Judge Kathleen Quigley, president of the NCJFCJ, shared her takeaways from the 13th annual Indian Child Welfare Act Conference. Judge Quigley and her team established the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Court in Pima County in 2020. Coming from a state with 22 federally recognized Indian tribes, she is strong on ICWA training. However, she thinks back to 2009, when she became a Pima County Juvenile Court commissioner. “I didn’t know the law. I didn’t know how to apply it.” Training was a 15-minute introduction to ICWA.
“It’s really about the training and the letter of the law,” Quigley said. “A hallmark of our court is education and training.”
The Indian Child Welfare Act was established by the U.S. Congress in 1978, setting federal requirements regarding removal and placement of Indian children in foster or adoptive homes.