Advancing Permanency in Child Welfare: Leveraging Federal Funding for Adoption Programs
The House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies has scheduled a hearing to discuss federal funding for adoption programs.
The witness list for the hearing on Thursday morning includes Aurene Martin, the Secretary for the National Indian Child Welfare Association. Martin, an attorney and citizen of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, is a longtime advocate for tribal child welfare programs.
“Across the country, tribal nations are redesigning their human services programs to better reflect their values, strengthen family engagement and improve outcomes,” Martin told the House Subcommittee on Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies last Tuesday. “And these efforts are working in child welfare.”
“Many tribes and urban Native organizations are using Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) funds to support culturally based prevention services, services that strengthen families and reduce the need for foster care,” Martin said on March 17.
Aurene Martin / National Indian Child Welfare Association – March 17, 2026
Martin’s testimony last week, along with the hearing this week, are part of the work that the House Committee on Appropriations is undertaking to prepare the fiscal year 2027 funding bills for federal agencies. The Interior subcommittee’s bill includes ICWA at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is part of the Department of the Interior.
The Labor/HHS/Education subcommittee’s bill includes two key child welfare funding streams at the Department of Health and Human Services. The programs are known as Title IV-B and Title IV-E.
The Labor/HHS/Education subcommittee is led by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama). The full Appropriations committee is led by Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.
The hearing on Thursday takes place at 10:30am in Room 2358-C of the Rayburn House Office Building. The full witness list follows:
Kate McLean
Executive Director
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
Sarah Font, Ph.D.
Professor
Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
Aurene Martin
Board Secretary
National Indian Child Welfare Association
Debbie Riley
Chief Executive Officer
Center for Adoption Support and Education
Advancing Permanency in Child Welfare: Leveraging Federal Funding for Adoption Programs (March 26, 2026)
