What does “placement” mean?

The law does not define it, and Hustrulid v. Stakebake, the Court of Appeals declined to define it. From context, it is clearly a right akin to parenting time, and more precisely, akin to being designated primary residential parent or being named the guardian of a child. But the Legislature has purposefully withheld the use of “parenting time” from the statute, suggesting that this right, while similar, is less than the right of parenting time. All that said, the simplest explanation for placement is that it is similar to having guardianship of a child.