In re A.E. CA4/3

Filed 4/29/25 In re A.E. CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

In re A.E., A Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

ORANGE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY, G065010 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. Nos. 20DP1145; v. 20DP1145A)

A.V., OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Daphne G. Sykes, Judge. Conditionally reversed and remanded with directions. Jesse McGowan, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Leon J. Page, County Counsel, Debbie Torrez and Deborah B. Morse, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. No appearance for the Minor. * * * A.V. (Mother) appeals from a juvenile court order terminating her parental rights to her child A.E. (Minor) following a hearing held under 1 Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26. She contends the Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) and the juvenile court failed to sufficiently inquire into claims of Minor’s potential Native American ancestry, as mandated by the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.; ICWA) and related California law (§ 224 et seq.). SSA concedes the error and acknowledges the challenged order must be conditionally reversed. We thus conditionally reverse the order and remand this matter for further proceedings to ensure compliance with ICWA. FACTS Mother and D.E. (Father) have two children together: Minor and an older child (Sibling). In 2020, Minor, shortly after being born, was taken into protective custody, detained by the juvenile court, and placed temporarily with SSA. The removal was prompted by SSA’s concerns for Minor’s welfare based on allegations in an open dependency case concerning Sibling. In 2019, when Sibling was three months old, she suffered “a brain bleed” and several “bone fractures in her ribs and in her lower and upper extremities,” in different stages of healing. Emergency surgery was