Each year, there are thousands of children who are removed from their families and seek permanent placement. Their permanent placement can be found with family or friends, or even through private adoption. There are federal laws and state mandates implemented to ensure that the best interests of all children involved in an adoption or placement process are heard. A child's best interests and needs may include educational needs, medical needs, housing/placement preferences, or finding a family that reflects that child's ethnic and cultural heritage. A federal mandate ensures that children's assets and family backgrounds are protected and their best interests are served. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 is a federal law that seeks to support Indian-American children with Indian-American families. This law was created in response to the overwhelming population of Indian-American children displaced from their families. This law was created to protect youth and help keep Indian-American children with their native tribes. In this article we explore the historical factors that led to the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the purpose of that law. Additionally, we explore the development of this law, the implementation of this federal law, and contemporary debates surrounding the implementation of this law. The history of the Indian Child Welfare Act stems from the need to address problems with the removal of Indian children from their communities. Native American tribes identified the problem of Native American children being raised by non-Native families when there were alarming numbers of children being removed from their families. the Indian tribes. However, there are some significant ideas that are raised in federal law. One of the most specific and controversial is the concept of who is considered a parent and how they might demonstrate their legitimacy to parenthood. Other debates examine who can adopt or care for an Indian-American child, and is it okay to deny a family from temporarily adopting or caring for a child because they are not of Native American descent? These are all broad questions that will be explored in the future. As the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, specific portions of this law need to be further scrutinized and analyzed. This will be very beneficial for the future of the law and will maintain its relevance for child custody cases.