ICWA - Indian Child Welfare Act
Keeping Our Children Protected & Connected to Our Community
ICWA encourages and helps support Tribal and kinship/family placements. If you have questions about becoming a Tribal foster home or need someone to talk to about care for the children in your family the ICWA office is available to help.
Tribally Approved Foster Homes for our Native Families
Susanville Indian Rancheria TAH Program
Honoring the Integrity of Our Native Families
The Susanville Indian Rancheria (SIR) Tribally Approved Foster Home (TAH) provides foster care approval for Native Families on and around the SIR service area. Our TAH program offers extended family members or other Native Families to care for children who need to be placed out of the home.
The SIR places emphasis in honoring the integrity of Native families. To support this philosophy, the SIR will work with Lassen County Social Services and provide support efforts in providing services for families to prevent out of home placement and to establish family reunification.
When a child is placed in a foster home, the ICWA Coordinator will work with the County Child Welfare Department and will review the child’s case plan with the foster care parent. The foster care family cooperates and collaborates with the ICWA Coordinator and child’s ‘Child Social Worker’ to ensure that the child’s needs are identified and addressed.
The child’s ‘Child Welfare Social Worker’ and the ICWA Coordinator visits the foster care home on a monthly basis or as needed to review any new developments in the child’s case plan and assess the relationship of the foster care family and the foster child.
As reunification plans are made, the Child Welfare Social Worker, the ICWA Coordinator and the foster care family will work together to arrange supervised visits with the child’s family.
If reunification cannot be established, the case manager informs the foster care family for permanency options.
Eligibility & How to Apply to Operate a Foster Care Home:
To operate a foster care home the applicant shall be the primary caregiver and shall be legally responsible for the operation of the residence. The applicant or the applicant's spouse must be an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe and the residence must be located within the SIR services area.
All foster care parents must be at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of approval. An applicant will not be issued an approval until criminal and child protection background studies are completed and no disqualification factors have been found upon the applicant or any other persons living in the residence who have regular contact with the child. The applicant must cooperate with a Home Study conducted by the SIR designee that includes an interview with all foster care providers and household members over the age of 10 years old.
APPLICATION FORM
Address
Social Services/ICWA Department
745 Joaquin Street
Susanville, CA 96130
Phone
Phone: (530) 257-2688