BONUS: Interview with Sarah Kastelic

Dr.Sarah Kastelic is the Executive Director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association. Dr. Kastelic became the executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association in January 2015, assuming the responsibility of founding director Terry Cross who had the responsibility for operations and management of the 28-year-old national child advocacy organization. Before joining NICWA, Dr. Kastelic led the National Congress of American Indians' (NCAI) welfare reform program and was the founding director of NCAI's Policy Research Center. Her experience with NCAI gave her a sense of the need for timely, credible data to inform policymaking at the tribal and national levels. She also saw firsthand the tension between tribes reacting to the policy proposals of others and the opportunities for tribes to develop their own, proactive policy solutions. Visit the NICWA website __________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE... On Wednesday, January 22, the full United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (Fifth Circuit) will rehear Brackeen v. Bernhardt , a case challenging the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and the Protect ICWA Campaign and its coalition partners will be there, on behalf of Indian Country, to show support for the 41-year-old law that protects the best interests of Indian children and families. In 2018, a federal district court in Texas, in a widely criticized decision, held that ICWA violates the U.S. Constitution. Last year, in response to appeals brought by the federal government and the intervening tribal nations at that time (the Cherokee Nation, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Oneida Nation, Quinault Indian Nation, and the Navajo Nation), a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit reversed that decision, reaffirming the constitutionality of ICWA. In an en banc review, complex cases of broad legal significance are reconsidered by the entire court, and not just a three-judge panel. For the Brackeen v. Bernhardt case, the decision reached by the en banc review panel will replace the three-judge panel decision from August 2019. "We are proud to be part of a broad bipartisan coalition supporting the Indian Child Welfare Act," said the Protect ICWA Campaign, noting that the pro-ICWA coalition has helped garner support from 495 federally recognized tribes, 26 states and the District of Columbia, 77 members of Congress, more than 60 Native organizations, and the nation's leading experts in child welfare, constitutional law, administrative law, and Indian law. "We are confident that the hearing before the full panel of judges signifies the Court's recognition of how careful Congress was to craft ICWA as a model of cooperative federalism, and how important ICWA is every day in helping achieve the best interests of Indian children and families."

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BONUS: Interview with Sarah Kastelic is an episode from Native Opinion Podcast an American Indian Perspective by Native Opinion Inc..

This episode is 31:00 long.

This episode was published on Jan 26, 2020.

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