This video about Harmony and her two children sheds light on the importance of placing families first through kin-first practices in child welfare, as well as the positive impact that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) has on tribal families. Harmony shares her story about how her children were removed and placed into child welfare while she was struggling with addiction. Her first child, Little Bear, was put in the foster system, and she wasn't able to maintain contact with him. When her second child, Savior, was taken from Harmony after she got clean, ICWA ensured that he was placed with Harmony's grandmother, allowing the family to stay together. After being reunited with Savior, Harmony reflects on the trauma of losing Little Bear to the foster system and the life-changing impact that kin-first practices had on both her life as well as Savior's.
Learn more about kin-first culture at the Center for Excellence in Family Finding, Engagement and Support's website: https://humanservices.ucdavis.edu/center-for-excellence-family-finding-engagement
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