In re C.W. CA2/2

Filed 9/30/22 In re C.W. CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

In re C.W. et al., Persons Coming B315825 Under the Juvenile Court Law.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY (Los Angeles County DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN Super. Ct. No. AND FAMILY SERVICES, 21LJJP00410A-B)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

S.W.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Michael C. Kelley, Judge. Affirmed. Roni Keller, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Dawyn R. Harrison, Acting County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and David Michael Miller, Senior Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

S.W. (Father) appeals a disposition order after the juvenile court sustained a petition and declared his children dependents of the court. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 300, 360, subd. (d).)1 He contends that the inquiry requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) are unsatisfied. (25 U.S.C.S. § 1901 et seq; Welf. & Inst. Code, § 224 et seq.) No one asked extended family members if the children may be Indian. (§ 224.2, subd. (b).) We conclude that any deficiency in the ICWA inquiry did not cause a miscarriage of justice. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 13.) The parents, raised by their biological families, denied Indian ancestry. No evidence suggests that the parents’ knowledge of their heritage is incorrect or that the children may have Indian ancestry. Because there is no reason to believe the children are Indian, any failure to inquire of extended family members was harmless and can be cured by further inquiry as the case progresses. (§ 224.2, subd. (a).) We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Father and P.P. (Mother) moved with C.W. to California from the Midwest in 2018. C.W. was two years old at the time. In early 2019, respondent Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) learned the family was homeless. C.W. was marooned all day in the family car, where his parents smoked marijuana with the windows closed. Mother tested positive for marijuana at four prenatal visits before giving birth to P.W. in March 2019.2 __________________________________________________________ 1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.