Wis JI-Children 424

Question ____ asks:

Have active efforts been made to provide remedial services and rehabilitation

programs designed to prevent the breakup of (Indian child)’s family2?

If the answer to Question ___ is “yes,” answer the following question:

Have the efforts to provide remedial services and rehabilitation programs designed to

prevent the breakup of (Indian child)’s family proved unsuccessful?

[“Remedial services and rehabilitation programs” are services to give support to

families to help them become safe placements for a child.3 The intention of these services

is to provide support to a family to prevent the removal of a child by “rehabilitating” or

strengthening the family in their parenting and other related skills, and to provide support

that assists in “remediating” or correcting the situation in a home that led to the removal of

a child.]

“Active efforts” means affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts intended

primarily to maintain or reunite an Indian child with his or her family. “Active efforts”

must involve assisting the parent or parents or Indian custodian through the steps of a case

plan and with accessing or developing the resources necessary to satisfy the case plan and

are to be tailored to the facts and circumstances of the case.4

To find that “active efforts” have been made, you must determine that there has been

an ongoing, vigorous, and concerted level of case work and that the active efforts were

made in a manner that takes into account the prevailing social and cultural values,

conditions, and way of life of the Indian child’s Tribe and that utilizes the available

resources of the Indian child’s Tribe, tribal and other Indian child welfare agencies,

extended family members of the Indian child, other individual Indian caregivers, and other

culturally appropriate service providers.5

Your consideration of whether active efforts were made shall include whether all of

the following activities were conducted6:

1. Representatives designated by the Indian child’s Tribe with substantial knowledge

of the prevailing social and cultural standards and child-rearing practice within the tribal

community were requested to evaluate the circumstances of the Indian child’s family and

to assist in developing a case plan that uses the resources of the Tribe and of the Indian

community, including traditional and customary support, actions, and services, to address

those circumstances.

2. A comprehensive assessment of the situation of the Indian child’s family was

completed, including a determination of the likelihood of protecting the Indian child’s

health, safety, and welfare effectively in the Indian child’s home.

3. Representatives of the Indian child’s Tribe were identified, notified, and invited

to participate in all aspects of the Indian child custody proceeding at the earliest possible

point in the proceeding and their advice was actively solicited throughout the proceeding.

4. Extended family members of the Indian child, including extended family members

who were identified by the Indian child’s Tribe or parents, were notified and consulted

with to identify and provide family structure and support for the Indian child, to assure

cultural connections, and to serve as placement resources for the Indian child.

5. Arrangements were made to provide natural and unsupervised family interaction

in the most natural setting that can ensure the Indian child’s safety, as appropriate to the

goals of the Indian child’s permanency plan, including arrangements for transportation and

other assistance to enable family members to participate in that interaction.

6. All available family preservation strategies were offered or employed and the

involvement of the Indian child’s Tribe was requested to identify those strategies and to

ensure that those strategies are culturally appropriate to the Indian child’s Tribe.

7. Community resources offering housing, financial, and transportation assistance

and in-home support services, in-home intensive treatment services, community support

services, and specialized services for members of the Indian child’s family with special

needs were identified, information about those resources was provided to the Indian child’s

family, and the Indian child’s family was actively assisted or offered active assistance in

accessing those resources.

8. Monitoring of client progress and client participation in services was provided.

9. A consideration of alternative ways of addressing the needs of the Indian child’s

family was provided, if services did not exist or if existing services were not available to

the family.

[If one or more of the listed activities were not accomplished, give the following:

In your consideration of whether active efforts were made to provide services and

programs designed to prevent the breakup of the family, you may take into consideration

that some of the nine activities were not accomplished and the reasons they were not

accomplished. You may still find that active efforts were made after considering all

evidence bearing on the question, including whether you are satisfied with the reasons

given as to why some activities were not accomplished.]7