Faith-based nonprofit Child Bridge specializes in recruiting and training foster families. In May, the organization launched Native Family Services to better serve the large percentage of Indigenous children in Montana’s foster care system.
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show in 2023 around 40 percent of foster children in the state were Indigenous, despite Native Americans representing fewer than 10 percent of the total state population.
Native Family Services director and Crow Tribal member Sierra Singer said the program is working to increase the number of Indigenous foster families and support culturally-informed caretaking in non-Native foster families.
“It’s important children know that they’re not forgotten about,” said Singer. “Especially when they’re living off their reservation from their culture and their Tribe.”
She said she’s spending these first few months of the program assessing what the need is through family surveys and doing outreach in Yellowstone and Big Horn Counties, with plans to cast a wider net once the program is more established.
