In Re Jeffrey A.

California Court of Appeal Nov 25, 2002 No. C041271Published

Before: Sims

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Holding. The court remanded the matter for the juvenile court to determine if the agency's "request for verification" sent to the tribe satisfied the notice and procedural requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The court held that the record was insufficient to establish that the agency provided proper notice of the proceedings and right to intervene, or that it complied with federal requirements to notify the Secretary of the Interior and the BIA.

Issues

Whether the juvenile court failed to comply with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) regarding the termination of parental rights.
Whether the agency's "request for verification" sent to the tribe constituted sufficient notice under the ICWA and federal regulations.
Whether the agency was required to provide copies of the ICWA notice to the Secretary of the Interior and the Area Director of the BIA.

Disposition. remanded

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“Here, there is nothing to indicate that the document referred to in the social worker's report as having been sent to the tribe included notice of the proceedings and of the right to intervene.”

“Even assuming the "request for verification" contained the requisite ICWA notice, nothing in the record shows that copies of the notice were sent to the Secretary of the Interior and to the Area Director, as is required by the federal regulation.”

127 Cal.Rptr.2d 314 (2002) 103 Cal.App.4th 1103 In re JEFFREY A. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

Placer County Department of Health and Human Services, Plaintiff and Respondent,

Tena F., Defendant and Appellant.

No. C041271. Court of Appeal, Third District.

November 25, 2002. [315] Mario de Solenni, under appointment by the Court of Appeal for Defendant and Appellant.

Anthony LaBouff, County Counsel and James R. Yeo, Special Counsel for Plaintiff and Respondent.

SIMS, Acting P.J.

Appellant, the mother of the minors, appeals from the order of the juvenile court terminating her parental rights. (Welf. & Inst.Code, §§ 366.26, 395[1].) Appellant contends the juvenile court failed to comply with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). (25 U.S.C. §§ 1901 et seq.) We will remand for a determination as to whether the "request for verification" sent to the Pawnee tribe by the Placer County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) complied [316] with the requirements of the ICWA and of federal regulations implementing that act.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1998, the minors, then 10 and 13 years old, were made dependents of the juvenile court based on allegations that appellant regularly left them for weeks at a time with various caretakers, including a registered sex offender. A subsequent petition alleged that the minors' father had been convicted of raping the minors' 13year-old half-sister and that he was a registered sex offender with a condition that he have no contact with children. Appellant reported that the minors' father was her uncle, with whom she had lived beginning at age 13. According to appellant, the father had been released from prison and she had minimal information concerning his whereabouts.

In Re Jeffrey A.

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FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

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DISCUSSION

DISPOSITION

NOTES

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