Native Village of Tununak, Appellant v. State of Alaska, Department of Health & Social Services, Office Of…

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court held that the federal placement-preference rule does not apply because no person other than the foster parents formally sought to adopt the child. Applying the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of ICWA, the court rejected the argument that a tribal disclosure identifying a potential relative placement was equivalent to a formal adoption request, affirmed the adoption, and vacated its prior remand for a renewed good-cause hearing. Justice Winfree, dissenting, would have treated the grandmother's participation in the CINA adoptive-placement proceeding as sufficient to trigger the preferences and remanded for a new placement hearing.