Understanding ICWA: The Gold Standard of Child Welfare – Improving Outcomes for Indian Families
This presentation explores the principles and requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), highlighting best practices that strengthen child welfare systems, preserve family and tribal connections, and improve outcomes for Indian children and families.
Presenters: Sheldon Spotted Elk and Dan Lewerenz
Sheldon Spotted Elk works as the Senior Director of Judicial and National Engagement at Casey Family Programs. He has a background and presents regularly on tribal law, child welfare and the ICWA. He also serves as a judge on the Ute Indian Tribe Court of Appeals in a jurisdiction he once represented children in child welfare and juvenile delinquency matters. He has worked as an adjunct professor teaching a law school course on Family Law in Indian Country.
Sheldon is an Obama Foundation USA Leader in the 2024-2025 cohort that inspire, empower, and connect emerging leaders across the country. Sheldon is a graduate from University of New Mexico School of Law and received the Certificate in Federal Indian Law. And he and his two sons are members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.
Dan Lewerenz (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) is an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Indian Law and Tribal Law Certificate Program at the University of North Dakota School of Law, where he also teaches the Indian Child Welfare Act course. Before joining the UND faculty, Dan was a staff attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of the Native American Rights Fund, where he coordinated amicus strategy in the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the Brackeen litigation. Before that, Dan was an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of the Interior, where defended against two earlier challenges to ICWA (National Council for Adoption v. Jewell, and A.D. v. Washburn) and worked on issues related to the 2016 ICWA Final Rule. Dan earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He previously worked for more than 10 years as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, and was a board member and President of the Native American Journalists Association.
