2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 41. Minors › Chapter 3. Child Abuse and Neglect › Part 13. Montana Indian Child Welfare Act › 41-3-1303. Definitions

41-3-1303. (Temporary) Definitions.
As used in this part, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Active efforts" means affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts meeting the requirements of 41-3-1319 that are intended primarily to maintain or reunite an Indian child with the child's family and that are tailored to the facts and circumstances of the case.
(2) "Adoptive placement" means the permanent placement of an Indian child for adoption, including any action resulting in a final decree of adoption.
(3) (a) "Child custody proceeding" means any state or private proceeding, other than an emergency proceeding, that may culminate in a foster care placement, termination of parental rights, preadoptive placement, or adoptive placement.
(b) The term does not include a placement based on:
(i) an act that, if committed by an adult, would be considered a crime; or
(ii) an award, in a dissolution proceeding, of custody to one of the child's parents.
(4) "Court of competent jurisdiction" means a court that has jurisdiction over the relevant subject matter under federal, state, or tribal law.
(5) "Department" means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201.
(6) "Foster care placement" means an action removing an Indian child from the child's parent or Indian custodian for temporary placement in a foster home or institution or with a relative, guardian, conservator, or suitable other person under which the parent or Indian custodian may not have the child returned on demand but parental rights have not been terminated.
(7) "Indian" means a person who is a member of an Indian tribe or who is an Alaska Native and a member of a regional corporation as established in 43 U.S.C. 1606.
(8) "Indian child" means an unmarried Indian person who is under 18 years of age and who is:
(a) a member of an Indian tribe; or
(b) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe.
(9) (a) "Indian child's family" or "extended family member" means an individual defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe as a relative of the Indian child.
(b) If the Indian child's tribe does not identify family members by law or custom, the term means an adult who is the Indian child's grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, cousin, stepparent, or stepgrandparent. A stepparent or stepgrandparent may be considered a family member even following termination of the marriage.
(10) "Indian child's tribe" means a tribe or tribes in which an Indian child is a member or is determined eligible for membership as provided in 41-3-1307.
(11) "Indian custodian" means an Indian person who under tribal law, tribal custom, or state law has legal or temporary physical custody of an Indian child or to whom the parent has transferred temporary care, physical custody, and control of the Indian child.
(12) (a) "Indian tribe" or "tribe" means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for the services provided to Indians by the secretary of the interior because of their status as Indians.
(b) The term includes an Alaska Native village as defined in 43 U.S.C. 1602.
(13) "Member" or "membership" means a determination by an Indian tribe that an individual is a member of or eligible for membership in that Indian tribe.
(14) (a) "Parent" means a biological parent of an Indian child or an individual who has lawfully adopted an Indian child, including adoptions made as tribal customary adoptions.
(b) The term does not include an unwed father whose paternity has not been acknowledged or established under Title 40, chapter 6, part 1, or the applicable laws of another state.
(15) "Preadoptive placement" means the temporary placement of an Indian child in a foster home or institution after the termination of parental rights but before or in lieu of adoptive placement.
(16) "Termination of parental rights" means any action resulting in the termination of the parent-child relationship.
(17) "Tribal court" means a court or body vested by an Indian tribe with jurisdiction over child custody proceedings. The term includes but is not limited to a federal court of Indian offenses, a court established and operated under the code or custom of an Indian tribe, and an administrative body of an Indian tribe vested with authority over child custody proceedings. (Terminates June 30, 2025--sec. 55, Ch. 716, L. 2023.)
History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 716, L. 2023.