ACTION PLAN FOR ADDRESSING THE NATIVE AMERICAN CHILD PLACEMENT ISSUE Introduction This research describes an action plan to deal with the issue of Native American child placement in the State of Rhode sland. The elements of this description are (1) community identification, (2) problem description, (3) client group identification, (4) plan goals, (5) alternative strategies, (6) recommended strategy, and (6) implementation proposal.Community Identification The community involved in this action plan is the non
Narragansett, Native American community residing within the State
of Rhode Island. Members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe
residing within the State of Rhode Island receive child welfare
services through the tribal organization, as opposed to
receiving such services through a recognized organization
providing services to all non Narragansett, Native Americans.
Perhaps the most tragic aspect of Indian life in North
America in the later years of the twentieth century is the large
scale separation of Indian children from their families and from
their culture. The policies that created this situation "shocked
and dismayed Indian families, while exposing thousands of Indian
children to the anomie and uncertainty of long-term foster care
in an alien culture."1 (MacDonald, 1983, p. 76).
1J. A. MacDonald, "The Spallumcheen Indian Band By-Law and
Its Potential Impact on Native Indian Child Welfare Policy in
British Columbia," Canadian Journal of Family Law, 4 (1983): 75.
@ 7 à4 Š On some reservations in the United States, it has been
estimated by the Association of American Indian Affairs that as
many as 25 percent of all children have been removed from
parental custody. If this estimate is accurate, the maximum
removal rate for Indian children would be 50 times the nation...