In re V.R. CA3

Filed 2/5/25 In re V.R. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

In re V.R., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court C100570 Law.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF (Super. Ct. No. JD242717) CHILD, ADULT AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

A.R.,

Defendant and Appellant.

1

A.R. (father) appeals from the juvenile court’s orders that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) does not apply, V.R. (the minor) is a dependent child of the court, and the minor should be placed with the paternal grandmother. Father contends we should remand the matter for further ICWA compliance. The Sacramento County Department of Child, Family and Adult Services (the Sacramento Department) does not oppose father’s request. We will conditionally reverse the juvenile court’s dispositional order and finding that ICWA does not apply, and we will remand the matter to the juvenile court for the limited purpose of further compliance with the inquiry and notice requirements of ICWA and related law. BACKGROUND The minor was born in 2010. In 2017, father participated in a child protective service informal supervision program based on a domestic violence incident between father and his girlfriend that occurred in the presence of the minor and her half sibling. Law enforcement placed the minor and her half sibling in protective custody. The minor’s mother was offered services and after successfully completing them she was granted sole legal and physical custody of the minor. The record does not indicate the extent, if any, of ICWA compliance efforts in that proceeding. In 2023, the El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency (the El Dorado Agency) filed a petition pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (b)(1),1 alleging, among other things, that the mother engaged in substance abuse and abandoned the minor in Oregon. The petition further alleged that father was incarcerated and had been convicted for the sexual abuse of children.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. Undesignated rule references are to the California Rules of Court.