Cherokee Foster
Families Needed
By
Principal Bill John Baker
When I
was elected Principal Chief, I promised I would do everything in my power to
improve the lives of Cherokee youth. We have enjoyed many successes including
more monies for education, and expanded health care coverage.
However,
we are still in dire need in one area: foster and adoptive families for our
Indian Child Welfare program. As you know, our children ensure the continued
existence of our tribe, they are our future.
As Cherokee people, we all come from one fire and the Cherokee Nation
belongs to our children.
I hope
strong Cherokee citizens and families can find a place in their hearts and in
their homes for our beautiful children, who badly need a safe, nurturing
environment. This is an issue that is deeply personal to
me. We talk about taking care of our people, being a shoulder in a time of need
and putting our Cherokee children first.
Now, I
am asking Cherokee citizens to step forward and accept this huge responsibility.
You can become a resource for our children.
Within
the past five years, our Cherokee ICW office has had court involvement with 1,200
– 1,600 Cherokee children annually. The caseload increases each year and no
decline is in sight.
Approximately
one-third of these cases are children needing Cherokee homes. Currently, we have about 140 certified
resource homes - 100 are adoptive homes and 40 are foster homes. The numbers of homes available for placement
of our children has decreased drastically in the past five years, due in large
part to issues related to the economy.
Out of
the 100 adoptive homes available, most request to adopt one child only in the range of zero to two years
of age. Most of the foster homes request
only children from infancy to six years and generally do not
want placement of more than two siblings.
We have no homes willing to accept the placement of teenagers.
Our
greatest needs do not line up with our available resources. We need foster homes for children over the
age of six that are typically part of a sibling group and we need adoptive
homes for children over the age of two that also have siblings.
We need
homes within our jurisdictional boundaries and throughout Oklahoma and in the
communities where high numbers of Cherokees live – Texas, Arkansas, California,
New Mexico, and elsewhere.
When we
do not have safe homes to offer, we run the risk of our Cherokee children being
placed in non-Native homes. This goes
against our basic Cherokee values and everything the Indian Child Welfare Act
(ICWA) represents and can make the battle difficult for Cherokee Nation ICW
workers, who not only have to advocate for the best interest of the child and
the Nation, but also many times must educate the local and state court systems
on the importance of ICWA.
Some people
are unsure of whether or not they even qualify to foster or adopt. I encourage
you to inquire if you have any capacity in your life and in in your home to
help a Cherokee child.
My hope
is this message will resonate with families who have love to offer and are
willing to accept the responsibility of providing a foster or adoptive home. Remember, while each of us is only one person
in the world, we can be the world to a child.
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