In re J.T. CA2/8

Filed 10/31/25 In re J.T. CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

In re J.T., a Person Coming B344551 Under the Juvenile Court Law. ______________________________ Los Angeles County LOS ANGELES COUNTY Super. Ct. No. 24PSJP00119 DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Petitioner and Respondent,

v.

M.Y.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Stacy Wiese, Judge. Affirmed. Daniel A. Vespi, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Dawyn R. Harrison, County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and Brian Mahler, Deputy County Counsel, for Petitioner and Respondent. ____________________ A mother appeals the juvenile court’s finding that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) does not apply in her case. The mother initially denied any Native American ancestry, but later said she had Cherokee ancestry through her maternal grandmother. The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) then contacted the mother’s mother, her father, and her maternal great-aunt, all of whom denied Native American ancestry in their family. The Department never contacted the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Cherokee tribe. We grant the Department’s unopposed request for judicial notice, which includes post-appeal orders from the juvenile court. We affirm. Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. I On September 26, 2024, the Department received a referral that the mother was neglecting her infant daughter J.T. At this time, the mother and J.T. were living at a women’s shelter. The caller said the mother showed symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia and described the mother as “confrontational and very intimidating.” Although the mother fed and cleaned J.T., the mother appeared detached from J.T. and would not attend to J.T. when she cried. A Department social worker spoke with the mother the next day. The mother told the social worker J.T.’s father is a famous musician professionally known as Drake, whom she had