Opinion of the Court
Adoption of T. A. W., 186 Wash. 2d 828, 835–837, 850–851, 383 P. 3d 492, 494–495, 501–502 (2016) (en banc) (mother and stepfather); J. W. v. R. J., 951 P. 2d 1206, 1212–1213 (Alaska 1998) (same). Indeed, Texas’s own family code permits certain private parties to initiate suits for the termination of parental rights. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. §102.003(a) (West Cum. Supp. 2022); see Reply Brief for Texas 27. And while petitioners treat “active efforts” as synonymous with “government programs,” state courts have applied the “active efforts” requirement in private suits too. See, e.g., In re Adoption of T. A. W., 186 Wash. 2d, at 851–852, 383 P. 3d, at 502–503; S. S. v. Stephanie H., 241 Ariz. 419, 424, 388 P. 3d 569, 574 (App. 2017); In re N. B., 199 P. 3d 16, 23–24 (Colo. App. 2007). That is consistent with ICWA’s findings, which describe the role that both public and private actors played in the unjust separation of Indian children from their families and tribes. §1901. Given all this, it is implausible that §1912(d) is directed primarily, much less exclusively, at the States.[1]
Legislation that applies “evenhandedly” to state and private actors does not typically implicate the Tenth Amendment. Murphy, 584 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 20). In South
- ↑ To bolster their claim that the “active efforts” requirement is aimed at the States, petitioners point to a statement from the Department of the Interior asserting that the reference to “active efforts” reflects Congress’s intent “to require States to affirmatively provide Indian families with substantive services and not merely make the services available.” 81 Fed. Reg. 38791 (emphasis added). This statement does not move the needle. Neither §1912(d) nor the regulations limit themselves to States; moreover, the regulations plainly contemplate that services will come from private organizations as well as the government. 25 CFR §23.102 (“Agency means a nonprofit, for-profit, or governmental organization … that performs, or provides services to biological parents, foster parents, or adoptive parents to assist in the administrative and social work necessary for foster, preadoptive, or adoptive placements”). The Department’s statement is thus consistent with the plain language of §1912, which applies to both private and state actors.
