In September 2021, Directing Attorney Mark Vezzola prevailed following a three-hour trial in tribal court, arguing that Tribal Customary Adoption was in the sibling group's best interest. Mark, who represented a tribal social services department, argued that the children, all under the age of 10 and showed signs of significant trauma related to parents' drug use, were thriving in the prospective adoptive parents' care. Further placement could interrupt the children's progress and cause further psychological and physical setbacks. Tribal Customary Adoption under the tribe's law will provide the children with permanency with permitting continuing contact with their biological parents and grandparents.

The Eureka CILS office recently assisted an elderly tribal member in understanding her responsibilities as the personal representative (PR) named in the Will of her recently deceased brother. The tribal member was overwhelmed by all of her duties because many decedent tribal members own assets subject to federal and state probate laws at the time of their death. CILS provided limited counsel and advice and explained the process of delivering the necessary information to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the State Superior Court to open probate formally. CILS explained her role as the PR for both estates and the option of declining that role to the Successor PR named in the Will. The elderly client was very grateful for CILS' assistance and felt confident in making decisions on behalf of the estate.

After three years of fighting with SSA, the Bishop office successfully obtained survivor benefits for an elderly Native American married to a deceased husband, a tribal member. The issue was establishing that our client and her husband were married under their tribe's customs and traditions. CILS provided a letter from the Tribal Chairwoman confirming the marriage under tribal custom and submitted anthropology writings on the marriage practices of the Shoshone Paiute. A hearing brief was submitted, and on the day of the hearing, the ALJ contacted the Bishop's office attorney and informed her that the Judge was ruling in our client's favor based on the brief and there was no need for a hearing.

California-based member of an Oklahoma tribe applied for a COVID-related stimulus payment from her Tribe (funded under the CARES Act appropriation to tribal governments). Her eligibility for the stimulus payment was based on her primary income is Supplementary Security Income (SSI) benefits. After receiving the stimulus from her Tribe, the Social Security Administration (SSA) deducted a significant amount of money from our client’s SSI benefits, determining that her Tribal stimulus money was not exempt from being considered as income.

This posed a circular problem. After all, she was only eligible for the Tribal stimulus because she received SSI benefits, and yet her SSI benefits would have been reduced because she received the Tribal stimulus. COVID-related stimulus money given to low-income individuals by the federal government was exempt from the income calculation. Still, initially, the same type of stimulus given out by a Tribe to low-income members was not exempt.

The Sacramento office challenged SSA’s reduction of our client’s benefits, arguing that Tribal stimulus money for COVID-related purposes should receive the same exemption status as the COVID-related stimulus money given out to low-income individuals by the federal government. We succeeded in getting our client’s SSI benefits restored. Further, the SSA conceded that, in general, Tribal stimulus monies provided to low-income individuals for COVID-related purposes are exempt from income calculation for SSI benefits.

Escondido Intake Advocate Summer Morales worked with an individual client for over a year to successfully unseal his birth records allowing him to enroll in an Oklahoma tribe. The client, who was adopted under state law as a small child over forty years ago, knew very little about his biological family until he discovered some biological relatives on Ancestry.com. Summer prepared a petition to unseal our client’s birth records citing various sections of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and California Family and Probate Codes, as well as a proposed order which a California superior court judge later signed. The order will be submitted to the California Office of Vital Statistics, which will release the client’s original birth certificate unlocking valuable information necessary to connect with his biological family and enroll in his tribe.