Division of Human Services Mission
To promote the safety, financial security and social health of Indian communities and individual Indian people.
Under the mission area of Serving Communities, the Human Services Program supports the Department’s Strategic Goal to Advance Quality Communities for Tribes and Alaska Natives by improving welfare systems for Indian Tribes and Alaska Natives. Human Services consists of direct funding and activities related to social services, welfare assistance, Indian child welfare, and program oversight. The objective of this activity is to improve the quality of life for individual Indians that live on or near Indian reservations and to protect the children, elderly and disabled from abuse and neglect. The activity also provides child abuse and neglect services and protective services to Individual Indian Monies (IIM) supervised account holders who are minors, adults in need of assistance, adults under legal disability, and adults found to be non compos mentis.
The Social Services program supports Bureau Agency staff and over 900 tribal staff that have been hired by contracting tribes to run their programs. These staff provide counseling services to local on-reservation eligible Indians as well as coordinate all Human Services activities at the Tribe and Agency level. The social workers work with tribal courts, state courts, and Indian families for the placement and adoption of Indian children in Indian homes. The social workers serve as the contact point for numerous social service agencies that are responsible for child protection, placement, and adoption of Indian children.
This program also supports the Department’s Strategic Goal to Fulfill Indian Fiduciary Trust Responsibilities by providing for the management of IIM accounts for minors, adults in need of assistance, adults under legal disability, and adults found to be non compos mentis. The staff works with families and guardians in the development of distribution plans, and completes assessments and evaluations in support of these plans. The outcome of these actions results in accurate payments from trust accounts. Staff monitor the distribution plans to ensure that expenditure of funds are made in accordance with the plans and that appropriate supportive documents are maintained in the case files.
Native American Childrens Safety Act - Dear Tribal Leader Letter May 17, 2018
The guidance, entitled Background Checks for Foster Care Placements under the Native American Children' s Safety Act (NACSA), builds upon Tribes ongoing work to ensure the safety of their children. NACSA Guidance: Background Checks
BIA ICWA Rule - On-Demand Training Slides (By Module)
- Module 1: Overview of the New Rule
- Module 2: Determining Whether ICWA Applies and Jurisdiction
- Module 3: Notice
- Module 4: Handling Requests to Transfer Jurisdiction
- Module 5: Adjudication of Involuntary Proceedings
- Module 6: Emergency Proceedings
- Module 7: Voluntary Proceedings
- Module 8: Placement Preferences
- Module 9: Access
- Module 10: Ongoing Obligations
- Module 11: Consequences of Violating ICWA
Acronyms used in this training:
- ICWA: Indian Child Welfare Act
- TPR: Termination of parental rights
- BIA: Bureau of Indian Affairs
- U.S.C.: United States Code (statutes passed by Congress)
- CFR: Code of Federal Regulations (regulations or rules passed by BIA or other Federal agencies)
Implementation Questions:
Evangeline Campbell, Chief, Division of Human Services
Email: evangeline.campbell@bia.gov
Contact #: (202) 513-7642Emily June Adams, Indian Child Welfare Specialist
Email: emily.adams@bia.gov
Contact #: (202) 669-5670
Regulation Questions:
ICWA Quick Reference Guides
- Quick Reference Sheet for Voluntary Proceedings
- Quick Reference Sheet for Tribes
- Quick Reference Sheet for State Agencies
- Quick Reference Sheet for State Courts
- Quick Reference Sheet on Active Efforts
Final Rule
The ICWA Final Rule was published June 14, 2016 and can be found here:
Indian Child Welfare Act
- ICWA; Designated Tribal Agents for Service of Notice, Federal Register Notice, February 28, 2024.
Division of Human Services hosted webinar training on November 4 and November 18 on how to complete the BIA Indian Child Quarterly and Annual Report.
- For link to Indian Child Welfare Quarterly and Annual Report Form Nov 30, 2024 Final. Please click here.
- ICWA Quarterly and Annual Report Training Updated March 17, 2023 Final. Please click here.
The two (2) Housing Improvement Program (HIP) GPRA goals are:
- funding going to actual construction or repair of housing
- the percentage of construction schedules met
The attached letter outlines the minimal recommended reporting requirements for Title I and Title IV, Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA), Pub. L. 93-638, 638 tribes operating the social services programs or HIP.
Director of the BIA Cover Memo and Dear Tribal Leader Letter. Please click here.
Federal Register Notice - HIP
The BIA has updated its regulations governing its HIP, which is a safety-net program that provides grants for repairing, renovating, or replacing existing housing and for providing new housing.
This final rule is an important part of the Tiwahe initiative, which is designed to promote the stability and security of Indian families. The final rule aligns the program with other Federal requirements, allow leveraging of housing funds to increase the number of families served and projects funded, and expedite processing of waiting lists for housing assistance. The document was published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2015 and became effective December 10, 2015.
Proposed HIP Rule; Correction - Consultation sessions.
Mailing Address
Bureau of Indian Affairs
1849 C Street, N.W.
MS-3645-MIB
Washington, DC 20240
United States
