Looking for a system with its head and heart in balance: Using institutional analysis to assess Indian child welfare act implementation in Saint Louis County, Minnesota

Since the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), state and county human service systems have struggled to implement its provisions in a manner that incorporates the spirit and the letter of the law. This article provides a descriptive overview of a jurisdictionally specific tribal-state partnership team's adaptation of Institutional Analysis, a needs assessment methodology developed by Praxis International, as an alternative methodology to compliance measurement and to identify needs in ICWA implementation. We share a description of our process and experience, our theory of change for human services systems seeking to improve their treatment of American Indian families, and provide some lessons from our experience.