ORS 419B.600: Policy on Indian child welfare.

The Legislative Assembly finds that the United States Congress recognizes the special legal status of Indian tribes and their members. It is the policy of the State of Oregon to protect the health and safety of Indian children and the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by promoting practices designed to prevent the removal of Indian children from their families and, if removal is necessary and lawful, to prioritize the placement of an Indian child with the Indian child’s extended family and tribal community. The state recognizes the inherent jurisdiction of Indian tribes to make decisions regarding the custody of Indian children. The state also recognizes the importance of ensuring that Indian children and Indian families receive appropriate services to obviate the need to remove an Indian child from the Indian child’s home and, if removal is necessary and lawful, to effect the child’s safe return home. ORS 419B.600 to 419B.654 create additional safeguards for Indian children to address disproportionate rates of removal, to improve the treatment of and services provided to Indian children and Indian families in the child welfare system and to ensure that Indian children who must be removed are placed with Indian families, communities and cultures.