By Shawn Johnson, Wisconsin Public Radio

MADISON (WPR) State lawmakers are considering changes to the way Wisconsin handles Indian child welfare cases.  But some prosecutors worry the moves could make it tougher for them to get kids out of troubled homes.

Indian child welfare cases strike an emotional chord, not only because they involve child custody and adoption, but also because they butt up against tribal sovereignty.  And in the eyes of some critics, they threaten a tribe's very survival.

Greg Miller is the Vice President of the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohicans.  He says too many Indian children get taken out of their homes by courts and placed into non-native homes.  He says that takes away from tribes their most important resource. Miller says children are the future of any society, carrying with them the traditions, customs and spirit of their ancestors. Miller says without children, nation’s die.

A plan at the state capitol would make sure Wisconsin law lines up with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act that was passed in the late 70s.  Broadly speaking, it would keep many of these cases in the hands of tribal courts.

But attorneys who represent counties and adoption agencies in cases that involve the termination of parental rights worry that this proposal stacks the deck in the tribe's favor.  For example, if a prosecutor wants to call an expert witness to testify against parents, that person would have to come from within the child's tribe.  Waukesha Attorney Steven Hayes says it's hard enough finding expert witnesses to testify.   Hayes says the job becomes virtually impossible because tribal members are not likely to testify against other tribal members.

The plan got a public hearing at the capitol last week.  It was listed as a top priority during Wisconsin's State of the Tribes Address this year.

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Information from Wisconsin Public Radio, www.wpr.org