Statewide conference under way in Warm Springs

By Tony Fuller, KTVZ.COM

At any given time, 400 Native American children are in foster care in Oregon.

The issues surrounding those and other Native American youngsters are the focus of the annual Indian Child Welfare Conference that began Wednesday at the Kah-Nee-Tah resort on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

More and more Indian children are winding up in foster care, being seperated from their families and traditions, leaving state and tribal welfare officials scrambling to keep the future of Indian people in touch with their culture.

Even though Native Americans make up less than 2 percent of the population in Oregon, more than 12 percent of the 16,000 children in foster care are Native American.

Ramona Foley of the state Department of Human Services says Native American children are more likely to be referred to Child Protective Services, and if a confirmed case of abuse or neglect occur, more likely to end up inf oster care.

"It's different on reservations," said Mary McNevin, an Indian child welfare manager, "and children are increasingly being misplaced from their homes, and we are trying to come together and find ways to better this problem."

Passed in 1978, the Indian Child Welfare Act protects the best interests of Indian children and promotes the stability and security of Indian tribes and families.

The law helps agencies govern the abundance of indian children in the system.

Sot: mary mcnevins

There are a number of reasons we have children in the system," she said. "It's not much different then other places but on reservations we are dealing with a high unemployment rate, drug and alcohol abuse, and other factors that force human services to remove children from their home.

And a permanent stable home doesn't always mean keeping children close to their tribe.

Foley said, "We can't foster care our way out of this problem. We need to figure out ways that we preserve families, that we keep children within their families, if at all possible to keep them safe."

"Some of the children are from out of state, and the nine tribes of Oregon really work hard to keep these children in touch with their culture," McNevins said.

Something that welfare experts from the state level refuse to overlook.

"We have to work harder to keep these children in better homes and help them build a life that connects their family life and their cultural traditions," Foley said.

Some of the statistics are shocking, and it's hard to understand what puts so many Indian children in the system if you aren't familiar with the consistent poverty that exists on most Indian reservations.