S. 4976 — Native Children’s Commission Implementation Act of 2026

This section establishes the Advisory Committee on Tribal Juvenile Justice within the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The 16-member committee, appointed by the Administrator from Tribal nominations and serving 3-year terms, provides advice and recommendations on juvenile justice programs, barriers to services, data collection, aftercare, and coordination affecting Tribal youth; meets at least twice annually; submits biennial reports to the Administrator and relevant congressional committees with a required 45-day agency response; and receives $200,000 in annual appropriations for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

This section directs the Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, to conduct Tribal consultation and complete a study within one year on the number and status of Native American missing children and youth cases, including their connections to juvenile justice and child welfare system involvement and to crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault, homicide, drug activity, stalking, and human trafficking. It requires a report with recommendations on closing reporting gaps and improving training to be submitted within 180 days after study completion to the Senate Committees on Indian Affairs and the Judiciary, the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, incorporating data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

This section establishes the Alaska Native Victim Services Fund at the Denali Commission to provide grants and loans to eligible nonprofit organizations serving victims of crime in predominantly Indian communities. The Fund supports victim services for Alaska Native crime victims, including physical infrastructure such as housing construction and facility rehabilitation, with $5,000,000 authorized annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2032. It also creates a 9-member Advisory Committee to review funding criteria, assess program effectiveness, identify service gaps, and recommend priorities.

This section capitalizes all references to “Tribe,” “Tribes,” “Tribal,” and “Tribally” throughout the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. It updates the definition of Indian tribe to reference 25 U.S.C. 5304, adds definitions for Native Hawaiian and Native Hawaiian organization, and defines Tribal domestic violence coalition. It also establishes an Alaska Native Tribal resource center and a Native Hawaiian resource center on domestic violence to provide technical assistance, training, and culturally appropriate services aimed at reducing disparities.

This section establishes the Tiwahe Initiative to strengthen Tribal families, reduce out-of-home placements of Indian children, and expand the family-centered service model to Tribes beyond the 10 pilot sites. It requires the Secretary of the Interior to launch the initiative within 30 days of enactment, designate the pilot sites as permanent partners, create an application process with strategic plans for eligible Tribes and Tribal organizations, and direct an interagency pilot program for 5 years beginning within 180 days to coordinate resources across nine federal departments, with an interim report due after 3 years.

This section ensures that Indian tribes located wholly or partially in Public Law 280 states receive base support funding under the Indian Tribal Justice Act without denial of eligibility, reduced consideration, or other disadvantage based on state jurisdiction or the absence or limited extent of Indian country, reservations, or tribal land bases. It requires the Secretary to make such funding available on a recurring basis through contracts, grants, or agreements rather than solely as one-time or assessment-based awards, while preserving existing funding levels for tribes outside those states.

This section establishes the Tribal Health Research Office within the Office of the Director of NIH, headed by a director appointed by the NIH Director, to promote and coordinate Tribal health research programs across the national research institutes and centers and with other public and private entities. It requires the Office Director to lead NIH Tribal health research activities, disseminate culturally aware information to Tribal communities, award grants for culturally based interventions addressing Native American health disparities including for children and youth, designate at least two staff as children’s funding and data liaisons for Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, ensure Office input in grant reviews, serve as Executive Secretary of the new National Institutes of Health Tribal Advisory Committee, and submit an annual public report on Federal data interoperability, acceptance of traditional ecological knowledge, and data sovereignty issues. It also establishes the Advisory Committee with at least 17 members appointed by the Secretary (12 Tribal leaders from Bureau of Indian Affairs regions, one Native Hawaiian representative, two urban Indian representatives, two Tribal Epidemiology Center representatives, and optionally one Native youth representative) to advise on policies with Tribal implications, serve as a forum for Tribes and NIH, respond to cultural and technical grant issues, and propose solutions to improve data access, interoperability standards, use of traditional knowledge, and strengths-based data collection.

This section requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in coordination with Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Tribal Epidemiology Centers, Papa Ola Lokahi, and urban Indian organizations, to develop guidance for states on data quality, enter cooperative agreements to address misclassification and undersampling, adopt uniform collection methods including weighted sampling and oversampling, encourage state data-sharing agreements, provide technical assistance, and conduct Tribal consultations to support maternal mortality review committees. It also requires the Director to submit annual public reports on infant and maternal health data, including Native American data, beginning 180 days after enactment.

This section establishes the Health Resources and Services Administration Tribal Advisory Committee within the Health Resources and Services Administration. The committee provides a forum for elected Tribal officials (or their designees) and agency staff to address emerging public health issues, resource needs, and policies affecting American Indian and Alaska Native populations, while supporting but not replacing government-to-government consultation. It consists of at least 14 members (one representative and one alternate from each of the 12 Indian Health Service areas) appointed to staggered 3-year terms from Tribal nominations, and must create a maternal health subcommittee to identify issues, recommend solutions on mortality, access, data, and coordination with the Indian Health Service and other agencies, and evaluate regional mortality review boards.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Interior, to commence Tribal consultation within 30 days of enactment for a study on the intersection of maternal mortality and domestic violence among American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian mothers. It directs the Secretary to submit a report on the study results to the Senate Committees on Indian Affairs and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce within one year of enactment, after consulting with Native leaders, health experts, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations.

This section establishes a demonstration grant program under which the Secretary awards funds to eligible entities, including institutions of higher education, accredited perinatal training programs, Indian Tribes, and urban Indian organizations, to recruit, train, and retain maternity care providers, mental and behavioral health providers, registered dietitians, midwives, lactation consultants, and other perinatal workers for practice in Indian Health Service facilities, Tribal health programs, and urban Indian organizations. Grants may support new or expanded accredited schools, residencies, curricula, clinical experiences, scholarships, and partnerships with Tribes; the Secretary must prioritize applicants with formal Tribal partnerships or strategies to place providers in health professional shortage areas; grant periods last up to 5 years; recipients must submit annual reports on participant demographics and outcomes; and the Secretary must report to Congress on program effectiveness within 4 years.

This section establishes the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Tribal Technical Advisory Committee within the Administration to advise the Assistant Secretary on culturally appropriate mental health and substance use services for American Indian and Alaska Native communities. It authorizes $200,000 annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2032, sets a minimum of 14 members with specified qualifications and 2-year terms, and exempts the committee from the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

This section establishes the Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee within the Department of Health and Human Services to seek consensus and advise on programs serving American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Committee consists of one elected Tribal official from each of the 12 Indian Health Service areas, appointed for staggered 2-year terms, and is authorized $200,000 annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

This section reserves 5 percent of amounts appropriated under section 1920(a) of the Public Health Service Act each fiscal year for direct grants to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations. It requires grant recipients to use the funds to provide community mental health services for adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbance.

This section reserves 5 percent of amounts appropriated under section 1935(a) for direct grants to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations. It requires an application and directs grant funds to planning, carrying out, and evaluating activities to prevent, treat, and provide recovery support services for substance use disorders.

This section establishes a 5-year demonstration program, beginning on the date of the first funding agreement, under which the Secretary selects up to 15 Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, or inter-Tribal consortia each year to administer certain HHS behavioral health programs through self-governance compacts and funding agreements. The Secretary must establish the program within 180 days of enactment, provide funding equal to amounts the participants would otherwise receive, and may waive matching requirements.

This section establishes within the Council on Environmental Quality a Native Children's Environmental Health Protection Task Force to coordinate federal, state, and tribal efforts protecting Native children's environmental health. The Task Force includes the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality and representatives from the Indian Health Service, EPA, HUD, Interior, Agriculture, CDC, Transportation, tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations; develops a strategic plan addressing dust, mold, sanitation, mining contamination, pesticides, oil spills, groundwater issues, wildfire smoke, and other hazards; consults with tribes; and submits annual reports to Congress.

This section requires the Indian Health Service to include mandatory environmental health training in all its health professional training programs on assessment protocols specific to Tribal communities, recognition of issues affecting Native children, home assessments, cultural competency, and integration of traditional ecological knowledge, developed in consultation with the Division of Environmental Health Services, Tribal environmental health programs, Tribal Epidemiology Centers, Tribal health boards, and pediatric environmental health specialty units. It also establishes a comprehensive environmental health system within 2 years of enactment that includes electronic health record capabilities for standardized exposure documentation and clinical decision support, standardized referral protocols, memoranda of agreement with Service units and agencies, annual reports to Congress, and $25 million in annual appropriations for fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

This section establishes pilot programs authorizing the Secretary to award grants to Alaska Native entities and Indian Tribes to administer all or portions of the supplemental nutrition assistance program within designated Tribal service areas. It requires annual grants to at least one covered Alaska entity for 3-year terms (extendable by 3 years) and initial selection of at least 5 Tribes in the lower 48 states, with up to 5 additional Tribes approved each following year.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the Secretary of Agriculture, to study health outcomes from Federal nutrition programs, integration of traditional foods, and related topics in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. It expands categorical eligibility for free school meals under the National School Lunch Act to children who are enrolled members of an Indian tribe or have one or more parents who are enrolled members. It adjusts reimbursement rates for schools in geographic areas serving Bureau-funded schools and elementary and secondary schools on or near Indian reservations. It establishes a tribally operated meal pilot program that awards 2-year grants of $10,000 to $100,000 to up to 10 eligible tribal entities to operate school lunch, breakfast, summer food service, and child and adult care food programs in covered institutions.

This section establishes the Tribal Homeless Housing Assistance Grant Program to provide rental assistance and supportive housing services to American Indians and Alaska Natives who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in coordination with the Indian Health Service, may use up to 5 percent of annual title IV McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act funds for the program, which requires 2 years of case management, prioritizes homeless youth, families with children, and domestic violence survivors, and allows tribes to design culturally appropriate supportive services.

This section establishes the Native Hawaiian Homeless Housing Assistance Grant Program to provide rental assistance and supportive housing services for Native Hawaiians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, may use up to 0.2 percent of annual McKinney-Vento title IV funds for the program, which requires two years of case management, prioritizes homeless youth, families with children, and domestic violence survivors, and allows eligible recipients to design culturally appropriate supportive services.

This section establishes the Tribal Continuum of Care Participation Grant Program within the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996. It directs the Secretary to award competitive grants to Indian tribes and tribally designated housing entities to participate in Continuum of Care programs under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, either as collaborative applicants or project applicants. Of amounts appropriated for McKinney-Vento competitive grants each fiscal year, $25,000,000 is reserved for the program, but only when total appropriations exceed the FY2026 level and without reducing amounts below that baseline. Eligible entities may use up to 10 percent of grants for administrative costs. The section also requires certifications of consultation with Indian housing plan recipients, exempts collaborative applicants whose geographic areas include reservation or trust land from certain consolidated plan requirements, and authorizes waivers of statutory or regulatory provisions (except labor standards and environmental requirements) to facilitate tribal participation.

This section expands eligibility for Continuum of Care grants under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to Indian tribes and tribally designated housing entities. It exempts specified tribal projects and awards from titles VI and VIII of the Civil Rights Act, requires consistency certifications with Indian housing plans rather than state or local consolidated plans, exempts collaborative applicants whose geographic areas consist solely of reservation or trust land from consolidated plan requirements, authorizes the Secretary to waive or modify statutory and regulatory requirements to facilitate tribal participation, and applies special environmental review procedures under which Indian tribes are treated as states.

This section revises the purpose of the 477 Initiative to support Native self-sufficiency, fulfill the United States’ trust and treaty obligations, and remove impediments to tribal sovereignty in the use of Federal funds. It expands the programs tribes may integrate under approved plans to those administered by 12 specified federal agencies for purposes including self-sufficiency, job training, welfare-to-work, skill development, economic development, and related family or youth services, regardless of whether funds are formula-based, competitive, or block grants; it also updates plan requirements, review standards, and approval authority to permit partial approvals aligned with the new purpose.

This section directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, through the Office of Native American Programs, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Administration for Children and Families, to enter a memorandum of understanding evaluating outcomes of co-locating child care in HUD-assisted affordable housing developments. The evaluation must assess impacts on housing stability, workforce participation, early childhood development, child care access barriers, and other family outcomes; require consultation with Indian tribes, tribally designated housing entities, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, public housing agencies, and other stakeholders; and produce a report to specified congressional committees within 18 months containing findings and recommendations.

This section requires the Secretary to consult with Indian tribes and tribal organizations (including Alaska Native villages, regional or village corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations), experts in Indian early childhood education and development, linguists, and the National Indian Child Care Association when establishing requirements, including application requirements, for tribal payments under the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

This section establishes the Native American Advisory Committee on Early Childhood within the Office of Early Childhood Development. The 15-member committee, appointed by the Secretary from tribal nominations, meets at least twice each year, identifies issues and recommends actions on early childhood education, child care access, culturally appropriate care, and data collection for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children, submits annual reports to Congress, and receives $200,000 in annual appropriations for fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

This section directs the Secretary to give special consideration to Tribal Colleges and Universities, Native American-serving nontribal institutions, Alaska Native-serving institutions, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions when awarding grants to improve academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability at eligible institutions. It also authorizes the use of grant funds for developing or improving academic programs that serve American Indian and Alaska Native teachers or support culturally appropriate curricula for those populations, including Native American language programs.

This section establishes a pilot program under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Administration for Native Americans, awards grants to at least 5 eligible entities—including Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, Indian Head Start programs, and Tribal Colleges or Universities—for teacher apprenticeship programs. The grants support planning, establishment, expansion, or evaluation of such programs to address shortages of education professionals serving Native American early childhood, elementary, and secondary students, with priority for rural or remote communities; funds may cover wraparound services including tuition, materials, technology, childcare, and staff stipends.

This section adds after-school programming to the list of allowable activities funded by Indian education grants to local educational agencies. The grants support services that supplement regular school programs and respond to the language and cultural needs of Indian students.

This section requires the national Native American language resource center to submit a report every 3 years, beginning 1 year after enactment, on its activities and recommendations for strengthening Native American language teaching and use, and a one-time report on all certified NALA schools that details enrollment by grade and age, per-pupil costs, graduation and postsecondary enrollment, federal funding sources, and barriers to operation. It defines a NALA school as an early childhood through grade 12 program that uses a Native American language as the primary medium of instruction for all subjects except English language arts. It authorizes $1 million for FY2027 and $250,000 annually thereafter for the reporting requirements. It also establishes a grant program for certified NALA schools with per-pupil allotments based on the number of students served, the percentage of instruction above 50 percent conducted in a Native American language, and the greater of state or national average per-pupil expenditures.

This section limits administrative cost restrictions under Indian education, Alaska Native education, and Native Hawaiian education programs to direct administrative costs only, excluding indirect costs recovered under federally negotiated rates. It establishes 5-year grant periods for these programs (from 3 years for Native American and Alaska Native language immersion) and caps administrative costs at 5 percent for Native Hawaiian grants.

This section adds definitions to the Head Start Act for “Indian,” “Indian Head Start agency,” “Native American language,” “Native Hawaiian,” “Native Hawaiian Head Start,” and “Native Hawaiian language.” It reserves base grant funding for Native Hawaiian Head Start programs at prior-year levels, raises the Indian Head Start set-aside to 5 percent (from 3 percent), and reserves up to $1 million annually for Native Hawaiian programs. It extends 5-year matching-fund waivers to Indian Head Start programs, requires annual Federal Register-noticed engagements with Native Hawaiian agencies, and subjects underperforming Native Hawaiian agencies to the same redesignation rules as other grantees.

This section increases to 2 percent (from 1 percent) the share of funds appropriated under section 11435 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act that the Secretary transfers to the Department of the Interior for programs serving Indian students in schools funded by the Secretary of the Interior. Of the transferred amount, up to $250,000 may fund technical assistance grants to a nonprofit organization, and the funds may be used for emergency housing for students. It also establishes a hold harmless that reduces the reservation percentage, but no lower than 1 percent, to ensure states receive at least their FY2024 allotment amounts.

This section establishes the Behavioral Health and Wellness Program in the Bureau of Indian Education to provide behavioral health services to students, staff, and faculty at Bureau-funded schools, including dormitories. The program offers virtual counseling, a 24/7 crisis hotline, crisis response services, and other approved behavioral health support, and authorizes $8,000,000 annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2032 as a continuation of the prior program that ended January 31, 2026.

This section establishes the Alaska Tribal School Program in the Department of the Interior to award grants to Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and public or public charter schools in Alaska certified by the Secretary as Alaska Tribal schools that serve Alaska Native students. Grants are calculated by a per-student formula developed through negotiated rulemaking that accounts for hours and grades served, isolation, cost of living, and Native language program costs. Funds may support education-related activities and transportation but not real property acquisition or construction. No more than one grant may be awarded per recipient each fiscal year. The program is authorized at $5 million annually.