Tribal family healing court: A culturally sensitive approach to child welfare in tribal communities

Abstract

ABSTRACTTribal Family Healing Court is a new concept that provides an alternative way to address dependency cases in the tribal child welfare system. This article serves as a conceptual proposal and provides an implementation framework for the Tribal Family Healing Court, designed for tribal sovereign courts. This approach intends to propose a way to address child maltreatment in tribal communities and reservations. It applies the family court model in tribal court with two unique contributions: education of historical trauma and infusion of the tribe’s culture into all aspects of the dependency case.