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Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

3/14/2024, 12:48 PM

Congressional Summary of S 1622

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act - (Sec. 4) Establishes the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children in the Office of Tribal Justice of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Requires the President and Congress to appoint to the Commission individuals who have significant experience and expertise in Indian affairs and matters to be studied by the Commission, including health care issues facing Native children, Indian education, juvenile justice programs, and social service programs used by Native children.

Requires the Commission to establish a Native Advisory Committee consisting of representatives of Indian tribes from each region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and a native Hawaiian. Requires members of the Committee to be experienced in matters to be studied by the Commission.

Requires the Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state, local, and tribal programs that serve Native children, including an evaluation of:

  • the impact of concurrent jurisdiction on child welfare systems;
  • barriers Indian tribes and Native Hawaiians face in using public and private grant resources;
  • obstacles to nongovernmental financial support for programs benefitting Native children;
  • issues relating to the validity and statistical significance of data on Native children;
  • barriers to the development of sustainable, multidisciplinary programs designed to assist high-risk Native children and their families, as well as any examples of successful program models; and
  • barriers to interagency coordination.

Directs the Commission to use the results of the study and analyses of existing federal data to:

  • develop plans and goals for federal policy relating to Native children in the short-, mid-, and long-term informed by the development of accurate child well-being measures;
  • recommend modifications and improvements to programs that serve Native children that integrate the cultural strengths of Native communities and result in improvements to the child welfare system, the mental and physical health of Native children, educational and vocational opportunities, and tribal juvenile detention programs.
  • recommend improvements to the collection of data regarding Native children and the programs that serve them; and
  • identify models of successful federal, state, and tribal programs in the areas studied by the Commission.

Requires the Commission to submit a report to the President, Congress, and the White House Council on Native American Affairs on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for legislative and administrative action.

Terminates the Commission 90 days after the report is submitted.

Current Status of Bill S 1622

Bill S 1622 is currently in the status of Bill Introduced since October 30, 2013. Bill S 1622 was introduced during Congress 113 and was introduced to the Senate on October 30, 2013.  Bill S 1622's most recent activity was By Senator Tester from Committee on Indian Affairs filed written report under authority of the order of the Senate of 09/18/2014. Report No. 113-264. Additional views filed. as of October 1, 2014

Bipartisan Support of Bill S 1622

Total Number of Sponsors
1
Democrat Sponsors
1
Republican Sponsors
0
Unaffiliated Sponsors
0
Total Number of Cosponsors
34
Democrat Cosponsors
25
Republican Cosponsors
9
Unaffiliated Cosponsors
0

Policy Area and Potential Impact of Bill S 1622

Primary Policy Focus

Native Americans

Potential Impact Areas

- Academic performance and assessments
- Adoption and foster care
- Advisory bodies
- Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
- Census and government statistics
- Child care and development
- Child health
- Child safety and welfare
- Correctional facilities and imprisonment
- Crime prevention
- Department of Justice
- Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
- Elementary and secondary education
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Health care costs and insurance
- Health care coverage and access
- Health programs administration and funding
- Health promotion and preventive care
- Higher education
- Indian social and development programs
- Juvenile crime and gang violence
- Medicaid
- Mental health
- Minority education
- Minority health
- Nutrition and diet
- Preschool education
- Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
- Solid waste and recycling
- Teaching, teachers, curricula
- Vocational and technical education

Alternate Title(s) of Bill S 1622

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act
A bill to establish the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, and for other purposes.
Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act
Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

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