Minn. Stat. § 260.773
In all proceedings where custody of the Indian child may be removed from the Indian child's parent or Indian custodian, the Indian child shall be placed in the least restrictive setting which most approximates a family and in which the Indian child's special needs, if any, may be met. The Indian child shall also be placed within reasonable proximity to the Indian child's home, taking into account any special needs of the Indian child.
In the case of a placement under subdivision 3 or 4, if the Indian child's Tribe has established a different order of placement preference by resolution, the child-placing agency or petitioner and the court shall recognize the Indian child's Tribe's order of placement in the form provided by the Tribe.
Preference shall be given, in the absence of good cause to the contrary, to a placement with:
In any adoptive placement, transfer of custody placement, or other permanency placement of an Indian child, a preference shall be given, in the absence of good cause to the contrary, to a placement with:
The child-placing agency and petitioner shall defer to the judgment of the Indian child's Tribe as to the suitability of a placement.
The court shall consider the preference of the Indian child or parent.
The standards to be applied in meeting the preference requirements of this section shall be the prevailing social and cultural standards of the Indian community in which the parent or extended family resides or with which the parent or extended family members maintain social and cultural ties.
Whenever an Indian child is removed from a foster care home or institution for the purpose of further foster care, preadoptive, or adoptive placement, the placement shall be in accordance with the placement preferences, except in the case where an Indian child is being returned to the parent or Indian custodian from whose custody the Indian child was originally removed.
A record of each such placement of an Indian child under state law shall be maintained by the county in which the placement was made and by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families evidencing the efforts to comply with the order of preference specified in this section. The record shall be made available at any time upon the request of the Secretary of the Interior or the Indian child's Tribe.
The court shall follow the placement preferences in subdivisions 1 to 9, except as follows:
Testimony of the Indian child's bonding or attachment to a foster family alone, without the existence of at least one of the factors in subdivision 10, clause (2), shall not be considered good cause to keep an Indian child in a lower preference or nonpreference placement. Ease of visitation and facilitation of relationship with the Indian child's parents, Indian custodian, extended family, or Tribe may be considered when determining placement.
A party who proposes that the required order of placement preferences not be followed bears the burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that good cause exists to modify the order of placement preferences.
If the court finds there is good cause to place the Indian child outside the order of placement preferences, the court must make written findings.
A good cause finding under this subdivision must consider whether active efforts were provided to extended family members who are considered the primary placement option to assist them in becoming a placement option for the Indian child as required by section 260.762.
When an Indian child is placed outside the order of placement preferences, good cause to continue this placement must be determined at every stage of the proceedings.
Minn. Stat. § 260.773
1999 c 139 art 1 s 6; 2007 c 147 art 1 s 12, 13; 2013 c 65 s 1; 2015 c 78 art 1 s 22-25