Tribal Foster Care in North Dakota: ICWA, Tribal Nations, and What Foster Parents Need to Know

About 44% of North Dakota's foster children are Native American — more than four times their share of the state's overall population. If you are becoming a foster parent in North Dakota, there is a very real chance that the child placed with you will have tribal heritage. Understanding what that means before your first placement call is not just good preparation — it shapes how you interact with the child's family, their tribe, and the courts from day one.

North Dakota's Five Tribal Nations and How They Operate Foster Care

North Dakota is home to five federally recognized tribal nations, each with its own sovereign government, social services department, and approach to child welfare.

Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (MHA / Three Affiliated Tribes) — headquartered in New Town, in the central part of the state. MHA has a Title IV-E tribal-state agreement with North Dakota HHS, which means the tribe can license its own foster homes, manage its own case plans, and receive federal reimbursement directly. A child placed in a tribally licensed MHA foster home is in a state-certified home for federal funding purposes.

Spirit Lake Nation — located at Fort Totten in east-central North Dakota. Spirit Lake has one of the most active tribal ICWA offices in the state and maintains its own licensed foster family registry. Non-Native families in the region who foster children with Spirit Lake heritage will work closely with tribal social workers on the case plan.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe — Fort Yates sits on the North Dakota-South Dakota border, and Standing Rock's jurisdiction spans both states. Tribal social services handle placement investigations for enrolled children, and the tribe actively exercises its right to intervene in custody proceedings.

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa — based in Belcourt in the northern part of the state. Turtle Mountain has a long history of self-determination in child welfare and operates its own foster care training and support infrastructure.

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate — primarily based in South Dakota but with tribal members living in southeastern North Dakota. Their ICWA coordinator is involved in any custody proceeding involving enrolled Sisseton-Wahpeton children.

What ICWA Means for Foster Families

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is federal law that governs child custody proceedings involving Native American children. It was passed in 1978 in response to decades of mass removal of Native children from their communities. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld ICWA's constitutionality in Brackeen v. Haaland — it is not going away. North Dakota also codified its own state-level ICWA protections through HB 1536 in 2023.

For foster parents, here is what ICWA practically means:

You may not be the first placement choice. ICWA establishes a placement preference hierarchy: the child's extended Indian family first, then other tribal members, then other Native families. Non-Native foster families are at the bottom of that hierarchy. This does not mean you cannot be placed with an Indian child — it means the case manager must document that no higher-preference placement was available or appropriate before you receive the placement.

The tribe has the right to intervene. Even if the child is already placed with you, the tribe can formally intervene in the court proceeding. This does not automatically displace you, but it means tribal social workers become active participants in the case plan.

Active efforts apply. In standard North Dakota foster care cases, the state must make "reasonable efforts" toward reunification. Under ICWA, that standard is elevated to "active efforts" — a meaningfully higher bar that requires documented, hands-on assistance rather than just providing a list of services. As a foster parent, you may be asked to support visits and family connections more actively than in a non-ICWA case.

The evidentiary standard for termination is higher. To terminate parental rights in an ICWA case, the state must meet a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard, which is the same standard used in criminal trials. This typically extends the legal timeline compared to non-ICWA cases.

Fostering a Child with Tribal Heritage: Day-to-Day Realities

If you are placed with a child who has tribal heritage, a few practical things will shape your daily experience.

Cultural connection is a case plan requirement. North Dakota's child welfare policy, aligned with ICWA's active efforts standard, requires that children in foster care maintain cultural ties to their tribal community. Depending on the child's age and the case plan, this might mean attending tribal events, maintaining contact with extended family on or near the reservation, or supporting the child's participation in cultural practices. Foster parents who approach this collaboratively tend to have better relationships with tribal social workers and better outcomes for the child.

You will work with two parallel systems. The state's Regional Human Service Center manages the child's placement and case management, while the tribe's ICWA coordinator tracks the proceeding independently. Expect to interact with both. Tribal social workers will visit; they have the right to access case information and to communicate with the child.

Language and culture matter in the home study. During your initial licensing process, your licensing specialist will assess your openness and ability to support cultural identity. For families who live in regions with significant Native American populations — the Williston area near the Fort Berthold Reservation, the Devils Lake region near Spirit Lake — this is often discussed explicitly.

How North Dakota's 2022 Redesign Affected Tribal Placements

Following Senate Bill 2086 in 2021 and the centralization of foster care licensing under the state's Children and Family Services (CFS) Licensing Unit effective April 2022, the state took deliberate steps to maintain tribal relationships. The tribal-state Title IV-E agreements with MHA Nation and other tribes were preserved and, in some cases, expanded. The 2023 HB 1536 codification of ICWA into North Dakota statute further strengthened the framework.

Tribal partner adoptions increased by 53.2% in the period following the 2024 case management redesign, suggesting that improved coordination between state and tribal systems is producing better permanency outcomes for Native children.

What to Do If You Want to Foster Children with Tribal Heritage

Start with the standard North Dakota foster care licensing process through the CFS Licensing Unit — call 1-833-FST-HOME (1-833-378-4663) or visit hhs.nd.gov/cfs/fostercare. There is no separate application for "tribal placements."

Be explicit in your home study that you are open to and prepared to support children with Native American heritage. Your licensing specialist will note this, and it informs how the placement matching process works.

If you are already licensed and receive a placement call for a child with potential tribal heritage, ask the case manager which tribe is involved and whether a tribal ICWA inquiry has been filed. Early identification prevents last-minute procedural complications.

The North Dakota Foster Care Licensing Guide includes detailed guidance on ICWA obligations for foster families — covering the active efforts documentation, how to collaborate with tribal social workers, and what to expect if the tribe exercises its right to intervene in a placement.

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