In re L.W. CA3

Filed 10/13/25 In re L.W. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

(Shasta) ----

In re L.W. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

SHASTA COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN C103687 SERVICES AGENCY, (Super. Ct. Nos. 23JV3249001, Plaintiff and Respondent, 23JV3249101)

v.

S.F.,

Defendant and Appellant.

Appellant S.F., mother of minors L.W. and T.F., appeals from the juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights and identifying adoption as the permanent plan. (Welf. & Inst. Code,1 §§ 366.26, 395.) Mother contends the inquiry under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) by Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) was inadequate because the Agency failed to inquire of reasonably available extended family

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

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members. Though not conceding the issue entirely, the Agency acknowledges it did not comply with its statutory obligations under the ICWA. Given this, we will conditionally reverse subject to full compliance with the ICWA and related California law on remand, as described in this opinion. I. BACKGROUND We dispense with a detailed recitation of the underlying facts and procedure as unnecessary to our resolution of the limited issue on appeal. It is sufficient to say that in January 2023, the Agency initiated dependency proceedings by filing a section 300 dependency petition on behalf of the minors. At the outset, the Agency asked mother and father about the minors’ Indian status; neither parent gave any reason to believe the minors were or may be Indian children. In its detention report filed on January 23, 2023, the Agency indicated that both mother and father denied any Native American ancestry and that the ICWA did not apply. Mother and father filed ICWA-020 parental notification of Indian status forms indicating that they did not know of any Indian ancestry. At the detention hearing on January 24, 2023, the juvenile court asked mother, father, maternal aunt Maurina F., paternal grandfather, and maternal grandmother whether they knew of any Indian ancestry. Each responded in the negative. In its disposition report filed on February 27, 2023, the Agency again stated that “[t]he Indian Child Welfare Act does not apply.” The report indicated that mother, father, and maternal grandmother reported no Native American ancestry. On May 9, 2023, maternal grandmother, maternal grandfather, and paternal great grandmother filed ICWA-020 forms indicating that they did not know of any Indian ancestry. At a hearing that same day, the juvenile court reviewed the forms with those family members and each family member indicated to the court that they did not have Indian ancestry. At the jurisdiction/disposition hearing on May 16, 2023, the juvenile court asked mother, father, maternal grandfather, and paternal great grandmother whether they knew of 2