An amicus brief filed by the Justice Department, the first time it was weighed in on a federal district court case involving ICWA, concludes Native American parents’ rights are being violated by South Dakota. Tribes in the state have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Native children are being placed indiscriminately in non-tribal foster care without familial involvement or representation. This year the Lakota People’s Law Project has assisted 7 of South Dakota’s 9 tribes in applying for federal planning grants to develop their own foster care programs in efforts to curtail the practice.