In re D.D. CA2/8

Filed 11/14/25 In re D.D. CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 D.D., et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. B345513 ______________________________ LOS ANGELES COUNTY (Los Angeles County DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN Super. Ct. No. 22LJJP00242- AND FAMILY SERVICES, ABC)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

O.M.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Donald A. Buddle, Jr., Judge. Conditionally reversed and remanded with directions. Carol A. Koenig, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Dawyn R. Harrison, County Counsel, Kim Neomy Assistant County Counsel, and Kelly G. Emling, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. __________________________

SUMMARY Octavya M. (Mother) has three children: D.D. (12 years old), N.M. (eight years old), and K.M. (three years old). The juvenile court terminated parental rights for the children, thus allowing the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to find suitable adoption placements. Mother now asks us to conditionally reverse and remand due to DCFS’s inadequate inquiry into whether the children have Native American heritage, as the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) requires. DCFS concedes error, and the children’s fathers are not parties to this appeal. We agree that the juvenile court erred in finding that DCFS’s initial ICWA inquiry was adequate and proper and there was no reason to know or believe that the children were subject to ICWA. Accordingly, we conditionally reverse and remand with instructions to conduct an adequate ICWA inquiry. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The parties do not dispute the facts underlying the ICWA inquiry, and we briefly summarize the proceedings for context. In June 2022, DCFS petitioned for an order declaring the three children dependents of the court. In January 2023, the juvenile court sustained the petition based on domestic violence between Mother and Kenneth W. (K.M.’s alleged father), Kenneth’s substance abuse, Mother’s violent behavior, and Mother’s prior domestic violence with Deandre D. (D.D.’s presumed father) a decade earlier, which had resulted in past dependency proceedings for D.D. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300, subds. (a), (b) & (j).)1 The court removed the children from their