The Wyoming Legislature’s Indian Child Welfare Act Task Force will meet online at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6, to continue its interim work.
The meeting description says the task force “will review other states’ Indian child welfare laws and discuss potential changes to the Wyoming Indian Child Welfare Act.”
Safe Haven
The agenda for the meeting also includes a discussion about Wyoming Safe Haven Laws as they relate to ICWA.
As part of that discussion, the task force will consider a bill draft amending the Wyoming safe haven statute to require compliance with WICWA.
The proposed amendment indicates that a safe haven provider “shall ask the parent or the parent’s designee whether the child has any tribal affiliation or Native American ancestry, and request relevant information to determine the child’s Tribe.”
“The parent or parent’s designee may refuse to answer,” the amendment states, but “if the child is an Indian child as defined (in statute) the court and all parties shall comply with the Wyoming Indian Child Welfare Act.”
The task force will also discuss District Court and Tribal placement preferences.
There will be several opportunities for public comment during the meeting, which will be streamed live on the Wyoming Legislature’s YouTube page.
For more information about the meeting, or to request special accommodations to attend, call the Legislative Service Office at 777-7881 or email lso@wyoleg.gov.