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Show Pie 2 Thursday, Deeeaber 19, 1974 The Ute Bulletin Letter of the low OBSERVING ANNIVERSARIES - As employees of the federal government are the recipients of the Bureau of Indian Affairs length of service awards. Administrative Manager Henry Cuch left presented the citations at a staff Division for ten imping Dec. 6 to Bessie Smith, secretary in the Social Services of for aide years of employment; Alfonso Poncho Cuch, engineering gold pin to Adelyn Logan, Reality Specialist. service; and the -- This month, the Letter of the Low will take a look at an important, yet sad, part of the work of the Tribal Juvenile Court, namely the involuntary termination of the parental rights of parents of minor children. The Ute Tribe is fortunate to have a functioning Tribal Juvenile Court to handle legal problems involving children under the age of 1 8 years old. This Court operates as a partner to the adult Tribal Court, each striving to maintain law and order on the Reservation and protect the interests of the Tribe and its members. The Tribal Juvenile Court is concerned with the specific problems of minor children, including, but not limited to, the area of juvenile delinquency or law breaking by children. The Tribe has a modem, comprehensive Juvenile Code to guide the Juvenile Court and define the areas of its authority. The Tribe also is lucky to have Judge Paul Keller serve as its Juvenile Court Judge. Judge Keller is a man of considerable training and experience in Juvenile Court matters and has shown a real interest in helping the Tribe and its members. An important function of the Tribal Juvenile Court is to look out for the welfare of children on the Reservation , not only when these children break the law, but in other circumstances as well, such as when some condition or circumstance threqtens the health, safety, welfare or morals of a child. In performing this function, it sometimes becomes necessary for the Court to determine whether or not the best interests of a child will be served by taking the child away from the parent or parents and in some cases, ordering that all of the parents rights to the child be cut off. It should be noted that the Tribal Juvenile Code recognizes that parents have a preferred right to have custody of their children and to raise them in whatever manner they see fit. The Juvenile Court will not interfere with the parent-chil- d relationship unless the welfare of the child requires that the child be taken from his home and placed in a ir e suitable environment. Even when the Cour rakes a child from its natural home and ' .s it in a foster home or similar situation, does not automatically terminate the righ. of the parents. The child placed while the parent may be temporari works to solve som problem he or she or they have. As soon as tht parent feels he has solved the problem, he can petition the Court to have the child returned to his home. . The Tribal Juvenile Court specifies three circumstances under which .the Juvenile Court can terminate all of the legal rights in a parent to his or her child. They are: 1 that the parent or parents are unfit and incompentent by reason of their conduct or some condition which creates a situation seriously harmful to the child; 2 that the parent or parents have abandoned the child not made contact for a period of one year; or 3 that the parent or parents continously or repeatedly failed or refused to give the child proper parental care and protection after the child has been allowed to return to the parent's home for a trial period. The rights of either one or both parents may be terminated at either a single or separate hearings before the Juvenile Court. Juvenile Court hearings for the termination of parental rights are begun with the filing of a petition claiming that one or more of the three grounds for termination exist. A hearing is then scheduled and the parents are notified of the hearing by the Court. The parents are encouraged to attend the hearing, with an attorney or counselor of their desire, and hear the evidence presented, ask questions and present evidence of their own if they want to. The Court then renders its decision and notifies the parents whether or not the parentai rights have been terminated. The Juvenile Court's decision can be appealed to the Tribal Appellate Court within three months. A parent whose parental rights have been terminated loses all rights to determine the future of that child, to visit it or to be involved in either the responsibilities or achievements of the child's life. It is a very serious step which the Juvenile Court does not order unless the best interest of the child demand it. The law does, however, recognize that in certain situations an irresponsible or unfit parent will do a child more harm than good, and that the best interests of the child require that he or she be permanently placed with people who can give the child the love, care, and attention that all children need. Such placement is generally arranged after the parents' rights have been terminated. Once the termination becomes final, there is nothing that the parent can do to get his or her child back. The Juvenile Court and its staff perform other services for families having problems with children, and these will be discussed in future letter of the Law articles. 20-yea- rs 30-ye- ar OBITUARIES Effie Wyosket Funeral services for Effie Ilena K. Wyasket, daughter of Iran William Wyasket, Jr. and Lou Ann Cuch Wyasket, were conducted Dec. 7 in the Randlett L.D.S. Branch. She drowned Dec. 1 in a boating accident at New River Inlet, N.C. Her father is stationed with the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Le Jeune, N.C. She was born April 4, 1972 in Roosevelt. Survivors include her parents, Mr. and Vincent Cuch Mrs. grandparents, of Fort Duchesne, William Wyasket, Sr. of Whiterocks and Mrs. L.T. Payton of Vernal; great grandparents Mrs. Ruby Accawinna, and Mrs. Rebecca Cuch, both of Fort Duchesne, and Mrs. Winifred Wyasket of Bridgeland. Burial was in the Roosevelt Cemetery. Elaine M. Wagner Funeral services were conducted Dec. 7 i By Helene Loney Here I am again getting ready to write news about booze. It wasn't so long ago I had the privilege to write about the booze. As you all have heard there will be a recovery center on this reservation which will open in the near future. This is another step towards knocking out the booze and keeping our Indian people alive to enjoy another new-daThe Indian people will benefit from this center, so we should be proud to have a y. center on our reservation. It will mean an alcoholic will have a chance to have a job, to have a good reputation and a good home life. As I have said before the Ute Tribe Alcoholism and Drug program has more staff members to work with the residents and to teach the residents to understand more about themselves. There will be goals for group therapy, for cultural recreational therapy, and classes about human behavior so think about the center because it will be an interesting center. Well see you there on opening day. at the Whiterocks L.D.S. Branch for Elaine McKewan Wagner 20, who died Nov. 29 of exposure in White Clay, Neb. She was born July 10, 1954 to Lee and Bernice McKewan Pokerjack in Roosevelt. She married Gregg Wagner. She is survived by a son, Samuel Lee McKewan of Randlett, a daughter, LeAnn McKewan of Elko, Nev. and her grandmother, Josephine Thompson of Randlett. Burial was in the Randlett cemetery. EDITOR'S NOTE: The above article was written by Boyden and Kennedy of Salt Lake City. News About Booze Mainstream Phased Out; New Grants Awarded NYC, Sylvia R. Serawop Funeral services were conducted Dec. 7 at the Ute Baptist Mission for Sylvia Ruhogit Comacots Serawop of Randlett who died as a result of injuries incurred Dec. 3. She was 47. She was born April 1, 1927 in Bitter Creek to Rose Ruhogit and Comacots. She married Lee Serawop at Fort Duchesne in November, 1945. She is survived by her husband of Randlett.: mother, Rose Sibello of Fort Duchesne, and children, Maxine, Danny, Kathy, and Elliott, all of Randlett, and Michael of Whiterocks. Also surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Glen (Lorna) Jenks and Mrs. Willis (Yvonne) Thompson, both of Alterra. Burial was in the Randlett Cemetery. As of Sept. 30, 1974 the Operation Mainstream, Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) programs for the Ute Tribe were discontinued by the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. Before it ended this program provided part-tim- e jobs for students still in school and also paid for older students to work toward their high school diploma while attending evening classes and working part time. Wages earned by participants in N.Y.C. was provided by the federal government. A general financial k by the federal government is cited as the reason for the discontinuing the N.Y.C. and Operation Mainstream programs. Other grants from the Department of Labor have also been drastically reduced. Since the closing of the N.Y.C. program, however, the Tribe has received a grant under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA Title III). The grant has enabled the Manpower office to place 21 cut-bac- individuals in positions for training and three additional persons are attending adult education classes under on-the-j- the grant. Though all openings through this program are currently filled, applications are being accepted at the Manpower Office in the event that an enrollee acquires permanent employment or for other reasons leaves the program. A second grant awarded to the Tribe under the CETA II provides positions for seven persons under Public Service Employment. Individuals hired under this program are Fred Conetah, tribal museum director; Frank My ore, clerk, tribal accounting office; Charley Bush, tribal maintenance; Boots Sireech, ceramics worker, Ute Casting Shop; Franklin McCook, tribal maintenance; h Virginia Duncan, CHR worker; and Joy Grant, credit officer, trihal out-reac- treasurer's office. Indian Rock Group Breakup Announced A breakup of the Indian rock group XIT (which stands for Crossing of Indian Tribes) has occurred. XIT was an intertribal group composed of musicians from Oklahoma and the Southwest. The Oklahoma members have returned to their home state, and the Southwest remnant members are continuing to perform in the Albuquerque, N.M., area.. Cause of the bustup could not be immediately determined. |
