Government · Nationwide · August 11, 2026
Federal Guidance on State ICWA Laws Reported in Development
The Imprint reports that new federal guidance is being prepared regarding state laws that support the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the 1978 federal statute governing custody and foster placement of Native American children. The outlet has not yet detailed which agency is issuing the guidance, its scope, or a release date. ICWA sets placement preferences favoring Native families, extended relatives, and tribes over other prospective foster or adoptive parents, and several states have passed their own statutes codifying or extending those protections. Any new federal guidance could clarify how state laws must align with ICWA's placement hierarchy, which matters directly to foster and adoptive families, including those working through Christian and other faith-based placement agencies, when a child in their care is determined to be an 'Indian child' under the Act. Until the guidance is published, its practical effect on pending or future placements is not confirmed. Families and agencies currently navigating ICWA-covered cases should treat this as advance notice rather than an active change to follow.
Source: The Imprint
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The family is a pre-political institution. It existed before the state, and it holds authority the state did not grant and cannot lawfully take. When Christians defend the family they are defending the first institution of God against the encroachment of Caesar.
— Chapter 18, “The Jurisdictional Mandate”
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