In re N.C. CA2/6

Filed 8/30/24 In re N.C. CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

In re N.C., a Person Coming 2d Juv. No. B334904 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. No. 23JV00048) (Santa Barbara County)

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CHILD WELFARE SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

A.C. et al.,

Defendant and Appellant.

A.C. (Father) and S.O. (Mother) appeal from the juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights to their minor son, N.C. (Welf. & Inst. Code,1 § 366.26.) They contend the court failed to ensure that Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services (CWS)

1 Statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

complied with the inquiry requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) and related provisions of California law (§ 224.2). We agree, and remand for further proceedings. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY N.C. was born in June 2022. He was placed in foster care eight months later. Prior to the detention hearing a CWS social worker asked Mother, who has six siblings, if her family had any Indian ancestry. She said that it did not, but thought that Father’s family might. Father, who has 12 siblings, denied any such ancestry to another social worker. In February 2023, Mother filed a Parental Notification of Indian Status (ICWA-020) form indicating that she had no Indian ancestry. She again denied such ancestry when asked by county counsel at the detention hearing. No similar inquiry was made of the maternal grandmother, who was present at the hearing. The juvenile court ordered N.C. detained at the conclusion of the hearing. Later that month, N.C.’s maternal grandmother and one of his maternal aunts told a CWS social worker that their family had no Indian ancestry. CWS knew that N.C. lived with one of his maternal uncles, but the social worker did not ask him about the family’s Indian ancestry. CWS also knew that N.C. had at least four other maternal aunts and uncles and one maternal great-grandmother, but the social worker did not ask them about their ancestry. The paternal grandmother told the social worker that her family had Cherokee ancestry, but that she was not a registered member of the tribe; the last time anyone from the family had contacted the tribe they were told they were not eligible for membership. The social worker made one attempt to contact the