Feds say takeover of Red Lake child welfare program was due to pattern of inaction

The emergency takeover of Red Lake Nation’s child welfare agency was due to the program failing to act as children were “neglected, abused and malnourished,” the U.S. government said in an official document.

An 11-page notice from the U.S. Department of the Interior dated Sept. 9 says children on Red Lake Nation are in “imminent and substantial jeopardy.”

The department oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which took over the Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganinaadog, the tribe’s child welfare program on Sept. 10.

The notice accuses the Ombimindwaa program of a pattern of inaction. It describes an “outright refusal” by to the Red Lake agency “to now lend any cooperation,” with federal authorities and is “actively impeding investigations,” that led to the BIA taking over the program.

The notice describes the deaths of as many as eight children since 2021 and alleges tribal child welfare program’s inaction led to five of those deaths. The two most recent were in July of this year. The document also provides some detail regarding the severe abuse and neglect of Red Lake Nation children that went unaddressed by the Ombimindwaa program.

The bureau released the notice to MPR News after a public records request. Names of children and tribal employees, including the program’s executive director, were redacted from the copy of the notice the bureau released to MPR News.

The notice, signed by Interior Department official Kennis M. Bellmard II, states that “Child abuse and neglect conditions continue to rise within the Red Lake Nation.”

In response to questions from MPR News regarding the release of the notice, Holly Cook Macarro, Red Lake Nation’s media point of contact, says the tribe “is cooperating fully with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is committed to ensuring every child and family receives the care and protection they deserve.”

The statement goes on to say that Red Lake Nation has filed an appeal of the agency’s reassumption decision, and that, “the Nation and the BIA have agreed to mediation. Because this matter is ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

Federal law entitles the tribe to a hearing before an administrative law judge within 10 days of the reassumption of services unless it agrees to a later date.

The notice took effect Sept. 10, the same day FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Ombimindwaa building on the reservation in northern Minnesota. The notice does not mention the search.

Neither the FBI nor Red Lake Nation has said whether the reassumption and the search warrant are connected. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota says the warrant remains sealed.

Red Lake Nation has operated its child welfare program since 1997 under a self-governance compact with the federal government.

A pattern of inaction by Red Lake Nation’s child welfare program

The notice states the FBI “started to track concerns with the Ombimindwaa program in 2021.” That December, it says, an infant died after the child’s mother passed out and fell asleep. The notice does not say the tribe’s child welfare program was involved in that case.

The notice outlines earlier cases in which it says staff at Ombimindwaa failed to act.

In February 2025, it says, a passerby found two children walking on a road. One child reported sexual abuse at home. Staff were providing services to the family, the notice says, but “the staff did not report the matter to law enforcement or the FBI, keeping the children in an unsafe environment.”

In a 2022 case, a child hospitalized with life-threatening anemia was placed with a licensed foster provider after the FBI intervened. “Ombimindwaa provided no instruction, medication, or continuity of care for the children to the foster care provider,” the notice reads.

In a 2023 case, the notice states that a mother who had told a federal investigator about her drug use gave birth to a child it describes as “drug-addicted.” It goes on to say that Ombimindwaa staff placed the child with the mother “with knowledge of the mother’s drug abuse history.” The child overdosed on the mother’s fentanyl in July 2023 and was flown to a hospital in Fargo.

According to the notice, the doctor there contacted the FBI because of the child’s condition “and knowledge of ongoing issues with Ombimindwaa’s handling of child abuse cases.” The notice went on to state that Ombimindwaa staff “failed to notify law enforcement about this case,” and that federal investigators were told the program’s executive director “overruled a removal directive for the child.”

The notice says the cooperation problems between federal authorities and Red Lake Nation grew in 2024. At a Feb. 6 meeting with federal prosecutors, it claims, the Red Lake Nation Tribal Council stated that the tribe “believed it no longer had an obligation to report child abuse and neglect to the FBI and USAO [U.S. Attorney’s Office].”

The notice states “the documented record is provided by federal agencies with active involvement with the program.” The released notice includes no supporting records or documents.

Additional serious concerns

The notice says the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI report other serious concerns about how Ombimindwaa runs the program.

According to the notice, the Ombimindwaa program is “not reporting accurate health data.” Its annual report to the Minnesota Legislature “contains unrealistic data regarding significant decreases in the number of maltreatment reports and the number of new substantiated child victims reported,” the notice reads.

Red Lake Nation’s report to the state for fiscal year 2024 said child maltreatment reports fell by half.

The notice also states the program “frequently does not report criminal activity to law enforcement.” In some instances, the notice says, it “intentionally releases the names of mandated reporters to subjects and family members.” Mandated reporters are people required by law to report suspected abuse.

The notice also states the Ombimindwaa program employed “a convicted sex offender and several convicted murderers and numerous convicted felons” in violation of a federal child protection law.

The tribe reopened its human services building a week after the takeover, according to a statement posted to its social media in mid-September. A statement posted Oct. 3 by the tribe’s social media page stated, “We fully expect there will be difficult conversations and challenges ahead as we continue working with the BIA.”

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