A coalition of California tribal governments, including two from the North Coast, say the state has taken a ‘monumental’ step toward addressing systematic failures to protect tribal civil rights in child custody cases. The tribes’ comments Friday came after members of a tribal government task force presented California Attorney General Xavier Becerra with a report two years in the making detailing longstanding compliance issues with the U.S. Indian Child Welfare Act. The report drafted by the Indian Child Welfare Act Task Force is calling for the state to prioritize its compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act through increased investigations into compliance, increasing state funding, implementation of a tracking system for child custody cases and increased consultation with tribal governments. “Unfortunately, the civil rights violations visited upon California Indians in the dependency system are a small microcosm of a fundamental breakdown of the systems that are failing tribal families and children across the country,” the report states.
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