---
kind: "section"
citation: "25 C.F.R. § 23.131"
title: "25"
number: "23.131"
heading: "What placement preferences apply in foster-care or preadoptive placements?"
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/25/23.131"
---

# §23.131. What placement preferences apply in foster-care or preadoptive placements?

- (a) In any foster-care or preadoptive placement of an Indian child under State law, including changes in foster-care or preadoptive placements, the child must be placed in the least-restrictive setting that:
  - (1) Most approximates a family, taking into consideration sibling attachment;
  - (2) Allows the Indian child's special needs (if any) to be met; and
  - (3) **Is in reasonable proximity to the Indian child's home, extended family, or siblings.**
- (b) In any foster-care or preadoptive placement of an Indian child under State law, where the Indian child's Tribe has not established a different order of preference under [paragraph (c)](#c) of this section, preference must be given, in descending order as listed below, to placement of the child with:
  - (1) A member of the Indian child's extended family;
  - (2) A foster home that is licensed, approved, or specified by the Indian child's Tribe;
  - (3) An Indian foster home licensed or approved by an authorized non-Indian licensing authority; or
  - (4) An institution for children approved by an Indian Tribe or operated by an Indian organization which has a program suitable to meet the child's needs.
- (c) If the Indian child's Tribe has established by resolution a different order of preference than that specified in ICWA, the Tribe's placement preferences apply, so long as the placement is the least-restrictive setting appropriate to the particular needs of the Indian child, as provided in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section.
- (d) The court must, where appropriate, also consider the preference of the Indian child or the Indian child's parent.

## Notes

### Source

Source: 81 FR 38867, June 14, 2016, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 25 U.S.C. 2, 9, 1901-1952.

### Source

Source: 59 FR 2256, Jan. 13, 1994, unless otherwise noted.