Existing federal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act, governs the proceedings for determining the placement of an Indian child when that child is removed from the custody of his or her parent or guardian. Existing provisions of state law govern child custody proceedings, adoption proceedings, and dependency proceedings, including termination of parental rights, the voluntary relinquishment of a child by a parent, and guardianship proceedings. Existing law recognizes that the federal Indian Child Welfare Act applies if the subject of these proceedings is or may be an Indian child, and specifies conforming procedures in these cases with regard to the right to notice and intervention accorded the child’s tribe and the standard of proof applied in evaluating the evidence submitted, among other things.

Existing law requires an attorney or law firm that receives or disburses trust funds to establish and maintain an Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA) and to deposit in the account all client deposits or funds that are nominal in amount or are on deposit or invested for a short period of time, the interest and dividend earnings on which are to be paid to the State Bar of California to be used to fund qualified legal services projects that provide free civil legal services to indigent persons and qualified support centers that provide legal training, legal technical assistance, or advocacy support to qualified legal services projects, as specified.

This bill would require the State Bar of California to administer grants to qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers for the purpose of providing legal services to Indian tribes in child welfare matters under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act and legal training and technical assistance to qualified legal services projects regarding child welfare matters under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act. The bill would provide that its provisions shall become operative upon an appropriation of not less than $1,000,000 to the State Bar of California in the annual Budget Act expressly identified for the purpose of these provisions.