A congressional committee has begun investigating why child abuse and neglect persists on North Dakota’s Spirit Lake reservation, almost two years after the federal government stepped in to address the problem.
At a hearing on Tuesday, tribal leaders and officials from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services are expected to be asked about ongoing allegations of abuse and neglect on the reservation, and the lack of visible progress in correcting the problems.
“Clearly the current system is failing our children,” Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said in a statement. “The goal of this hearing is to shine a light on the situation and promote a dialogue about solutions.”
Cramer said he called the hearing, to be held by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, to assess the root of the problems at Spirit Lake, and determine whether congressional action is needed beyond the intervention by the BIA and other federal agencies.
The government took over responsibility for child welfare in 2012, amid complaints from whistleblowers that children were placed in homes with known sex offenders, and that other children had died due to severe abuse or neglect.
Since that time, tribal, state and federal authorities have said they have worked together to address the problem. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has declined to discuss its efforts at Spirit Lake with FRONTLINE. But the new tribal chairman, Russ McDonald, said in an interview that he welcomed the hearing because it would give him an opportunity to detail the tribe’s progress in protecting children on the reservation.
Comments (0)