Senator Kent Conrad sends a team to check on child safety

(WDAY TV) -- Senator Kent Conrad says he is confident there will be federal intervention to keep children safe on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.

At Conrad's request, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar sent a team to the reservation today. Child protection incidents, like one case in which nine children were placed in a home with three known sex offenders, prompted the move.

What Conrad calls a "lack of effective oversight" may cause the tribe to lose authority to administer its own programs.

Senator Kent Conrad says, "so that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has the responsibility directly to administer the program. I have, frankly, lost confidence in current tribal leadership to deal with these problems in an effective way."

Conrad says he is concerned about whether tribal leaders will cooperate with the intervention. Spirit Lake Tribal Chairman Roger Yankton is out of town this week.

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