority since being sworn into office as Chairman
in September of 2013.
First and foremost, we need social workers and behavioral
health providers through the Department of Heath and Human
Services, and a commission corps of the U.S. Public Health
Service. Short term, this would stabilize our system and
address the immediate need. Long term, this would give us the
necessary time to develop a strategy, to recruit and retain the
necessary professionals.
Currently, we have only nine licensed foster care homes on
the reservation, and a 31-child case load for the Spirit Lake
social services, and an additional 11 children ready to
transfer from child protection services. The Child Welfare
League of America recommends 12 cases per social worker. At
this conservative estimate of 42 children, our current need for
social workers, case managers, is 3.5 full-time equivalents. We
are currently funded for two, and both of these positions have
not been filled.
Having full-time social workers in Spirit Lake Social
Services is our first priority. Our next major priority to
deter child abuse and assure a safe community is a trained and
adequately staffed law enforcement department. The ratio for
our area is 2.8 law enforcement officers per 1,000 people. We
have approximately 5,000 residing on our reservation. We should
be staffed at 14 officers, but we only have 8 officers assigned
to our area, with only 2 on every shift. We need more
adequately trained law enforcement personnel, because the
presence of a police force has been shown to deter crime.
Last, we would like to provide an update on the status of
our efforts to implement recommendations from our court
assessment. The tribe has secured immediate funding from the
Office of Tribal Justice to hire a juvenile court attorney, a
guardian for minor children, and a juvenile court public
defender to represent families and juveniles in court
proceedings.
Also, a review and update of the Spirit Lake court is
necessary to not only assure child protection, but also the
prosecution of those involved in substance abuse. The majority
of child welfare cases and sexual offender cases can be either
traced back to drug and alcohol use, or the influence of
intoxicating substances of the offender.
In Dakota, children are called Wakanheza, which translates
to sacred being. They are considered sacred, as they are
recognized as newly coming from the creator. This perspective
guides us as individuals, tribal leaders, and elected officials
to do everything within our power to develop legislation that
fosters their protection and welfare. All of our requests would
allow the tribe to implement our plans for improvement of the
child welfare and justice systems, and effectively protect the
children from harm.
Thank you again for holding this hearing and granting me
the opportunity to advocate for the children of the Spirit Lake
Indian Reservation. I hope this represents an effort by
Congress to understand the current position of the tribe, and
support the furtherance of our progress to heal a broken
system.
I am calling on Congress to be accountable for concrete
solutions to our problems. We are not the same reservation that
we were in 2012. We have a plan. Now we need the means to make
it happen. I look forward to answering any questions that you
might have. Mitakuye Owasin, all my relatives. [Speaking native
language.]
[The prepared statement of Mr. McDonald follows:]
Prepared Statement of Leander ``Russ'' McDonald, Chairman, Spirit Lake
Tribe, Fort Totten, North Dakota
I would like to begin by thanking Don Young and distinguished
members of the House Natural Resources Committee for the opportunity to
let you know about progress being made to strengthen the Child Welfare
System (CWS) on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation. Our children are
our top priority, and we appreciate your support in making sure they
have access to the same services, programs, and opportunities to
succeed as any other American child.
My name is Leander ``Russ'' McDonald, Chairman of the Spirit Lake
Tribe (SLT), located in northeastern North Dakota. The Spirit Lake
Reservation was established by the Treaty of 1867 and currently
consists of more than 250,000 acres of land. We have just over 7,200
enrolled members with more than 4,000 of these people residing on the
Reservation. Spirit Lake Tribe, like many other tribes, has long
suffered from chronic underfunding of programs and services. Issues of
poverty and unemployment, loss of land, lack of housing, lack of
primary and preventive health, and inadequate law enforcement and
judicial services have led to many intergenerational challenges, such
as disproportionately high rates of suicide and other child welfare
needs.
Many of these challenges have negatively impacted our Reservation
and children, and are a result of the Federal Government's failure to
meet its trust responsibility to our Nation. We have experienced tragic
child losses as a result of the lack of capacity and we continue to
struggle to meet the child protection needs of our community. Over the
past 2 years, our tribe has been highlighted in the media due to child
protection issues and has struggled to recruit and retain child welfare
and social workers as a result.
On October 1, 2012, the SLT retroceded a Public Law 93-638 Child
Protection Services (CPS) program back to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) due to the inability of the tribe to address serious deficiencies
identified in a detailed corrective action plan issued by the BIA in
April, 2012. Limited budgets, difficulties retaining qualified
professionals, and lack of placement options for children in crisis are
among the factors that have contributed to the issues that we continue
to face within our community.
I recognize the fact that the tribe was slow to respond to scrutiny
in the past; however, I have made CPS a priority since being sworn into
office as Chairman in September of 2013. From then until the present, a
tremendous amount of time and effort by Spirit Lake Social Services
(SLSS) and my office have been dedicated to collaborating with Federal,
State, county, tribal, and foundation partners (Appendix A: Partners)
to address immediate needs and take a proactive approach to building
the necessary infrastructure through strategic planning to keep our
children safe.
As Chairman, I have come to realize the complexity of this issue
and the need for our law enforcement, child protection services, tribal
court, and tribal social services to communicate and work together to
create an exemplary system. All of the areas have been historically
underfunded at approximately 60 percent of need resulting in a lack of
capacity, inadequate services, system distrust, and gaps in the system.
We struggle to provide the most basic services, but we have achieved
milestones in a positive direction. I believe that given the proper
resources we could build a good system for our Nation.
I am here today to report to you regarding the planning and
implementation of a multifaceted approach to addressing these issues.
This intensive process has resulted in a number of achievements from
this collaboration, such as a revised Title IV-E transfer protocol,
establishment of the Spirit Lake Social Services Coalition, and
completion of several assessments and reports. The assessment results
from the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) and Office of
Justice Services (OJS) will also be used in part to help develop a map
on how children's needs will be addressed when entering the social
services system. Casey Family Programs has been very supportive by
being present and providing critical linkages to resources that have
enhanced the overall collaborative. This work will culminate with a
meeting being sponsored and facilitated by the Casey Family Programs at
Spirit Lake on July 7-9, 2014. SLSS is also receiving technical
assistance from Native American Training Institute for the development
of a 5-year plan.
law enforcement
A trained and adequately staffed law enforcement department is
critical as the front lines for the determent of child abuse and safe
communities. The ratio for our area is 2.8 law enforcement officers per
1,000 people. We have approximately 5,000 residing on our Reservation;
therefore, we should be staffed at 14 officers. We have eight officers
assigned to our area with two officers per shift patrolling this large
geographical and isolated rural area, even during the high crime days
of Wednesday and Thursday. Just the presence of an adequate police
force has been shown to deter crime. Law enforcement officers trained
in documenting child abuse are also necessary to the larger picture of
child safety.
child protection services (cps) and tribal social services
Currently, we have only 9 licensed foster care homes on the
reservation and a 31 child caseload for SLSS and an additional 11
children ready for transfer from CPS. The Child Welfare League of
America recommends 12 cases per social worker. At this conservative
estimate of 42, our current need for social workers/case managers is
3.5 full time equivalents (FTE). We are currently funded for two, and
both of these positions have not been filled. Funding to increase case
manager staffing and funding for a full time equivalent (FTE) for a
foster home recruitment specialist position at $75,000, for salary and
fringe, would greatly assist in increasing foster homes on the
Reservation.
SLSS currently uses hard copy for all files, which has previously
delayed the placement of children due to the necessary sharing of files
among agencies. We are in need of an electronic database system that is
estimated to cost approximately $300,000 to purchase and $12,000 a year
to maintain and operate. Staff training would also be necessary and is
estimated to be an additional $10,000. The system and training would
allow us to more quickly place children in safe environments relieving
unnecessary delays. Every State relies on some sort of electronic
database system. This disparity between what is available to States in
comparison to tribes demonstrates a part of our frustration.
Last, we ask for immediate assistance to help address urgent
welfare needs by providing staffing of social workers and other
behavioral health providers through 6-12 month deployments through the
Department of Health and Human Services and the Commissioned Corps of
the U.S. Public Health Service. Short-term, this would stabilize our
system and address the immediate need. Long-term, this would give us
the necessary time to develop a strategy to recruit and retain the
necessary professionals.
We need a larger building to house all of the child welfare
services, including child protection. We also need two program
vehicles, security for our current building, community education, and
continued training for staff. Negative attention from the press has
made recruitment of providers and foster care homes especially
difficult. We need help from a PR team to generate positive media
coverage in an effort to correct public opinion on the current
condition of the Reservation. While the community faces many
challenges, we also have many strengths that should be similarly
highlighted in the media and would go a long way in helping our
community recruit and retain providers and promote hope.
the tribal court
Third and possibly most essentially, we are currently implementing
recommendations from our court assessment that are designed to improve
and enhance access to our court and representation of those involved in
court proceedings. The tribal court is the guardian of our sovereignty
and the way through which the tribe helps parties in dispute, families
in distress and children in need. All stakeholders rely on the tribal
court for this solemn responsibility. Recommendations from the
assessment regarding representation and the development of
institutional infrastructure are receiving immediate attention. For
example, the tribe has secured immediate funding from the Office of
Tribal Justice to hire a juvenile court presenting attorney, a guardian
ad litem for minor children, and a juvenile court public defender to
represent families and juveniles in court proceedings.
The tribe has also secured funding and is in the process of
securing technical assistance to develop court infrastructure--
including a judicial bench book, attorney desk book and a clerk's
manual--that will help institutionalize the processes of the court.
Last, a review and update of the Spirit Lake Law and Order Code is
necessary to not only ensure child protection, but also the prosecution
of those involved in substance abuse. The majority of child welfare
cases and sexual offender cases can be either traced back to drug and/
or alcohol abuse or the influence of intoxicating substances of the
offender.
In Dakota, children are called Wakanheza, which translates to
sacred being. They are considered sacred as they are recognized as
newly coming from the Creator. This perspective guides us as
individuals, tribal leaders, and elected officials to do everything
within our power to develop legislation that fosters their protection
and welfare. We need support in solving our problems. All of our
requests would allow the tribe to implement our plans for improvement
of the child welfare and justice systems and effectively protect the
children from harm.
Thank you again for holding this hearing and granting me the
opportunity to advocate for the children of Spirit Lake Indian
Reservation. I hope this represents an effort by Congress to understand
the current position of the tribe and support the furtherance of our
progress to heal a broken system. I am calling on Congress to be
accountable for concrete solutions to our problems. The time for
placing blame on the tribe has passed. We are not the same reservation
that we were in 2012. We have a plan. Now we need the means to make it
happen.
Mitakuye Owasin (All My Relatives).
Appendix A: Partners
Federal Partners
Administration of Children and Families (ACF)
Administration on Native Americans (ANA)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Office of Justice Services (OJS)
National Resource Center for Child Protection Services (NRCCPS)
State Partners
North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission (NDIAC)
North Dakota Department of Human Services (NDDHS)
Benson and Ramsey County Social Services
Area law enforcement
Area schools
Judicial representatives
Health services
Non-Profit and Foundational Partners
Casey Family Programs
Native American Training Institute (NATI)
Center for Native American Youth; and others
______
Questions Submitted for the Record by the Hon. Kevin Cramer to Russ
McDonald, Chairman, Spirit Lake Tribe and Melissa Merrick-Brady,
Director, Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services
Question 1. Please provide a list of all Tribal Court child abuse
charges and convictions on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation for the
last 2 years. Please provide redactions as necessary to protect the
identity of minors.
Answer. The tribal court administrator explained their database
only has charges not convictions. There aren't names attached to the
report. In order for them to provide the number of convictions they
would have to go through all of the files manually. The database issue
was addressed in the recent tribal court assessment conducted by the
Department of Justice and funding will be provided for software
purchase. At least a month is needed for obtaining the software and
training. The data will then need to be entered into the system.
The information below is based on what was readily available upon
review of hard copy records. This question will require us more time to
fully answer.
Child Abuse/Neglect (they aren't separated)
2011 -- 15
2012 -- 45
2013 -- 36
2014 (Jan-June) -- 19
Question 2. Patricia Denice White alleges her infant grandson was
improperly returned to the child's drug dependent mother by the Tribal
Court without adequate safeguards to protect the child from future
harm. Please address these allegations, and inform this committee of
all steps taken to insure the safety of this child.
Answer. Melissa Merrick-Brady, Director, Spirit Lake Tribal Social
Services (SLTSS) reports: Denice White called regarding her grandson to
Tribal Social Services. She shared what had been happening and I
advised her to file a 960 with Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Child
Protection Services (CPS), because that is how a child protection
investigation would begin. I offered to assist with filing a 960, but
she informed me that she had already done so. I advised her to file for
custody through Tribal Court and she stated she was hesitant because
she did not want the mother to be mad at her, which may keep the
grandson from her. I advised her to go directly to BIA CPS and speak
with them and to tell them what she knew. I also advised her also to
file a 960 for every incident and if there were witnesses to have them
file 960's as well. I told her if she felt this was an urgent situation
to call the police.
Chairman McDonald: I met with Judge Cavanaugh regarding Patricia
Denice White's (paternal grandmother) concerns. According to Judge
Cavanaugh, the Spirit Lake Tribe Law and Order Code seeks to reunify
parent(s) with their children. A previous court order on the mother had
court ordered her to seek assistance for her addiction and parenting
issues. Documentation was provided to the Court that indicated she was
participating in treatment and rehabilitation services. Tribal Court
continues to maintain custody of the child and provided BIA Child
Protection Services (CPS) with care, control and placement authority.
CPS placed the child back with the mother with supervision being
provided by the maternal grandmother and CPS to support reunification.
CPS continues to provide safety checks on the child, mother, and
household.
Question 3. Will Monty J. Stensland continue to serve as your Chief
Judge, notwithstanding your present knowledge regarding the status of
his license to practice law in North Dakota and the facts leading to
his suspended status?
Answer. Chairman McDonald reported at the Oversight Hearing that
Tribal Council had went on record to support the hiring of Mr.
Stensland as Chief Judge; however, when the background check was
provided back to Tribal Council, this decision was reversed. Mr.
Stensland was never hired as Chief Judge nor was he offered the
position.
Question 4. How many foster care providers does the SLTSS currently
require?
Answer. Tribal Social Services: BIA currently has 132 children in
placement. SLTSS has 32 children in placement and case management. We
have 9 licensed affidavit homes on the Spirit Lake Nation. Our
licensing standards limit a home to no more than 4 children per home.
With this standard alone, Spirit Lake would need at a minimum of 33
licensed foster homes; therefore, we are in need of an additional 24
homes. There are qualifiers that can change that number, for example if
a foster home provider is elderly, the number of children they can
provide for will decrease. A home may only be able to take one child if
the child has special needs.
Question 5. As discussed during the hearing, how many children of
the Spirit Lake nation are currently unaccounted for?
Answer. Tribal Social Services: All 101 children from the list
received have been accounted for by our independent social work
contractor; however, there are 3 children where direct contact has not
been able to be obtained as the caregiver has not been available. The
independent contractor began May 19, 2014 and will continue working
until all of the children are determined safe. The independent
contractor holds a masters in social work and is licensed in the State
of North Dakota. She is a retired Federal employee mental health worker
with over 30 years of service and experience.
Question 6. Of those children recently found who are in at-risk
placements, specifically the ``complicated'' scenario discussed by the
interim Tribal Social Services Director at the June 24, 2014 hearing,
is that child now in a protected environment? Please explain.
Answer. The ``complicated'' scenario discussed briefly is still in
process as the children are off the reservation and in another
jurisdiction. A 960 has been filed in the county they reside. The
social services agency within that county is well aware of the
situation, but is hesitant to remove them. The mother of the children
has legal custody and voluntarily placed the children in this home.
We've contacted the National Indian Child Welfare office for guidance.
Because the mother abandoned the children, SLTSS is going to file for
custody of the children in SLT Court. Once custody is obtained, we will
forward the order to the county in which they reside and take care and
control of the children.
______
Mr. Cramer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Judge McDonald, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF JUDGE MOLLY McDONALD, DEVILS LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA
Judge Molly McDonald. Good afternoon, distinguished Members
of Congress. My name is Molly McDonald. I sincerely appreciate
the time and attention you give me today to listen to my
testimony regarding these important issues on Spirit Lake
Reservation: child protection and the tribal justice system.
I am an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Tribe. I was
raised on the Spirit Lake Reservation. I graduated from the
reservation high school in 1987. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in
1988, and was honorably discharged in 1992, during Operation
Desert Storm. I earned my associate degree in criminal justice
in 1997 from United Tribes Technical College. I went on and
earned my bachelor's degree in criminal justice at Minot State
University in 2000, while working full-time at the North Dakota
State Penitentiary as a corrections officer.
I was hired in October of 2000 as a U.S. probation and pre-
trial services officer for the District of North Dakota in the
Devil's Lake office. I was specifically hired to work with my
home reservation. I worked hard--I worked with this agency for
almost 10 years, where I gained a vast knowledge of the Federal
justice system and the investigation process, from the police
report to a conviction.
In February of 2010 I was appointed as the Associate
Juvenile Judge for the Spirit Lake Tribal Court. My appointment
ended in March of 2012. When I accepted the appointment as
Associate Juvenile Judge in February 2010, I was already aware
of incidents of negligence which involved both BIA and law
enforcement and--excuse me, and Spirit Lake tribal social
services in Federal cases from my employment with U.S.
Probation.
One example of this is our office was supervising a
juvenile from Spirit Lake, where we were required to do a home
contact with the juvenile at a minimum of once a month. Every
home visit, the juvenile was locked inside of his home from the
outside. We had to visit with the juvenile through the window.
Because we were mandated reporters, we filed a 960 after each
visit. The 960 was filed with Ramsey County Social Services and
Devil's Lake. Ramsey County Social Services sent the 960 on to
Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services.
Over and over again the child continued to be locked in the
home. Our office contacted the director of Spirit Lake Tribal
Social Services, Director Kevin Dauphinais, and told him of the
situation. He said he would begin investigating immediately. It
should be noted the mother of this particular juvenile also
worked at Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services. The child
remained locked in the home throughout his supervision. This
juvenile was released from supervision upon his 18th birthday.
He later shot and killed his aunt and then himself.
When I began my appointment, there were issues with BIA law
enforcement, which included not filing paperwork in a timely
manner, not filing complaints and/or police reports, not
showing up for trials, not completing investigations, and other
problems. The court contacted Elmer Four Dance with the
Aberdeen Regional Office, along with Marcus Babbit and Mario
Redlegs, and a meeting was held at the court with these
individuals, along with the officers from the Fort Totten
Police Department. This meeting appeared to be successful, with
all BIA law enforcement present, promising better work from
their officers. However, problems continued to happen, and the
court continued to document these issues through emails.
Upon leaving the court in March of 2012, the issues with
BIA law enforcement were not resolved. In February 2012, I had
a meeting with tribal prosecutor, Joe Vetsch. Mr. Vetsch stated
to me that there had been no improvements with BIA law
enforcement since the time I had left the court. In fact, at
that time there were three alleged rapes that occurred within 6
months that were reported directly to Mr. Vetsch by the victims
because BIA law enforcement did not complete any reports or
investigation in the cases.
All three victims reported the incidents to law
enforcement. Mr. Vetsch also stated to me that he, himself,
contacted FBI for assistance on these particular cases. He was
told by FBI, ``We offered to assist BIA criminal investigator,
Jeff White, but he told us he had these cases covered, and we
didn't want to step on anyone's toes.''
Within the first months of my appointment as Associate
Juvenile Judge, Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services was
requesting hearings for the foster care cases. However, when
the hearings took place, there was no representation from
Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services for the hearings. I met with
Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services Director Kevin Dauphinais
about this, along with other issues. Mr. Dauphinais assured me
these issues would be taken care of, and it wouldn't happen
again. The court continued to have the same issues. It got to
the point where I began dismissing the cases, and Spirit Lake
Tribal Social Services had to refile all the cases.
On several occasions families were coming to the court
stating Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services removed their
children from their homes, and they wanted to know when the
hearings were taking place, so they could attend and work to
get their children back. The court had no documentation of the
children being removed from the home. In some cases the
children were out of the home for a year without any
documentation.
The court attempted to contact Spirit Lake Tribal Social
Services about these cases without success. In other cases, the
court became aware of physical, sexual, and emotionally abused
children through I.H.S. Clinic, I.H.S. Mental Health, and the
Suicide Prevention Coalition, along with victim assistance
where 960s were filed on these cases and no response from
Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services, as far as the investigation
process.
If the proper investigations took place, the court should
have been involved in the process by completing background
checks on the children and their guardians. The same names
continuously came up through time, either through I.H.S.
Clinic, I.H.S. Mental Health, or the Suicide Prevention
Coalition. This indicated to me that the 960s filed were not
being investigated.
During my 2-year appointment as Associate Juvenile Judge,
Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services had went through 10 workers
who were either terminated or resigned. When a new worker was
hired at Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services, he or she would
come to the court and request direction on what their duties
were, because the director did not properly train these
individuals on how to do their job.
Before I began my appointment, there was an agreement made
between the court and Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services. In
order to receive the State IV-E funding for foster care, the
State required specific wording in their court orders. The
court paid for an employee of Spirit Lake Tribal Social
Services to get the training for the wording in the court
orders, and Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services would complete
their own orders.
After I began at the court, I noticed several delays in the
orders being completed by Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services.
Even on crucial cases, the court would not receive an order for
signature until approximately a month after a hearing. There
were also many cases that didn't have court orders completed,
despite requests from the court.
In 2011/2012, when audits were taking place by BIA and the
State on Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services, it is suspected
some of the Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services orders were
fraudulent, Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services taking a
signature page from an order that I signed, and manipulating it
into another order to get into compliance.
[The prepared statement of Judge McDonald follows:]
Prepared Statement of Molly McDonald, Devils Lake, North Dakota
Good morning distinguished Members of Congress. My name is Molly
McDonald. I sincerely appreciate the time and attention you give me
today to listen to my testimony regarding these important issues on
Spirit Lake Reservation; child protection and the tribal justice
system.
I am enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Tribe. I was raised on the
Spirit Lake Reservation. I graduated from the reservation high school
in 1987. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1988 and I was honorably
discharged in 1992 during Operation Desert Storm. I earned my associate
degree in Criminal Justice in 1997 from United Tribes Technical
College. I went on and earned my bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice
at Minot State University in 2000 while working full time at the North
Dakota State Penitentiary as a corrections officer. I was hired in
October of 2000 as U.S. Probation & Pretrial Services Officer for the
District of North Dakota in the Devils Lake office. I was specifically
hired to work with my home reservation. I worked with this agency for
almost 10 years where I gained a vast knowledge of the Federal justice
system and the investigation process from the police report to a
conviction. In February 2010, I was appointed as the Associate/Juvenile
Judge for the Spirit Lake Tribal Court. My appointment ended in March
of 2012.
When I accepted the appointment as Associate/Juvenile Judge in
February 2010, I was already aware of incidents of negligence which
involved both BIA Law Enforcement and SLTSS in Federal cases from my
employment with U.S. Probation. One example of this is our office was
supervising a juvenile from Spirit Lake. We were required to do a home
contact with the juvenile at a minimum of once a month. Every home
visit, the juvenile was locked inside of his home from the outside. We
had to visit with the juvenile through the window. Because we were
mandated reporters, we filed a 960 after each visit. The 960 was filed
with Ramsey County Social Services in Devils Lake. Ramsey County Social
Services sent the 960 on to Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services. Over
and over again, the child continued to be locked in the home. Our
office contacted the director of Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services,
Kevin Dauphinais, and told him of the situation. He said he would begin
investigating immediately. It should be noted the mother of this
particular juvenile also worked at Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services.
The child remained locked in the home throughout his supervision. This
juvenile was released from supervision upon his 18th birthday. He later
shot and killed his aunt and then himself.
When I began my appointment, there were issues with BIA Law
Enforcement which included not filing paperwork in a timely manner, not
filing complaints and/or police reports, not showing up for trials, not
completing investigations, and other problems. The Court contacted
Elmer Four Dance with the Aberdeen Regional Office along with Marcus
Babbit and Mario Redlegs and a meeting was held at the Court with these
individuals along with officers from the Fort Totten Police Department.
The meeting appeared to be successful with all BIA Law Enforcement
present promising better work from their officers. However, problems
continued to happen and the Court continued to document these issues
through emails. Upon leaving the Court in March of 2012, the issues
with BIA Law Enforcement were not resolved. In February 2014, I had a
meeting with the tribal prosecutor, Joe Vetsch. Mr. Vetsch stated to me
that there had been no improvements with BIA Law Enforcement since the
time I had left the Court. In fact, at that time, there were three
alleged rapes that occurred within 6 months that were reported directly
to Mr. Vetsch by the victims because BIA Law Enforcement did not
complete any reports or investigation in the cases. All three victims
reported the incidents to law enforcement. Mr. Vetsch also stated to me
that he himself contacted FBI for assistance on these particular cases.
He was told by FBI ``we offered to assist BIA Criminal Investigator
Jeff White but he told us he had these cases covered and we didn't want
to step on anyone's toes.''
Within the first months of my appointment as Associate/Juvenile
Judge, SLTSS was requesting hearings for the foster care cases.
However, when the hearings took place, there was no representation from
SLTSS for the hearings. I met with Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services
Director Kevin Dauphinais about this along with other issues. Mr.
Dauphinais assured me these issues would be taken care of and it
wouldn't happen again. The Court continued to have the same issues. It
got to the point where I began dismissing the cases and SLTSS had to
re-file all the cases. On several occasions families were coming to the
Court stating SLTSS removed their children from their homes and they
wanted to know when the hearings were taking place so they could attend
and work to get their children back. The Court had no documentation on
the children being removed from the home. In some cases, the children
were out of the home for a year without any documentation. The Court
attempted to contact SLTSS about these cases without success. In other
cases, the Court became aware of physical, sexual and emotional abused
children through I.H.S. clinic, I.H.S. Mental Health and the Suicide
Prevention Coalition along with Victim Assistance where 960s were filed
on these cases and no response from SLTSS as far as investigation
process. If the proper investigations took place, the Court should have
been involved in the process by completing background checks on the
children and/or guardians. The same names continuously came up
throughout time either through I.H.S. clinic, I.H.S. Mental Health or
the Suicide Prevention Coalition. This indicated to me that the 960s
filed were not being investigated. During my 2-year appointment as
Associate/Juvenile Judge, SLTSS had went through 10 workers who were
either terminated or resigned. When a new worker was hired at SLTSS,
he/she would come to the Court and request direction on what their
duties were because the director did not properly train these
individuals on how to do their job.
Before I began my appointment, there was an agreement made between
the Court and SLTSS. In order to receive the State 4E funding for
foster care, the State required specific wording in court orders. The
Court paid for an employee of SLTSS to get the training for the wording
in the court orders and SLTSS would complete their own orders. After I
began at the Court, I noticed several delays in the orders being
completed by SLTSS. Even on crucial cases, the Court would not receive
the order for signature until approximately a month after a hearing.
There were also many cases that didn't have court orders completed
despite requests from the Court. In 2011/2012, when audits were taking
place by BIA and the State on SLTSS, it is suspected some of the SLTSS
orders were fraudulent; SLTSS taking a signature page from an order
that I signed and manipulating it into another order to get in
compliance.
I discussed these issues with the prior tribal council and the
present Chairman along with the present social worker at SLTSS. I've
been told that I have to stop living in the past. What about the
children who have reached out for help from their situations? What
about the 960s that were thrown away? How does the tribe intend to deal
with this? How many more children have to die before we are willing to
start dealing with what happened in the past? Our tribe continues to
say that our children are sacred. So why are we willing to throw away
their hurt and pain?
______
Mr. Cramer. Judge McDonald, I am going to cut you off at
this point, because we have allowed you to go over quite some
time. But there will be plenty of opportunity in the Q&A for
you to finish your thoughts, I assure you.
And we do have your entire written testimony submitted, as
well. So thank you for your testimony. And thank you for your
service to our country.
Ms. Fineday, you are recognized. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF ANITA FINEDAY, JD, MPA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INDIAN
CHILD WELFARE PROGRAM, CASEY FAMILY PROGRAMS, SEATTLE,
WASHINGTON
Ms. Fineday. Good afternoon, Chairman Young. Thank you for
inviting me to join you today, and the members of the
subcommittee. I am Anita Fineday, Managing Director of the
Indian Child Welfare Program at Casey Family Programs, the
Nation's largest operating foundation focused on safely
reducing and ultimately preventing the need for foster care by
building communities of hope. We are headquartered in Seattle,
Washington. We operate nine field offices throughout the
Nation, and encourage and engage in partnerships with child
welfare leaders in all 50 U.S. States, including leaders in
Indian Country.
We believe that the goals of our Nation around securing
well-being for all children should be to keep children safe, to
prevent abuse and neglect, and decrease the possibility of
child deaths, and reduce the need for foster care by
strengthening vulnerable families and their communities. In my
testimony today I will briefly describe Casey Family Programs'
strong history in Indian Country, and our work with the Spirit
Lake Tribe. I will conclude with thoughts on opportunities to
help support both Spirit Lake and tribes throughout this Nation
in their efforts to protect their children and strengthen their
families.
If you look at my written testimony, you will see the work
done by Casey Family Programs over our 30-year span of work in
Indian Country, starting with the provision of direct services
to children and families, and shifting to services to broader
strategies involving systems improvement and the demonstration
and sharing of best practices. The Indian Child Welfare Program
within Casey focuses on providing technical assistance to
tribes on a wide variety of topics.
We share your deep concern over ongoing cases and
allegations impacting the children and families at Spirit Lake.
There is nothing that we take more seriously than working to
ensure that every child and family in this country resides in a
safe, supportive, familial environment that will foster their
well-being.
On April 25 of this year, Casey Family Programs received a
letter from Spirit Lake's tribal chairman, Mr. McDonald,
requesting our assistance to address issues in their child
welfare system. Since that time, Casey has worked with the
tribe to gather information, create an action plan, and
initiate collaboration between the tribe, the State, and
Federal entities.
After meeting with Spirit Lake representatives in May, the
agreed-upon goal was to have the tribe reassume control over
all child welfare cases and matters involving Spirit Lake
children, and their culture and traditions will be embodied in
the Spirit Lake child welfare system.
To address child safety concerns at Spirit Lake, we are
supporting and participating in a range of activities,
including consulting with the State of North Dakota to explore
options for their support in reducing the current backlog of
investigations and background checks; arranging trainings for
local BIA workers on intake and safety assessment, as well as
culturally relevant practice models and safety tools; convening
a leadership meeting in 2 weeks for principal decisionmakers
from the tribe, BIA, ACF, and North Dakota, to review plans for
the improvement of child welfare at Spirit Lake, with the goal
of a shared vision for the work.
Since one meeting will not resolve all the issues,
additional sessions will occur over the next several months.
Casey Family Programs believes a new model is needed to serve
all families and children in Indian Country. Since long-term
foster care does not promote child well-being, the new model
should include efforts to provide culturally appropriate
services that allow the child to remain safely with their
family, necessary infrastructure to support a robust child
protective services system, including access to professional
staff and resources, and a continuum of community child welfare
services nearby.
In my written testimony I have provided more details on the
need and vision for this model. Change to this new model will
require oversight and targeted resources. Federal oversight and
accountability is needed. There currently is no Federal agency
responsible for the oversight of the Indian Child Welfare Act
of 1978, creating challenges in implementation, allowing
Federal resources to support best practice on safety and child
well-being. Casey has brought the financial resources to Spirit
Lake and other tribes to try and fill the gaps and leverage
current funding, but tribes continue to struggle.
The majority of tribes who receive child welfare funding
from title IV-E do so through agreements with States, and
effectiveness ranges widely. At the same time, it is important
to highlight that these Federal title IV-E resources only fund
foster care once a child is removed from their family and home.
It does not fund prevention services. Tribes and States need a
new model for financing child welfare that protects the child's
safety and serves families. It is time to shift Federal
resources to services and supports that are known to promote
child well-being.
Over 20 States are using this authority provided by
Congress in 2011 to redirect Federal funding in a more
effective manner to support a broader array of services that
are targeted to safety and child well-being. Further discussion
is needed on how every State and every tribe can make such
strategic investments in better practice.
However, being honest, this issue is more than just Spirit
Lake or even Indian Country. Congress realized this when it
created the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect
Fatalities. We would encourage this subcommittee to explore how
to engage with this Commission to be sure that the issues
within Spirit Lake and Indian Country are an important
consideration in their work.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I would
be happy to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Fineday follows:]
Prepared Statement of Anita Fineday, Managing Director, Indian Child
Welfare Program, Casey Family Programs, Seattle, Washington
Good afternoon Chairman Young, Ranking Member Hanabusa. Thank you
for inviting me to join you today.
I am Anita Fineday, Managing Director of Indian Child Welfare at
Casey Family Programs, the Nation's largest operating foundation
focused on safely reducing, and ultimately preventing, the need for
foster care by building communities of hope. Headquartered in Seattle,
Washington, we operate nine field offices throughout the Nation and
engage in partnerships with child welfare leaders in all 50 U.S.
States, including leaders in Indian Country. We believe that the goals
of our Nation around securing well-being for all children should be to:
(1) Keep children who have been abused and neglected safe from further
harm; (2) Prevent abuse and neglect and decrease the possibility of
child deaths; and (3) Reduce the need for foster care in the first
place by strengthening vulnerable families and their communities.
In my testimony today, I'll briefly describe Casey Family Program's
strong history in Indian Country and the principles that guide how we
engage with these communities. I'll describe our work with the Spirit
Lake tribe and conclude with thoughts on opportunities and areas for
focus to help support both Spirit Lake and tribes throughout this
Nation in their efforts to protect their children and strengthen their
families.
a legacy of investment to benefit children in indian country
Casey Family Programs has worked deeply in Indian Country for more
than 30 years. Early on we established partnerships with the Oglala
Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota,
the Mandan, Hidatsa, & Arikara Nation in North Dakota, the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai Tribe in Montana, the Tlingit Haida Tribe in Alaska
and other tribes throughout the country. These partnerships included
establishing child welfare offices on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud
Reservations, caring for tribal youth in Montana and providing
extensive technical assistance in Alaska. These efforts focused largely
on direct services for youth residing on or near the reservation.
Efforts were made to integrate the efforts of child welfare,
juvenile justice, State social services, housing, employment, tribal
government, and reservation leaders to increase safety and improve
outcomes for children residing there. This work was founded on the
following guiding principles:
Children belong with their families and community;
All children deserve to be safe;
All families should be provided the comprehensive supports
they need to become self-sufficient and interdependent;
All children and families should have access to their
culture and traditions;
Work should focus on preserving and strengthening
families;
An emphasis on the importance of extended families in
tribal communities to keep children safe and families
strong;
Every family should have a home with all basic amenities
such as running water, heat, electricity and adequate food;
and
An emphasis on ensuring full respect for the sovereignty
of each Tribal Nation.
Through our work in Indian County, Casey Family Programs provided
an array of services to children in their care which went above and
beyond child welfare services. In addition to foster care and respite
care, these included:
Alternative services to prevent removal from their home
and placement in foster care where possible;
Medical services not covered by Indian Health Services
(IHS) or the tribe including orthodontia, vision, and
substance abuse disorder treatment;
Case planning that involved culturally appropriate
approaches and services designed to fit the needs of the
family. This planning involved the family, through family
group decisionmaking and crisis intervention staffing.
Input by the youth occurred where appropriate;
Psychological Services when needed, including mental
health assessments, counseling, psychotherapy, intensive
care placements, chemical dependency evaluations and
treatment; and
Educational Services including tutoring, educational
enrichment activities, Ansell-Casey Life Skills
Assessments, funds for high school graduation costs,
college preparation services, college tuition, and funds to
defray costs while in college.
Our work has always recognized and supported the development and
capacity building efforts necessary to embed and sustain strong
practice and services for families. Since the beginning of Casey Family
Program's partnerships in Indian Country, we have consistently invested
in staff educational development and training to ensure that children
received high quality, culturally responsive services. Foster families
also receive an array of services designed to help them nurture the
children they care for and help them prepare youth for participation in
the adult world. We have always made and prioritized efforts to recruit
American Indian staff to work with Native youth and to recruit American
Indian families. Tribal members were hired as family developers to
recruit, license, train and provide on-going support to American Indian
families. These developers were supported to attain their Bachelors and
Masters degrees in Social Work and, over time, were exposed to a broad
and culturally appropriate array of training opportunities.
As our work has evolved over the years, Casey Family Programs has
moved away from focusing largely on direct services to broader
strategies involving systems improvement and the demonstration and
sharing of best practices. The foundation's work in Indian Country is
no exception. The work has evolved, however the guiding principles
remain the same--safely reducing the number of children in foster care,
reducing disparities, preserving families and communities, and
improving outcomes for children.
The Indian Child Welfare Program within Casey focuses on providing
technical assistance to tribes on a wide variety of topics. Casey
Family Programs works to provide training to both States and tribes
regarding the requirements of ICWA. We also work to build collaboration
and cooperation between tribes and States regarding best practices,
capacity building and improving well-being outcomes for children, and
have convened a National Indian Child Welfare Practice Group to draw
together tribal leaders from across the country. Our foundation also
convenes judicial roundtables bringing tribal and State court judges
together to develop partnerships, improve communication and develop
partnerships between judges to improve the systems.
casey family programs work at spirit lake
We join the members of this subcommittee, the Administration, and
other national partners in expressing concern over ongoing cases and
allegations impacting the children and families at Spirit Lake. There
is nothing we take more seriously than working to ensure every child
and family in this country resides in a safe, supportive familial
environment that will foster their well-being.
On April 25 of this year, Casey Family Programs received a letter
from Spirit Lake's Tribal Chairman Leander R. McDonald requesting our
assistance to address issues in their child welfare system.
Since that time, Casey has worked with the tribe to gather
information, create an action plan, and initiate collaboration between
the tribe, State, and Federal entities. The overarching vision for our
work with the Spirit Lake Tribe is to ensure that Spirit Lake children
are safe in their own homes or in tribally approved foster homes.
This vision also included ensuring that the tribe would have the
resources and capacity to effectively reassume control over all child
welfare cases and matters involving Spirit Lake children, and Spirit
Lake culture and traditions will be embodied in the Spirit Lake child
welfare system.
This vision was developed in conversations with Spirit Lake's
chairman and director of tribal social services during an initial visit
by Casey staff to the reservation in May. Because child safety is an
urgent concern at Spirit Lake, we are initially focusing on the
completion of all outstanding BIA investigations and background checks.
Also, clarity is needed among all stakeholders about their roles and
responsibilities in providing child welfare services to Spirit Lake
children.
We are currently consulting with the State of North Dakota to
explore options for their support in reducing the current backlog of
investigations and background checks to enhance child safety. Casey
Family Programs is providing technical assistance in the development of
a searchable database to support the intake process of cases. We are
also arranging trainings for local BIA workers on intake and safety
assessment, as well as culturally relevant practice models and safety
tools.
In terms of initiating collaboration between the various
responsible entities, Casey Family Programs is convening a leadership
engagement meeting in 2 weeks for principal decisionmakers from the
tribe, BIA, ACF, and North Dakota to review plans for the improvement
of child welfare at Spirit Lake. The goal of this meeting is secure a
commitment to cooperative collaboration on defined goals, and to agree
on a shared vision for the work.
Immediately following the leadership meeting, Casey is facilitating
a working session for representatives from these entities who are
involved hands-on with child welfare work at Spirit Lake. The working
session will kick off a multi-part mapping and planning process to
define the ideal case flow sequence, clarify roles and
responsibilities, identify root causes of barriers to implementation,
and create a prioritized list of proposed short-term actions.
One meeting will not solve all the issues, so additional sessions
over the next several months will refine the vision, add detail, and
identify and remove causes of delays or other issues that affect child
safety and well-being.
A vital aspect of these mapping and planning processes will be the
active solicitation of guidance from tribal members on how to improve
tribal child welfare. This will be accomplished through community
meetings when information will be shared about progress and challenges.
Tribal members will be engaged both in implementation of strategic
plans and in dialog about how cultural values, attitudes, and
experiences impact the safety and well-being of Spirit Lake children.
These conversations should address attitudes toward accountability and
consequences, and practices leading to political stability. It will be
critical to address historical trauma impacting parenting skills and
the cycle of abuse.
Casey will continually provide technical assistance to the tribe:
To sustain the process of continuous improvement over
time,
To incorporate community input in creating a comprehensive
strategic plan for achieving its vision for the welfare of
tribal youth and families,
To increase tribal case management and child welfare
related service provision capacity,
To gather and analyze data for enhanced decisionmaking and
improved practice,
To access available resources.
Casey will also facilitate peer-to-peer assistance from other
tribes and to encourage an exchange of ideas about currently used best
practices in tribal child welfare.
Casey's long-term goal is that the tribe will have the full
capacity to deliver child welfare services through more effective
recruitment and retention of child welfare workers, increased access to
funding, and improved policies and procedures.
a new model for serving children and families in indian country
1. Casey Family Programs always promotes safety and child well-
being. Research and the strong voices of children in care
clearly indicate that long-term stays in foster care do not
promote child well-being. Therefore, more must be done to
provide culturally appropriate services that allow the
child to safely remain with their family.
2. Developing the necessary infrastructure to support a robust child
protective services system is essential to reach these
goals. From investigation, to supporting the family, to
maintaining an ongoing engagement to promote well-being,
Spirit Lake and all tribes need quality professional staff
and adequate resources.
3. Best practice in child welfare shares the priority and values of
Indian Country in keeping children with their families and
within their communities. But safety is always paramount
and it is often necessary to have a continuum of services
to be available nearby to meet this standard of practice.
Change to this new model will require oversight and targeted
resources:
Federal oversight and accountability: Our work in child welfare
often brings together public and private partners, Federal, State and
tribal communities and national partners committed to better outcomes
for families and children. In these discussions, it is apparent the
ownership and accountability at the Federal level of oversight for
tribal child welfare is lacking. Various Federal agendas provide a
range of funding streams in a manner that is not streamlined or well-
coordinated. However, there is no Federal agency responsible for the
oversight of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, creating challenges
in implementation. We believe this type of leadership is critical at
the Federal level, much as the leadership is critical at the tribal
level.
Allowing Federal resources to support best practice on safety and
child well-being: The issue of resources is certainly one to explore
further. We have brought the financial resources of our foundation to
Spirit Lake and other tribes throughout this country to try to fill the
gaps and leverage current funding. But tribes continue to struggle. The
majority of tribes who receive child welfare funding from Title IV-E do
so through agreements with States, and effectiveness ranges widely.
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
of 2008 provided tribes, for the first time, with direct access to
these funds so tribes are no longer required to go through their State.
However, since 2008, only four tribes have been successful in gaining
direct access. Even with such access, those tribes have significant
infrastructure challenges. We are actively working to increase this
number given the importance of these resources. We are also enhancing
the partnerships among States and tribes who have agreements to ensure
they further collaborate toward shared goals.
At the same time, it is important to highlight that these Federal
Title IV-E resources only fund foster care once a child is removed from
their family They do not fund prevention services or support services
that can safely avoid removal and foster care placement.
Tribes--and States--need a new model for financing child welfare
that protects a child's safety and serves families. It is time to shift
Federal resources to services and supports that are known to promote
child well-being. In 2011, Congress passed legislation to give States
and tribes the opportunity to seek a waiver to use Federal foster care
funding more effectively. Over 20 States are using this authority to
redirect Federal funding to support a broader array of services that
are targeted to safety and child well-being. Further discussion is
needed on how every State and every tribe can make such strategic
investments in better practice.
In closing, we thank the subcommittee for its oversight on the
specific issues of Spirit Lake. However, being honest, this issue is
more than just Spirit Lake, or even Indian County. Congress realized
this when it created the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and
Neglect Fatalities. At a different House hearing about the commission,
Dr. David Sanders, our Casey Family Programs Executive Vice President
for Systems Improvement and commission chair, acknowledged the
challenge our country faces on child fatalities. Extrapolating from
Federal Government statistics, every 24 hours in America, on average
about four children die as a result of child abuse and neglect, most of
them before they reach their 5th birthday.
We would encourage this subcommittee to explore how to engage with
the commission to be sure the issues within Spirit Lake and Indian
Country are an important consideration in their work.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and I'd be happy to
answer any questions.
______
Question Submitted for the Record by the Hon. Kevin Cramer to Anita
Fineday, Casey Family Programs
Question. What precedent do you feel retaining placement of a child
with their mother should take? In those instances where a mother is a
recovering methamphetamine addict, is it better to place the child with
the mother without supervision rather than placing the child in a
foster home?
Answer. As I mentioned in my testimony, Casey Family Programs has
extensive history working with tribal communities. We believe that the
goals of the Nation around securing well-being for all children,
including Native American children, should be about keeping children
who have been abused and neglected safe from further harm; preventing
abuse and neglect in the first place; eliminating child deaths; and
safely reducing the need for foster care by strengthening vulnerable
families and their communities. My testimony highlights our guiding
principles on which we center our work.
Safety is the priority, and there is nothing we take more seriously
than ensuring a child should be safe.
Congress, through the passage of the 1997 Adoption and Safe
Families Act, also requires child welfare policy to promote permanency
and well-being for children. Research and practice tells us promoting
safety, permanency and well-being together requires a case-by-case
approach. Where to place a child is a complicated question that
requires a case-by-case decisionmaking with a clear focus on the
child's safety, permanency and well-being. Decisions should be based on
the facts of the individual case with the child's safety and well-being
and the mother's parent's status in her/his recovery and the protective
factors for the specific family. The goal of the child welfare system
should be to determine if the child can stay in their family safely
with appropriate services and oversight, whether the child can be
reunified safely and quickly or if another form of permanency is
required.
Federal agencies dealing with substance abuse problems, including
methamphetamines, have developed protocols on how to evaluate child
safety and effectively engage on a case-by-case basis. There are
numerous research studies and guides to support child welfare staff in
making these complicated decisions including the National Resource
Center for Child Protective Services, which I have listed below.
Safety Intervention in Methamphetamine Using Families: A Practice Guide
for Safety Decisions Making and Safety Management in Child Protective
Services, National Resource Center for Child Protective Services
(2005). Available at: http://www.nrccps.org/PDF/
FinalMethintropracticeguidemethoct05.pdf.
Discusses a number of issues related methamphetamine use in families
and strategies for intervention.
Safety Management with Methamphetamine-Using Caregivers, National
Resource Center for Child Protective Services (2004). Available at:
http://www.nrccps.org/PDF/Meth_IA_article.pdf.
Discusses identifying and assessing safety threats in the initial
assessment of families involved in methamphetamine use, including
criteria for identifying present danger and impending danger, and key
steps for managing safety threats
Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 33: Treatment for Stimulant
Use Disorders, Rawson (1999). Available at: http://
adaiclearinghouse.org/downloads/TIP-33-Treatment-for-Stimulant-Use-
Disorders-61.pdf.
In SAMSHA/CSAT Treatment Improvement Protocols.
Provides practice guidelines for the treatment of stimulant use
disorders, including the use of methamphetamines.
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this question.
______
Mr. Cramer. With that, the Chair recognizes the Chair for 5
minutes.
Mr. Young. I thank the witnesses. Judge and the chief, if
you had a wand to solve this problem, what would you need,
Chief?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, I think--Mr. Chairman, I think
what was included in my testimony is that, first of all, we
just need front-line workers right now. We have been trying to
fill these positions for over the years, since--while I have
been in office, coming in September, and we have had a
difficult time, as a result of that.
As a result of that, the workers that we do have are
overworked, because they have been taking on these duties
because the personnel aren't there----
Mr. Young. OK. But now, is it a lack of money, or a lack of
personnel?
Dr. Leander McDonald. It is a lack of personnel.
Mr. Young. Now, there are no tribal members that can do
this, or have you looked outside the tribal members to do it,
too?
Dr. Leander McDonald. It is open. It has been open, sir.
Mr. Young. And there aren't any people--what is the pay?
Dr. Leander McDonald. The majority of them are right around
$20 an hour, $40,000 a year. Social workers, on the other hand,
though, especially masters in social work, if you look at the
Federal rates, they are right around $50,000 for masters in
social work that is licensed.
Mr. Young. But I am looking for a solution. If you need
two--ma'am, if you want to comment--you have got two, and you
need--you don't have--filled that yet. You need three-and-a-
half, right?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes.
Mr. Young. So how do we get there? Do we----
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, I think----
Mr. Young. We go to Thailand and get a couple people? Or
what do we do?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, sir, I think what we proposed
here in regard to the Department of Health and Human Services
and the Commission would allow us for some emergency workers
that could staff us up until we can get to that point and
recruit those professionals.
Mr. Young. OK. I am trying to help you here. You are on the
right track, and I compliment you on this.
If that is the problem, let's figure out how we can be of
help, so you can get that three-and-a-half, or--I don't know
how you are going to get half--or four. Because, again, it goes
back to the children.
So, Judge, what do you think? I mean your testimony is
interesting. The lack of activity from the BIA agents
themselves, the police force, is that correct, was it the legal
force?
Judge Molly McDonald. Yes.
Mr. Young. Now, are they local, or are they outsiders?
Judge Molly McDonald. The police officers?
Mr. Young. Yes.
Judge Molly McDonald. The police officers, I believe, a
majority of them are from Spirit Lake.
Mr. Young. Well, that is one of the problems, then, because
it is hard to arrest your uncle and your aunt and your brother,
your sister, your father, and your mother.
Judge Molly McDonald. Yes.
Mr. Young. So how do we eliminate that?
Judge Molly McDonald. I think the view that I would like
this committee to see is that the people on the reservation
have no trust in the law enforcement system right now. There is
absolutely no trust because of prior practices that have been
happening, even before my appointment. This has been going on
for years.
Mr. Young. Well, again, I understand that. And, like I say
up in Alaska----
Judge Molly McDonald. And my----
Mr. Young. But I am saying how do you--we had the end up
eventually--actually, we had a great police chief, because he
was 66", and nobody would give him any bad problems. But now
they have a problem there is no trust in the local police, they
try to bring in the state troopers, they don't like the state
troopers. So we have the same problem. I am just looking for a
solution. What would you suggest?
Judge Molly McDonald. My recommendation--and I have talked
to the Chairman about this, as well--is accountability. There
is no accountability in law enforcement, as far as our officers
on our reservation. We are aware of what they are doing, we are
aware of the practices that are going on, and nobody is holding
these people accountable. Nobody is holding these officers
accountable for their job. They are sworn officers to protect
our people, and they are not doing it.
Mr. Young. Now, Chief, do you hire these people?
Dr. Leander McDonald. No.
Mr. Young. Who hires them?
Dr. Leander McDonald [continuing]. These are Federal----
Judge Molly McDonald. BIA.
Dr. Leander McDonald [continuing]. Bureau of Indian Affairs
officers.
Mr. Young. Well, then why don't we fire them? We didn't ask
the BIA this, either.
Judge Molly McDonald. There is no--as far as I know, none
of these officers have ever been reprimanded for their duties,
or lack of doing their duties.
Mr. Young. Well, I am the Chairman, I am going to ask the
Chairman. I think we ought to fire the whole bunch, move them
out, get somebody else. If they are not doing their job, what
are they getting paid for? Maybe reinstate some faith within
the community.
Judge Molly McDonald. I agree.
Mr. Young. I am going to ask both of you--and this is his
district, but you work with your congressman, and let's see if
we can't solve this problem. I don't want to have--like I say,
I get very irritated when it comes to kids. And I am not
putting the burden on you, Chief, because you are relatively
new, and you have been there. But we can solve this. You know,
get somebody in there that can--anybody that starts abusing
kids, we--well, you got any big, deep holes out there that we
can put them in, like Joseph had to go into, and leave him
there a while? We might look for that solution too, you know.
We will bring them out after a while and find out what is going
on, though.
But I want to help Chief, go ahead, and then I have to go.
Dr. Leander McDonald. Mr. Chairman, the other piece of
that, too, is that in regard to the lack of staff, lack of
police officers, I have seen it--I am not disagreeing with any
of Molly's statements----
Mr. Young. You better not, she is your sister. Go ahead.
Dr. Leander McDonald. I know it. But on the other side is
that--you know, because BIA is ultimately responsible for the
law enforcement of our reservation. But I think a piece of that
is that--part of it is that, because of the underfunding, and
the personnel with--it only recently came up to two police
officers. It was only one police officer up to about 3 months
ago. And so we had one person on per shift, and they didn't
have a whole lot of time off because of the lack of personnel
there.
So, I think there is some other piece in regard to possible
burnout that could be affecting their functionality, I guess,
within--you know, within their positions. So I just ask that to
be a consideration in regard to this--in regard to the comments
that have been made, because I think if we are staffed up to
the 14 officers that we do need, that I stated, then I think we
would be in a better position to patrol and keep our lands
safe.
Mr. Young. Last thing, Mr. Chairman. Chief, what is your
main supply of dollars? Is it government aid, or what is it?
Where is the money coming from for the reservation?
Dr. Leander McDonald. The majority of the funds that we
receive are Federal funds that are provided through the trust
responsibility of the Federal Government.
We also receive funds from our casino that we have, and
these are called economic development funds. With those funds
we have supplemented the social services program with about
$325,000 this past fiscal year. We have also put about a
quarter of a million dollars aside for additional tribal law
enforcement officers to help to have adequate law enforcement
on our lands.
You know, so--and then, with the tribal court system, we
are at about $300,000 down there, too. So we have contributed
and supplemented these programs with tribal funds.
Mr. Young. All right, I--again, work with us, and see if we
can't make sure you aren't back here again with bad publicity,
and get the job done. And if they are not doing the job, let us
know. OK?
Mr. Chairman, I am done.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you, Chairman Young. With that, I
recognize the Ranking Member for about 7\1/2\ minutes, I can
tell.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Young. Go ahead.
Mr. Cardenas. I appreciate it, but Chairman Young can speak
as long as he wants, I am sure.
Chairman McDonald, earlier the name Tom Sullivan was
mentioned. Are you familiar with this individual? Have you
heard of him? Do you know him in any way?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes, I know Mr. Sullivan.
Mr. Cardenas. How do you know him?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, I have only met him once. But
to answer your previous question, has he been out to our
reservation before, he has.
Mr. Cardenas. As in 6 months ago, 6 years ago, 60 years
ago? I mean can you put it in context?
Dr. Leander McDonald. It is about 6 years ago, sir. There
was a FEMA meeting that was held that I actually helped out at,
and he was there for that FEMA meeting, along with a lot of
other officials from regional and national office that came out
and responded to then-Chairman Pearson's request for that
assistance, or Chairperson Pearson.
So, yes, he has been out there. But then on the other piece
of that is--with Tom, we have had these reports out there, and
I have seen him, but he has never sent them directly to the
Office of the Chairman, from what I can see. I have never
received them directly. In fact, Molly is the one who has been
giving them to me.
But I actually got to meet with him at a Health and Human
Services consultation down in Denver.
Mr. Cardenas. How long ago?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Oh, geez, about 4 or 5 months ago.
Mr. Cardenas. OK.
Dr. Leander McDonald. And there we----
Mr. Cardenas. Did you ask him for help? Did you--he seems
to, at least on paper, claim to be knowledgeable about what has
been going on on your reservation, et cetera. But is--let me
just cut to the chase. How helpful has he been when it comes to
not just saying what he feels has happened, or has been going
on? Has he been solution-oriented, as far as wanting to roll up
his sleeves and be part of the solution, as far as you can
tell?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, sir, there have really been two
requests for assistance from myself, personally, to him. I
wrote him a letter asking him to--in his official capacity as a
regional administer, to come in and investigate these cases
that he was bringing up within these mandated reports for our
community. I didn't get----
Mr. Cardenas. Did you get a response?
Dr. Leander McDonald. I didn't get a response.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. So you wrote to him in writing?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes, I did.
Mr. Cardenas. And you sent him a request in writing?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes.
Mr. Cardenas. And you are telling this committee that he
did not respond to you in writing? And, as far as you can tell,
you have not received any correspondence from him----
Dr. Leander McDonald. No, I----
Mr. Cardenas [continuing]. From you sending him that
request?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Not an email, not a letter, not a
response, not a phone call.
The second----
Mr. Cardenas. On that note, Mr. Chairman--and then thank
you, I do appreciate what you are explaining to us. But that
letter, can you make sure that this committee gets a copy of
that letter that you--of request to Mr. Tom Sullivan from you,
the Chairman?
Dr. Leander McDonald. You bet.
Mr. Cardenas. Were you the Chairman at the time, when you
asked him?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. So if you can get us a copy of that
letter, I would appreciate it, Mr. Chairman, thank you. OK,
yes, thank you, go ahead.
Dr. Leander McDonald. The second time was at this Health
and Human Services consultation meeting, region 8, in Denver.
And I got to--we had the--well, we didn't really have lunch,
but we took the lunch break in order to visit a little bit. And
because I had seen out there in his letters that he was
advocating for the tribe, so I specifically asked for the
meeting. And I guess the region granted it, and I was able to
sit down with him.
At that meeting we visited a little bit, and I asked him
then--because he was cutting down ACF pretty good. But ACF, you
know, had been the ones that were out there, helping us. And
so, him having said that, so what I asked him is that--I
offered him a job, and I asked him to come and work for us. I
said, ``Come on out, Tom. Come and work for us. I will give you
a job, you know, to help us to investigate this.'' And he said
he couldn't do that at that time.
So, those are the two places where I asked him to help us
out, and there was no response the first time, and no to the
second.
Mr. Cardenas. So basically, you did make an effort, as the
Chairman on behalf of your tribe, to involve this person, Tom
Sullivan. So what I gather from you is you weren't--you didn't
take offense to what he said, you trusted that he was being
honest and just forthright about what he knew, and therefore,
you wanted his assistance to try to solve these issues?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes, sir. And what I was seeing is
that--the question I asked him--because there is a process for
this, there is a process when we have allegation of this, and
the process for our community is that when you--there is an
allegation, and you do a 960 on it, and then there is an
investigation conducted on the 960. And so, my question to him
was that, ``Well, here is the process, you are a regional
administrator. You guys are kind of--try to keep us in check
over at our level, at the local level, in regard to following
these processes that are set up.''
And my question was that, ``Why didn't you file a 960 on
these stories that you were hearing--because some of them were
pretty detailed--and so we could make sure that a proper
investigation was being conducted?'' And he said it was not in
his jurisdiction.
And so, I just wondered, because he is region 8. We fall
within region 8, so I figured it was in his jurisdiction. But,
in any event, there was nothing filed with the 960s on our
behalf or our children's behalf.
Mr. Cardenas. Mr. Chairman, could I take 5 seconds to ask
Molly McDonald a question?
Mr. Cramer. Yes.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A quick question. At
what time were you a judge over at Spirit Lake? And then,
second, other than being a tribal member, do you have any other
official capacity at this time with the tribe?
Judge Molly McDonald. I was appointed as the Associate
Juvenile Judge in February of 2010, and my appointment ended in
March of 2012. And right now I am not working for the tribe.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you. And I suspect I will either take
7\1/2\ minutes, or we will have another round of questions for
these two witnesses.
I do want to get to something--do any of you know how many
prosecutions there have been of child abuse in the last 2
years, other than the well-known child death situations? Does
anybody have an answer to that question?
Ms. Merrick, do you----
Ms. Merrick-Brady. I don't have the number offhand, but I
was part of coordinating the CTAS grant application for the
tribe this spring, and we got numbers from the tribal court. So
I have tribal court numbers available of the cases that went
through tribal court. I do not have the Federal----
Mr. Cramer. The Federal ones. OK. If we could get those at
some point, that would be great. Thank you.
Judge McDonald or Chair, you don't know any different?
Because I want to get to the court situation a little bit,
because you did speak specifically to it. We have a former
judge here. You seem to want to fix that part of it. I
personally think that is one of the major challenges. The
separation of powers issue, I think, has been a problem in the
past. I am hoping it is not now.
So, I want to get to that. I know that, as I understand it,
Judge Cross was recently resigned. Could somebody--perhaps, Mr.
Chairman, you could speak to why Judge Cross was recently
either let go or resigned?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Judge Cross was terminated from the
tribe.
Mr. Cramer. On what grounds? And I don't know, so I am
sincerely wondering.
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, Tribal Council deemed it
necessary to terminate her. And, myself, I need to say on
record that I was opposed to that, and that I----
Mr. Cramer. So you were----
Dr. Leander McDonald. With the forethought is that there
needs to be a separation of powers between government and our
judicial system. And so, whatever those rulings were, they
should have stood. I mean they--well, they did stand. But the
termination should have never occurred.
Mr. Cramer. So was your sense, if I understand, that some
of the Tribal Council members wanted her removed because they
disagreed with her rulings? Is that possible, or a fact?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, the way I saw it, that was a
public pressure.
Mr. Cramer. OK.
Dr. Leander McDonald. For them to remove her.
Mr. Cramer. And the public pressure came from people that
she had sentenced, or victims, or just the general public?
Dr. Leander McDonald. I believe they were community members
who were not satisfied with her rulings.
Mr. Cramer. All right. Now, did the tribe recently hire a
new chief judge for your court system?
Dr. Leander McDonald. There was Chief--Judge Morsett was
there, and then he resigned.
Mr. Cramer. OK.
Dr. Leander McDonald. And so now we are----
Mr. Cramer. I am asking specifically about a Monty J.
Stensland. Did you recently hire----
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes, the counsel hired Monty.
Mr. Cramer. Counsel hired Monty Stensland?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes.
Mr. Cramer. How recently?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Oh, about a week ago.
Mr. Cramer. Are you aware that Mr. Stensland is currently
suspended from practicing law in North Dakota?
Dr. Leander McDonald. We realized that after the action was
taken.
Mr. Cramer. OK.
Dr. Leander McDonald. And a background check was being
implemented.
Mr. Cramer. So the background check hadn't been done prior
to the offer of the job, and now you have a judge with a
suspended license. Is there any effort to--did you know what he
was suspended for?
Dr. Leander McDonald. I only know that--from what I
understood was that he was debarred, and he was suspended for--
it sounded like some type of misrepresentation.
Mr. Cramer. Well, let me just read it to you right off of
the Supreme Court Web site. His first suspension a few years
ago was for--a 60-day suspension--and, by the way, it has been
suspended for--over the course of 7 years now--a 60-day
suspension for fraudulently signing or having another person,
at his direction, sign a client's name on a document and filing
it with the court.
And then, after that, two instances of fraudulently
affixing a client's name to a document and filing it with the
court, failure to properly notify clients of a prior
suspension, falsely certifying to this court compliance with
the notification requirements, repeated and flagrant failure to
communicate with clients, and mishandling and refusing to
return unearned client funds.
The Supreme Court stated his behavior ``suggests a pattern
of dishonesty to the courts and flagrant disregard of his
clients' welfare.'' I would submit to you probably not going to
be great public relations when this comes out. And it is your
court.
I also want to follow up on something you said, Mr.
Chairman, toward the end of your prepared remarks. You said
you--I don't remember if you used the word ``charged'' Congress
for solutions, or ``challenged'' Congress for solutions, and I
would agree, I hope that we can work together on some
solutions. But I also want to remind you that, if sovereignty
is in fact what we are talking about, and self-reliance is the
goal, the best solutions are going to come from you, and in
consultation with your friends at the Casey Foundation and
others that want to partner with you.
I want--I am wondering. How many victims does your victims
advocate program handle in 1 month? And probably Ms. Merrick-
Brady is best able to answer.
Could you give me a rough idea of how many victims you deal
with in a month? And maybe that is an unfair way to put it, but
if you could sort of help me with a general number, a
caseload----
Ms. Merrick-Brady. Can you repeat the question? I had
somebody----
Mr. Cramer. Sure. How many victims does your victims
advocate program handle in a month?
Ms. Merrick-Brady. I--again, I didn't bring my victim
assistance numbers with me. And I am currently overseeing both
programs. I want to say--I can give you some of last year's
numbers----
Mr. Cramer. Sure.
Ms. Merrick-Brady [continuing]. Just because we--and it
is----
Mr. Cramer. Just general.
Ms. Merrick-Brady. For the year last year, we had, I
believe, around--and again, this is from memory, a rough
estimate--around 168, total, domestic violence, sexual assault
victims that came through our program.
Mr. Cramer. All right. Very good. With that, my time has
expired, but we are going to do another round of questions, so
I am going to yield to the Ranking Member for another round of
questions.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Fineday, your organization works to improve foster care
and child welfare systems across the Nation. Are child deaths a
problem in and outside of Indian Country, or only in Indian
Country?
Ms. Fineday. Thank you, Congressman, for that question. At
the end of my testimony I referenced a congressional commission
that has been created, I think, because Congress, as a whole,
realizes that this is a problem across the country. It is not a
problem just in Indian Country.
Mr. Cardenas. And when it comes to a problem that occurs in
clusters, have you seen that arise outside of Indian Country,
or only in Indian Country?
Ms. Fineday. I think, unfortunately, it is a common
occurrence across many communities.
Mr. Cardenas. So it appears to be a human side effect, not
necessarily a tribal issue, specifically?
Ms. Fineday. I think that is correct, Congressman.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. Your written testimony includes themes of
cultural appropriateness and tribal sovereignty. Can you please
expand on those points and tell us why paying attention to
these is so important with regard to Indian children?
Ms. Fineday. Well, I think when we are looking at
culturally appropriate services, it has been our experience in
child welfare that in working with tribes, that the services
are most effective with tribal children when those services are
culturally appropriate, and children respond more positively
when it is from their own culture and their own community.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. So, what you are saying is it affects the
effectiveness of the actual provider of services, right, if
they have that cultural sensitivity, or if they can learn a lot
of those sensitivities quickly, they are more effective.
Ms. Fineday. That is correct, Congressman.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. And I have a question to the Chairman,
Chairman McDonald.
Are you--what pay range is your tribe able to pay judges
when they are judges for your courts?
Dr. Leander McDonald. I think right now the range is from
$60,000 to $85,000 a year.
Mr. Cardenas. Are you familiar at all with what judges get
paid around the corner when they are working for the State, or
Federal judges in your State or in your region?
Dr. Leander McDonald. I am familiar with some older
numbers, and it looks like we are competitive.
Mr. Cardenas. Oh, really?
Dr. Leander McDonald. I think so.
Mr. Cardenas. OK.
Dr. Leander McDonald. But I am not too sure at the State
level. I would think----
Mr. Cardenas. I would be surprised if you are competitive.
Because in order to be a judge in most jurisdictions, you have
to have a juris doctorate. You probably needed to have been
practicing, et cetera, et cetera.
For example, in California, judges are paid about $180,000
a year. And the reason why I ask it with a question, I am not
saying that judges are paid that amount in your State, I am
just saying that when you look at the minimum qualifications
and the amount of years of experience before somebody gets
either appointed as judge, or runs for--to be a judge, or what
have you, it seems as though the requirements and the minimum
standard of requirement is much different. And I would assume
much higher.
It appears that the judges in your court are not required
to have had to pass the bar or be active. Correct?
Dr. Leander McDonald. I believe they are required to have
a----
Mr. Cardenas. Yes, please shed some light on that, Molly.
Judge Molly McDonald. Pursuant to our Spirit Lake law and
order code, there is no requirement for the judge to be law-
trained.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. And the reason why I ask that question is
because it is unfortunate that the responsibilities that the
tribes take on for themselves sometimes don't come with
equivalent funding opportunities, they don't come with the
opportunity to actually have equivalence thereof.
And so, when people outside of Indian Country find out, or
what have you, they--in my opinion, too many Americans actually
think that it is wrong. But, wait a minute, it is not about
being right or wrong, it is about having to deal with your
responsibilities with the resources you may or may not even
have to deal with them. And then many Americans take it for
granted that when somebody is a judge down the road in some
county somewhere, that they actually have a certain standard,
and assume that standard. Well, that standard is actually able
to be adhered to, because they have been given the resources to
go ahead and hire people with those qualifications.
But yet in Indian Country it seems as though many times
tribes are being criticized because they don't have people of
certain degree--certain formal degrees, excuse me, and people
with certain--like, having passed the bar, et cetera. Most
Americans take that for granted, but what they don't realize is
many tribes--many sovereign nations don't have the wherewithal
to actually attract those individuals, or even keep that bar at
that level.
So, it is unfortunate. I am not saying that one can't be a
good person and do a good job. All I am saying is that many
Americans judge people or what is going on in Indian Country
unfairly because they don't understand that they are not--their
jurisdiction and their requirements and their abilities are
way, way different.
So thank you very much for shedding light, Molly, and also
Chairman. Thank you.
Dr. Leander McDonald. May I add something?
Mr. Cramer. Please feel free.
Dr. Leander McDonald. Mr. Chair?
Mr. Cramer. Yes.
Dr. Leander McDonald. I am going to--I am in agreement with
all that you said. And I think a lot of the issues that we are
having is that we talk a little bit about sovereignty, and the
inherent right of tribes as sovereign nations. It is recognized
within our Constitution. And so, we have the rights here as
being for a nation here within these lands.
And with that right, and for the cessation of lands that we
gave up, we were provided--we were to be provided these things
that are based in our treaties, that are based on contracts
with the U.S. Government. And it doesn't say within the
treaties that we were going to provide these to you
inadequately. It doesn't say that. It says, ``We are going to
provide these things to you.''
And in my opinion, and when I read this, and when our
forefathers, our ancestors signed on those treaties, I think
that is how they understood it, because they wanted the--the
Federal Government, they were taking them at their word to
provide these things to us for the cessation of millions of
acres of land. And so I continue to believe that.
And in regard to sovereign status, I think we are moving in
the right direction. I think there were things that were not
happening within our community that needed to happen. And, as a
result of that, based on our constitution, changes were made by
our people within our community, and they continue to be made.
And so--but things like Molly was sharing, these things--
and I think what we heard throughout the testimony here today
is that these things have been going on for quite some time.
And so--but we are responsible now. It is our watch now. It is
our responsibility to do this.
So, I thank the committee here for allowing us to share
these perspectives today. Thank you.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you. Could somebody on the panel tell me
how many foster homes there are on the reservation? Do you
know? Qualified foster homes?
Ms. Merrick-Brady. There are currently nine licensed homes
on the reservation.
Mr. Cramer. And how many would you need to provide the
appropriate safe haven for children in distress, in danger?
Ms. Merrick-Brady. Well, right now we have--we don't
exclusively use just the tribally licensed homes. We have them
placed also throughout the State because of the number of,
like, say, sibling groups or family size of the kids that are
being placed.
I guess I was appointed on March 3, and I am coming up on
my second 60-day appointment for this. And so I guess that was
never a question that anybody really asked was how many do we
need. We just know we need some. And, in fact, one of the
efforts that we are doing is--this evening, because I am here,
I am missing our event--is we are hosting a foster parent
appreciation/recruitment dinner for these purposes. Our current
foster homes are--you know, it is like a--them plus one, you
know, potential foster parents. And then we are also using it
as a recognition and appreciation, because we only have a
little bit, and so we do appreciate their efforts. And they
know the needs, and so we are also utilizing it as a venue for
their site visits.
And also one of the, I guess, good PR efforts is we are
also using it--we are hiring a photographer, because some of
these children probably have never taken family portraits,
family pictures together, including their siblings, the sibling
groups. You know, we really are--progress is being made.
Mr. Cramer. What are the standards for becoming a foster
parent? You know, Senator Hoeven and I each have legislation in
our respective communities. And we are not here to necessarily
talk specifically about it, but we want to have some sort of
minimum standard. And you may very well meet that standard. It
is basically regarding background checks for all adults in the
foster home. Is that something that is currently done for these
nine licensed----
Ms. Merrick-Brady. We currently follow the State's
practices. Just because of all the scrutiny, we moved toward
following the background checks. They have to get
fingerprinted, and it is every adult over the age of 18 that
resides in the home that has to pass the background check. We
have site visits. We have--I believe it is three, and one of
them is unannounced. You know, there is a process. It is
timely, but we want it to be thorough.
Mr. Cramer. Having been through it myself to be a licensed
foster home, I can tell you it is--the scrutiny is almost
uncomfortable, but it is very important, and we are happy to
have gone through it.
I want to get to a couple of specific cases, or at least
one. First of all, several of us--and I think you, Mr.
Chairman, included--have received a list of 136 children
believed to be at risk from former social service worker Betty
Jo Krenz. You are familiar with that list?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes. But the list I received, I think
it was around 100.
Mr. Cramer. OK. And I don't know exactly, I was sort of
guessing, myself. But it is somewhere around 100 or more.
Do you know--have you followed up, or has somebody followed
up on that report?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, just--we hired on--her name
is--well, she is Sister, but Joanne Strifle.
Mr. Cramer. OK, sure.
Dr. Leander McDonald. She is a retired masters social work
trained, I.H.S. mental health professional.
Mr. Cramer. Sure.
Dr. Leander McDonald. And she was residing in our
community, and she had great interest in this area. And so we
have asked her to come out of retirement to help us investigate
these cases.
Mr. Cramer. Has she found most of them, or all of them, or
any number of them, and have any of them found to be at risk?
Do you know?
OK, Ms. Brady?
Ms. Merrick-Brady. She is still currently employed, and
still actively pursuing and finding out how many children are
safe. Within the first week we have identified 66 of them as
being safe, as, you know, they are either in placement, they
have aged out, they have been adopted. And that was within the
first week.
She is working hand in hand with our ICWA manager, Chuck,
and he is also a licensed social worker. She is being greeted,
I guess, and BIA is being cooperative with her. Also the courts
are being cooperative with her. Everybody is focused on the
safety of identifying----
Mr. Cramer. Has she found any to be in an unsafe situation?
Ms. Merrick-Brady. There have been a couple of incidents.
Mr. Cramer. And----
Ms. Merrick-Brady. And those were reported. She sat down
with one of our staff members, and we did formally report.
Mr. Cramer. Did they--were they removed, then?
Ms. Merrick-Brady. They were just--it was recent. Like real
recent. Like last week.
Mr. Cramer. So they have been removed from the home?
Ms. Merrick-Brady. Well, one of them is complicated. One of
them is really complicated. So we have contacted a national
office, because we feel like they should be removed. We don't
have--and they are not in our jurisdiction. That is the one
that is complicated, that is the one where we have asked for
help and, I guess, technical assistance on how best to have
those children removed from that home.
Mr. Cramer. OK. That causes some concern for me, to be
honest. I don't know what level the danger is. I hope you do,
if it is too complicated to take immediate action.
Are you familiar with a case where a BIA officer assaulted
his wife? She came to--I don't know if it was Social Services
or the tribe for help. Her husband was, of course, being a
tribal officer, either heard of, or it was reported to him that
she reported him, and resulted in an even more severe beating.
Are either of you familiar with this case, or--Judge McDonald?
Judge Molly McDonald. I am familiar with what you are
talking about. There are two separate issues to this.
Mr. Cramer. OK.
Judge Molly McDonald. One was a human resource issue, and
one was an advocacy issue. I addressed it with human resources,
I followed the process. And one of the first things that--when
Chairman McDonald was sworn in, came into office, I briefed him
on the whole situation. Because of confidentiality and the VAWA
provisions, I can't release any of that information publicly to
some of the people who thought maybe I had done something
wrong.
Mr. Cramer. OK.
Judge Molly McDonald. But I was--the whole--there was an
investigation because the public didn't know all of the
provisions and there was--the H.R. piece was a little bit more
public. And that is where a lot of the things were out in the
public, went wrong. And so I briefed him on everything, and I
was--I did my job.
Mr. Cramer. OK. So I guess now I am a little more concerned
than I was before I asked at the beginning of the question.
So this officer, wife abuser, learned of her reporting it
through some----
Judge Molly McDonald. Through her own doing.
Mr. Cramer. She went and told him that she squealed on him,
or--is that what you are saying?
Judge Molly McDonald. I don't know if I can get--I can't--
--
Mr. Cramer. No, I understand. All right. Well, we can talk
about----
Judge Molly McDonald. I can't----
Mr. Cramer. Yes, I understand, I understand. We can talk
about it offline, if that is what is necessary.
You know, I want to wrap this up, and I know the Ranking
Member has some comments, as well. But one of the things that I
think we have all admitted--and I have said it many times--
there is a clumsiness. We had a hearing last week in this
committee, or on the Natural Resources--on the Energy Committee
on sovereignty issues, where I have introduced a bill to try
and further codify sovereignty with regard to handling of
minerals on tribal lands.
And what we find is that you have got bureaucracy, and then
you have bureaucracy. And when you have two bureaucracies you
have a worse situation than one plus one. It gets very clumsy.
And I think we are struggling with that, to say the least.
That said--and I think it needs to be clear that, yes, our
Constitution recognizes and acknowledges the sovereignty of
tribes, and Congress is the trustee. There is a trustee
relationship here, that Congress is the trustee, that BIA is
our agent in carrying that out, but Congress itself is the
trustee. And I suspect that the reason for that is that--and
maybe Chairman McDonald hasn't heard me say this; his
predecessor, and every other chairman in North Dakota has--that
when there is an issue of danger, especially--and I agree with
the Chairman on this--especially with regard to children, very
little else matters, but the safety of that child, quite
honestly.
In fact, nothing else matters, besides the safety of that
child, because that child is my constituent, like that child is
your constituent. And that child's family and the community is
asking for help. And, as the trustee of this relationship,
there are some things we can do, and there are some things we
can't do. And so we--whatever we do, we need to do it in
concert, and do it together.
So, you are sure you don't have another round of questions
you want to--because I don't want to lose the moment?
Well, we haven't been called to vote yet, that is why I
am--I don't want to lose the moment, because these folks have
to go. But why don't--do you have some--OK, I am going to
recognize the Ranking Member for a few more questions, as well,
just because you all took the time and expense, and you are a
long ways from home, and you are here, and I don't want to miss
the opportunity.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And once again, in
case you run out of time, I want to say thank you to all of the
panelists who came. I really do appreciate your expertise and
your knowledge that you are helping to educate us, this
Committee of Congress. And I also want to say that, of the
people who have testified today, I don't get any feeling that
people who came forward to be part of the testimony today are
in any way doing it--are in any way hindering wanting to do the
right thing, or allowing others to do the right thing. So thank
you very much.
Now, this question is for Ms. McDonald. How does the
tribe's judiciary system impact the child welfare system? And
what can Congress do to improve judicial independence?
Judge Molly McDonald. I still stand with accountability.
Law enforcement, our social services, our tribal court, the
decisions made by our tribal court are going to affect a child,
especially in a social services case, for the rest of their
lives. And the tribal court needs to take that seriously.
What I have been observing since I left the court, I just
believe that they need--they all need to work together. And I
just don't see that happening. Instead I am seeing the blame
game. It is the tribal court's fault, it is BIA Social
Services' fault, it is the Tribal Social Services' fault, it is
the Tribal Council's fault.
Mr. Cardenas. Is any of what you just said to us right now,
is any of that element of lack of attention in the proper ways
have to do with the lack of providers, or the services that are
afforded the tribe?
Judge Molly McDonald. [No response.]
Mr. Cardenas. In other words, is it 100 percent lack of
will, or is it a combination of some people not having the
will, yet at the same time those who do have the will don't
have the resources to address it properly?
Judge Molly McDonald. If you want the honest truth, with
the Chairman sitting here, I believe a lot of these things that
are happening on the tribal level is because the workers--the
employees of the tribe are all afraid of getting fired. They
are going to do whatever the Council tells them to do. So there
is that distrust now in those tribal programs from people in
the community. The same at the BIA law enforcement level.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you.
On that note, Mr. Chairman, do you agree that more should
be done? And, if so, what are the elements that are holding the
tribe back from being able to make more progress faster when it
comes to making sure that the children get justice, and
families?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, I would like to refer back to
the testimony provided by Ms. Chang in regard to the result--
one of the results they found within their report was that
there was a lack of communication going on. And I think that is
one of the main issues that we have to resolve, and to take
away these silos and come together in regard to addressing this
issue.
And you know, I think the thing to do, too, is--to respond
to Molly's comments a little bit is that we have been doing our
best to try to create a system where you don't have to be
afraid of losing your job, but you can come forth and
contribute to what is available out there. And I think we are
moving forward on that. We have EPA assisting us in reviewing
of our policies and procedures manual within the next couple
weeks, and they will be out there to help do that. The
directors have been invited to provide some input on that. And
I think, as that strengthens, that part becomes strengthened,
that part will be addressed.
And we are--I think the thing is that, historically, we
have been operating as--tribes have kind of really control of
what was happening in their environments. And I think we have
to continue to move in a positive direction, but bring forth
the expertise that we do have. And if we don't have that
expertise, bring it in from the outside in order to help us
build that capacity that we can build a stronger system in
whatever area it is.
And for here, for what we are talking about today is child
protection services. And these four areas that we have been
talking about today are so important that they come together.
And I think we are moving in that right direction. And that is
why the Casey meeting is so important here on July 7-9, in
order to bring all this together and give us an actual map, a
visual, but also the documentation to support that on how we
are going to address this issue for our children.
So I think the work is coming together. I think that there
has been good progress in that. And I think--but that is only a
piece of that. We are not there yet. That is--I think half the
work has been planning. And now we need to move forward. But we
need the resources in order to do that, sir.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And one more
comment, if I may, Chairman of the Committee.
I think it is important for you to understand, Chairman--
and please take this back to your colleagues at every level.
Especially from you, the Chairman, please do not stop asking
the Federal Government for help and resources. I know you
probably feel as though you are frustrated and you don't know
if anybody is listening.
But one piece of advice that I have learned, both as a
business owner, and as a 18-year full-time elected official,
every time you make those requests, if it is verbally, follow
it up in writing. Document every single request. Do not allow
yourself to get frustrated and think that nobody is listening.
Maybe almost nobody is listening, but please, please do not
stop making those requests, and make those requests in writing.
And any time you can be specific, continue to double down on
that communication.
I know it is not easy. I am sure you are working your tail
off. I am sure that, you know, there is probably not enough
time in the day to address all the things you need to address.
But when it comes to getting the Federal Government to
recognize their responsibility, as you described your
forefathers actually understood that the Federal Government
would do, I believe that it is woefully inadequate in what is
being provided. Yet, at the same time, please continue to
document those requests.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you. I am going to take 5 minutes myself,
now, and follow up and wrap up. I want to go fairly quickly.
One of the issues, Mr. Chairman, you raised in your
testimony, especially your written testimony, you elaborate a
bit on the need for good public relations. I don't think there
is any question that the public relations has been bad. The
news has been bad because the situation has been bad. And so,
how do we get better news out there? Hopefully this is part of
it. You know, coming together, providing some hope, a road map,
the help of the Casey Foundation.
And Judge McDonald talked about accountability. You know,
since you have been Chairman--remind me. The incident that I
referred to earlier with the TV reporter that was assaulted,
they were there covering a fire or something, and--or something
else, and they saw it, and they had the camera out, and we read
all about it. I don't know all the facts of it, but--did that
happen after you became Chairman? I am not accusing you of
doing it. I am just wondering--I am trying to get a sense of
the timeline. And what do you think of that situation?
And second, the reporter that--I read a report, and I don't
remember where it was now--I think it might have even been the
same reporter recently was rebuked, according to this report,
by you for reporting on the most recent child death, which I
think was in April.
Maybe just respond to that in general, and then let's talk
about how we can help create accountability through
transparency. Is that fair?
Dr. Leander McDonald. Yes. On the--Mr. Chairman, in regard
to the incident that occurred when--his name is Adam Ladwick.
Mr. Cramer. That is right----
Dr. Leander McDonald. The reporter for our area. And, from
what I understand, he was next to private property, and he was
viewing--or shooting the burning down of a building. And the
family whose building was burning down didn't like him filming
that. And so then, therefore, they told him to get off of
private land, which he wasn't, because he was on public. And
the road is considered public.
Mr. Cramer. Sure.
Dr. Leander McDonald. And so--and they pretty much--from
what I could see on a video footage from the newscast itself,
is that he was--I don't know if he was assaulted, but they did
break his camera.
And so, I think he had the opportunity, if he wanted to, to
press charges. But I don't know if he did or not. So--on that
part of it.
On the other one, in regard to him coming to a public
meeting, and the child was not yet buried, and the child had
passed away. And I had seen a news piece that he had aired the
night before, and what he said in regard to the loss of this
child--I think the child was 7, 8 months old--is that this was
a suspicious death. And when it came down to it, and so the
next morning he came to this meeting, a public meeting that we
had.
And I asked him about it, and I said, ``What are you doing,
calling that a suspicious death?'' I said, ``You don't know the
facts. We don't know. The autopsy report hasn't come back yet.
We don't know what happened here, and you are out there saying
this.'' And culturally--I told him, I said, ``Culturally, you
are wrong. Culturally, we don't--we are not talking about--this
family is in mourning right now. Let them mourn. And here you
are putting this on TV and you are calling this suspicious. Now
you are--they're not only in mourning, but you are saying they
might be responsible for the death of their child?''
Mr. Cramer. Do we know any more about that----
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, several days later we found out
it was a SIDS death when the report came out.
You know, so I think he needed to catch hell. And I am not
sorry that I gave it to him publicly. And so--and I am still--I
still get along with him, we still do that, but he had to leave
that meeting.
Mr. Cramer. He does a lot of good stories, is my
understanding, for----
Dr. Leander McDonald. Well, he needs to come out and do
some more good stories on us. Because when we make those
requests, he is not coming out to the positive things that are
happening within our community, and that is what we are saying.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you. In the little time we have
remaining, I want to ask about the accusations of lost
documentation and even shredded documents. Do you know
anything--and that is about as much as I know about it. So I am
sincerely asking. Do any of you know anything about these
allegations, and what the status of any of that might be?
Dr. Leander McDonald. We have heard rumors.
Mr. Cramer. OK.
Dr. Leander McDonald. We have heard rumors, but we--as far
as I know, we haven't anything solid to support that. And I
don't know if any of--Molly or Melissa might have more
knowledge, but what I have heard are rumors.
Mr. Cramer. OK. Judge McDonald, do you know anything about
that?
Judge Molly McDonald. Yes. In the beginning of December of
2011, two social workers had been recently hired--I would say
within a week. They had came into my office, and it was before
hearings. Social workers' names are Jackie Bavaro and Sandy
Ladacer. I asked them casually how it was going at Social
Services, because they had only been there a week. They both
told me that, for the first week at work, they had been
spending from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. at night shredding
documents, based on the direction from Kevin Dauphinais, the
Social Services director.
Mr. Cramer. All right. With that, my time has expired, and
we really have gone a long time. We have been very lenient, as
you know, so our Chairman is--prefers to dig in, as opposed to
keep a tight schedule. I appreciate that, especially in this
particular circumstance. You have all been very forthcoming, I
appreciate that. I very much appreciate my friend, Mr.
Cardenas, who is a man with a very good heart, I can assure
you. And I appreciate him very much, and I appreciate all of
you being here, as well.
And I want to thank all of the witnesses for their valuable
testimony and patience this afternoon, and the members and
staff, as well, for their participation and preparation.
Members of the subcommittee may have additional questions.
As we mentioned earlier, they will have 10 days. And we would
ask you to respond to those in writing if they are provided to
you.
And then, if there is no further business to come before
the subcommittee, without objection the subcommittee stands
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:58 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD]
[LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD RETAINED IN THE COMMITTEE'S
OFFICIAL FILES]
Correspondence between Thomas F. Sullivan, Regional
Administrator, ACF, Denver and Chairman McDonald, June 25, 2014
Correspondence between Thomas F. Sullivan, Regional
Administrator, ACF, Denver and Ms. McMullen, July 1, 2014
Letter to Congressman Kevin Cramer from Bonita Morin, Tribal
Elder, Spirit Lake Tribe, June 28, 2014
``Mandated Reports Concerning Suspected Child Abuse on the
Spirit Lake Reservation'', by Thomas Sullivan (ACF), Reports I-
XIII
Statement of Elizabeth Sharon Morris, Chairwoman, Christian
Alliance for Indian Child Welfare (CAICW), with various
attachments
Statement of First Focus Campaign for Children
Statement of Betty Jo Krenz
Various news articles submitted concerning the topic of ``Child
Abuse on the Spirit Lake Reservation'' including submissions
from: ABC News, The Salt Lake Tribune, NY POST
[all]