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United States · Law · S

S. 246 (114th)

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act

enactedUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

22 January 2015

Last action

—

Status

Became Public Law No: 114-244.

Sponsors

—

Subjects

Discovery layer

Source updated

20 January 2026

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Summary

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act Establishes the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children in the Office of Tribal Justice of the Department of Justice. Requires the President and Congress to appoint to the Commission individuals who have significant experience and expertise in Indian affairs and matters to be studied by the Commission, including health care issues facing Native children, Indian education, juvenile justice programs, and social service programs used by Native children. Requires the Commission to establish a Native Advisory Committee consisting of representatives of Indian tribes from each region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a native Hawaiian. Requires members of the Committee to be experienced in matters to be studied by the Commission. Requires the Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state, local, and tribal programs that serve Native children, including an evaluation of: the impact of concurrent jurisdiction on child welfare systems; barriers Indian tribes and Native Hawaiians face in using public and private grant resources; obstacles to nongovernmental financial support for programs benefitting Native children; issues relating to the validity and statistical significance of data on Native children; barriers to the development of sustainable, multidisciplinary programs designed to assist high-risk Native children and their families; cultural or socioeconomic challenges in communities of Native children; examples of successful program models and use of best practices in programs that serve children and families; barriers to interagency coordination; and the use of memoranda of agreement or interagency agreements to facilitate or improve agency coordination. Directs the Commission to use the results of the study and analyses of existing federal data to: develop recommendations for goals, and plans for achieving them, for federal policy relating to Native children in the short-, mid-, and long-term informed by the development of accurate child well-being measures, except as specified; recommend modifications and improvements to programs that serve Native children (on the condition that such recommendations recognize the diversity in cultural values) that integrate the cultural strengths of Native communities and result in improvements to the child welfare system, the mental and physical health of Native children, educational and vocational opportunities, and tribal juvenile detention programs; recommend improvements to the collection of data regarding Native children and the programs that serve them; and identify models of successful federal, state, and tribal programs in the areas studied by the Commission. Prohibits the Commission, when developing recommendations and plans for federal policy on Native children, from considering or recommending recognition or establishment of a government-to-government relationship with: (1) any entity not recognized on or before the date of enactment of this Act by the Federal Government through an Act of Congress, Executive action, judicial decree, or any other action; or (2) any entity not included in the authorized list under the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994. Requires the Commission to report to the President, Congress, and the White House Council on Native American Affairs on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for legislative and administrative action. Terminates the Commission 90 days after the report is submitted.

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22 official files

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