Social services: the Navajo way

The development of child welfare services in Indian Country followed enactment of the 1975 Indian Education and Self-Determination Act and the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act. These acts allow tribal contracting with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to provide social services. Because the BIA model has not fit well with Navajo needs, the Navajo Nation Division of Social Services is creating a more holistic case management paradigm for child and family services, which is more congruent with its culture and its rural, sparsely populated land.