[{"_1":2,"_86":-5,"_87":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6146753,"mediaKeyId","5524694-bae4ae32dd9af61c2c2b7690e65530bc","parentId",5524694,"title","Montana bill to reauthorize state ICWA moves toward final approval after House strips additional provisions","audioSeconds",313,"startMs",283000,"endMs",596000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5524694-bae4ae32dd9af61c2c2b7690e65530bc&start=283&end=596","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5524694-bae4ae32dd9af61c2c2b7690e65530bc/thumbnail_283000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6146753/Montana/Montana-bill-to-reauthorize-state-ICWA-moves-toward-final-approval-after-House-strips-additional-provisions","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6146753-1810585323d88f806971c4f2260aaa92/orig.mp4?Expires=1773544863&Signature=K40uAiyFYi89Rk5Dlk~~JPdxOluHSceCGtTM0ERb-ZggS3AstNBrsf6p~v71kdDCTa6nivf9khOu2RyZzUdcGuBkCNpDg50L9nVBHOkqAvpmMzaWxQsSUBmiPNvuSE0cIkX7qPMShUsUimLlE4mWfPFRq-fzNIiW8viPLNu6XpApjSXsR~PYTEYt34-yO-RkiZ0~Wj84zMwy~5gU-SMe~gOhRXmltUjbMTFkGCY9ICCzevjHQB8QtEnHg9koY6Uwt3uzvu~eJdA51H4RgSULfPEHeM93fVUW2keLiMDrOpTmfhAjTpaidq8rm376q3Dh2fwB-ny3di6WDLgnNUNdrw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-08-01T21:05:28Z","article","Senate Bill 147, a proposal to keep Montana’s 2023 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) on the books permanently, moved through the Legislature this spring after the House removed several additional provisions that had been added in the Senate.

Brooke Barker Taylor, an assistant attorney general with the Montana Department of Justice, told the Montana ICWA Community of Practice on Zoom that SB 147 originally reauthorized the 2023 law and included several amendments the bill sponsor had proposed to strengthen the child welfare system. \"One of the amendments was going to allow tribes and prospective guardians or adoptive parents to enter into what was termed heritage guidance plans to allow an opportunity to provide prospective parents resources to ensure that Indian children stay connected to their culture, community, tribe, and family,\" Barker Taylor said. She said the Senate passed the bill with those amendments in February.

At the House Human Services Committee in March, Barker Taylor said, committee members added an amendment that removed the Senate’s additional provisions but lifted the statute’s sunset clause so the 2023 law would remain in force. \"The House committee redlined [the amendments] but said, we'll lift the sunset,\" she said. Barker Taylor said the amended bill passed the committee on April 7, returned to the Senate, passed a second reading there, and was slated for a third reading; she said she expected the bill to go to the governor for signature once the legislature finished action.

Barker Taylor also said the sponsorship and committee record showed broad tribal support: \"There was support by all 12 tribes' resolutions.\" She characterized lifting the sunset as a major outcome: \"I think that's a really big win for Indian children and child welfare in our state.\" She added that the House removal of the Senate's additional provisions \"doesn't prevent us from implementing best practices\" at the local or agency level.

Separately, Barker Taylor told the group that Senate Bill 224, a measure creating Indigenous Peoples' Day, had passed both chambers and was in enrolling — the step of preparing final bill text for the governor. She said she would notify meeting organizers once she had final confirmation of SB 147’s signing.

Why it matters: Reauthorizing the 2023 ICWA without the previous sunset clause would keep state law in place indefinitely; the change preserves the underlying 2023 statute while removing additional statutory requirements the Senate had proposed and the House rejected. Local practitioners and tribal partners told the community meeting they intend to continue policy and practice improvements regardless of the statutes’ final text.

What remains uncertain: Barker Taylor said the House-stripped provisions included several specifics — heritage guidance plans, status hearings every 60 days when an Indian child is not in a preferred placement, and strengthened tribal-state consultation — that are no longer in the bill text as it passed the House committee. The timeline for final gubernatorial action was not specified at the meeting; Barker Taylor said she would share an update when she had confirmation of signature.

Context and next steps: Meeting organizers said the Court Improvement Program will circulate legislative updates to the community once final action is confirmed. Participants at the meeting discussed continuing to implement the “active efforts” and consultation practices the Senate amendments had sought to codify, even if the final statute does not require them.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Montana ICWA - Meeting 10 - 4/17/2025","oneSentenceSummary","Senate Bill 147, a proposal to lift a sunset on the 2023 Montana Indian Child Welfare Act, advanced through the Legislature this spring after the House removed additional provisions the Senate had added.","taxTitle","Montana Courts, Montana","taxId",8028,"location","Montana","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":79,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6146752,"Montana ICWA community selects tribal outreach and cultural connections as top priorities; discussion highlights courtroom practices and local programs",0,2813000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5524694-bae4ae32dd9af61c2c2b7690e65530bc&start=2813&end=2813","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5524694-bae4ae32dd9af61c2c2b7690e65530bc/thumbnail_2813000.jpg","/articles/6146752/Montana/Montana-ICWA-community-selects-tribal-outreach-and-cultural-connections-as-top-priorities-discussion-highlights-courtroom-practices-and-local-programs","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6146752-2d429340131b07509a84d8587f86018a/orig.mp4?Expires=1773544863&Signature=JJaEeM5BRonExRKuvX-b5ScZpcIfiwKuIaJPIC-nUAeobXaPfiLk7eh5HxIkxPC-~1yNY6Cz3gB3VOL6el4w504prDFTd~hshJRq7wRGgn3NRYDA5gafqBOHA93MpHv1OZIdhYpFnK9Y~7nuN51qnmAqO5rSi-drNj3VlI4QQ3YaA2tKqBFxXYQUFesAXVjYvBq7Gr8EUc3wTLKi3JdGjbHWWDYryKVUa9ZFL1SE9RAKfLbhkV31LV9w3nyVpl5Y8hesONMxQY8fUxSUUFABkJ4yfGUU6K~CRrXsnt7I6lG47fGj6Oqe-udGsZtWNrfp3Ht32C4sMqkVEjTPNag7Qg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Participants in the Montana ICWA Community of Practice on Zoom voted to make tribal community outreach and education, and strengthening cultural connections for children, the group’s top two priorities for 2025.

The facilitator, Ashley Chaney McNeil, opened the session by reminding participants of the group’s mission: \"The purpose of this Montana ICWA community of practice is to foster meaningful, culturally humble collaboration among people who are involved and affected by ICWA in order to preserve and empower Indian families' connection to their culture,\" she said.

Meeting organizers said the group first crowdsourced four priority topics in February, then held a live poll in April. Eleven participants took the poll, and the results were: tribal community outreach and education, 11 of 11; strengthening cultural connections for children, 7 of 11; preferred placements for kids, 4 of 11; and the need for more tribally enrolled qualified expert witnesses (QEWs), 2 of 11. The facilitator said the top two topics will guide the community’s work through the summer and feed into Court Improvement Program planning for the fall: \"In October ... we're going to take all that we've investigated and ... draft up kind of a set of imperatives ... that the court improvement program will be able to take in hand as they go into their PIP drafting,\" Ashley Chaney McNeil said.

The meeting also included a short clip from the documentary Tough Love featuring Judge Patricia Clark. Participants discussed how Judge Clark’s informal, strengths-based courtroom dialogue — urging small, concrete steps such as staying in contact with a social worker — modeled approaches that can activate parents’ \"power within\" and support cooperative problem solving. Participants described the courtroom exchange as an example of shifting from \"power over\" to approaches that emphasize \"power to,\" \"power with,\" and \"power within.\" \"If you can get it together to keep walking through that door, we can get there,\" the judge told a parent in the clip (verbatim lines from documentary shown during the meeting).

Attendees shared local efforts that align with the chosen priorities. Jason, who described a locally run nonprofit, said, \"We have a nonprofit called the Kids Coop ... We have 2 farm to school grants, 1 from USDA and 1 from First Nations Development Institute,\" and described programs designed to reconnect children to Native foodways and culture and to build collective-impact planning and food-sovereignty projects in Ronan, Montana.

Other participants noted examples from their jurisdictions of judges and systems adopting more conversational, documented courtroom practices that keep parents and departments engaged in active efforts and cultural connections. Several community members emphasized deep listening, partnership with tribal leaders and educators, and cross-agency collaboration as starting points for outreach and education work.

Why it matters: The Community of Practice intends to use the votes and subsequent months of study to develop recommendations the Court Improvement Program can incorporate into its Program Improvement Plan. Participants framed the priorities as actionable areas where outreach, training, and local programming can make immediate differences even as legislative or policy changes are pursued.

Next steps: The group will continue the work at upcoming sessions (the next meeting was scheduled for June 19, 2025) with focused discussions and a planned progression toward concrete imperatives for the Court Improvement Program’s fall PIP drafting process.

","At an April community-of-practice meeting, participants voted to prioritize tribal community outreach and education and strengthening cultural connections for children; the group watched a short documentary clip of Judge Patricia Clark and discussed 'power to/with/within' frameworks and local efforts such as the Kids Coop's farm-to-school work.","actionData","errors"]

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Montana bill to reauthorize state ICWA moves toward final approval after House strips additional provisions

Montana ICWA community selects tribal outreach and cultural connections as top priorities; discussion highlights courtroom practices and local programs