A state coordinator addresses Native American affiliation in child custody cases Child Custody By Linda Barrett On May 22, 2024 Share Related Posts Sherri Papini goes to court for custody on Friday… Apr 3, 2025 The controversial custody bill Apr 3, 2025 Oscola sets a safe area for custody exchanges |… Apr 3, 2025 Related Share
 100vw, 1200px”/ >Marshall Rich and Lindsay Barron of the Vermont Department of Children and Families. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Barron</p>
<p>For about a year and a half, Marshall Rich's workday has consisted of contacting various Native American tribes to find out if certain children from Vermont belong to them.</p>
<p>He has sent at least 150 requests to tribes across the country, followed up with calls or letters and sometimes contacted the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for advice.</p>
<p>In his role as the Vermont Department for Children and Families' first Indian Child Welfare Act coordinator, Rich also coordinates with state social service officials and family attorneys. Its primary role is to determine whether children involved in state custody cases are members of federally recognized Indian tribes or whether they are eligible to become members. In these cases one speaks of a child in need of care or supervision or CHINS. </p>
<p>The Indian Child Welfare Act, a 1978 federal law, aims to keep tribal children in the care of relatives or tribal members, where possible and safe. Determining whether a minor is or is eligible to be a tribal member is an important factor in these custody cases.</p>
<p>Because federal law applies only to members of federally recognized tribes, the department has not had to engage in an increasingly heated debate over the legitimacy of Vermont's four federally recognized Abenaki groups. While the U.S. government recognized 574 Native American tribes in January, Vermont is one of 11 states that have developed their own – and in many cases less stringent – criteria for recognizing additional tribes.</p>
<p>Rich, a member of the federally recognized Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, had just retired from the state Department of Corrections when he began the part-time position at DCF in November 2022. </p>
<p>“The ability to respond to the needs and safety of children and really connect them with the family care of a tribal foundation is really what interests me most,” he said in a recent interview.</p>
<p>Between February 2023 and last month, 104 children involved in state custody cases were reported by their families as members of a federally recognized tribe or eligible to register, according to department data provided to VTDigger.</p>
<p>Some families claim to belong to multiple tribes, from federally recognized tribes to international tribes, said Lindsay Barron, policy and planning manager in the department's Family Services Division. </p>
<p>Within the last three to four years, Barron said, the state has confirmed tribal affiliation<strong> </strong>only nine children. </p>
<p>DCF found that families involved in custody cases in Vermont often claim affiliation with the following four tribes: Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation (Montana), Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma), Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina), and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (Oklahoma). However, these claims resulted in very few acknowledgments by the tribes. </p>
<p>Department officials suspect this may be related to the popularity of the Blackfeet and Cherokee tribes in today's society.</p>
<p>“When most people think of Native American tribes, the Cherokee are the ones that come to mind,” Rich said. “The Blackfeet are also a very common tribe.”</p>
<p>Verifying families' tribal affiliation claims has taken up most of Rich's time, especially when families provide limited information about their tribal ties. Some families, Barron said, can't identify which tribe they might belong to.</p>
<p>“We investigate a lot of tribal claims that provide very limited or vague information and lead to no real results,” she said. “We are happy to pursue any request that comes to us, but this leads to a lot of work with limited results.”</p>
<p>Additionally, Barron said, tribes typically do not have the structures in place to process large volumes of claims review requests and have “much fewer resources than a typical child protection system.” </p>
<p>In one case, Rich said, a tribal representative told him that they had not responded to his letters because they did not have sufficient financial resources. At the suggestion of the tribal representative, Rich began including addressed, stamped envelopes with his letters.</p>
<p>Most of the children's confirmed tribal affiliations or ongoing verification claims relate to four tribes in the northern United States: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation (South Dakota), Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (Wisconsin), Leech Lake Band from Ojibwe (Minnesota) and Oglala Sioux Tribe (South Dakota).</p>
<p>In CHINS cases in Vermont since 2023, Barron said, no tribe has intervened or taken custody of a child. </p>
<p>If a child is not a member of a federally recognized tribe but is a member of a federally recognized tribe, that connection will still influence DCF's approach to the custody process.</p>
<p>“We try to think of it as kinship care and kind of thinking about the child's natural support network,” Barron said. “Who has contact with the parents? Who is connected to the child? How can they offer support or resources and address the child’s needs together?”</p>
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