How does Title IV-E of the Social Security Act interact with ICWA?
The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act was passed by Congress in 1980. Under it, an agency must make reasonable efforts to safely maintain the child in the home or to reunify the family if the child is removed. Reasonable efforts must be made in each case for every child where a state seeks reimbursement under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for federally funded foster care maintenance payments. 42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15), 672(a)(2) (2000); MAKING REASONABLE EFFORTS, supra at 41. See also FAQ 19.5, 19.6, Application of Other Federal Laws. Title IV-E was passed without taking into account that tribes have jurisdiction over the domestic affairs of tribal members, including the foster and adoptive care of their children. Indian children placed in foster or adoptive care by a tribal court where it has exclusive jurisdiction under 1911(a) of the ICWA, or where jurisdiction is transferred to a tribe under 1911(b), are not afforded services for such things as food, shelter, clothing, a
