ND HB1564

Amends North Dakota's Indian Child Welfare Act provisions to strengthen requirements for "active efforts" to reunify Indian children with their families before removal, including comprehensive family assessments, culturally appropriate services, and extended family searches

Requires child welfare agencies to provide declarations detailing emergency removal circumstances and specific actions taken to assist parents when seeking shelter care hearings for Indian children

Expands placement preferences for adoptions and foster care to prioritize tribal statutory preferences first, followed by extended family members, tribal members, and culturally similar Indian families

Adds provisions requiring emergency removals to terminate immediately when no longer necessary, with agencies obligated to return children and offer solutions to mitigate the original situation

Extends jurisdiction to include status offense proceedings that result in out-of-home placement and allows courts to accept expert witness affidavits without stipulation when parties are in default