In re A.D. CA4/3

Filed 11/4/22 In re A.D. CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

In re A.D., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

ORANGE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY, G061418 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 20DP0799) v. OPI NION J.D.,

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Daphne Grace Sykes, Judge. Conditionally reversed and remanded. Lelah S. Fisher, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Leon J. Page, County Counsel, Karen L. Christensen, and Aurelio Torre, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. No appearance for the Minor. * * * J.D., the father of three-year old A.D., appeals from the judgment terminating his parental rights which makes A.D. eligible for adoption. J.D. does not challenge the merits of the order; instead, he argues the judgment must be reversed because the juvenile court and Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA), failed to conduct sufficient inquiry into whether A.D. had Native American ancestry, as required by the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) (ICWA). We agree. SSA concedes the error in failing to comply with ICWA requirements, and further concedes, based on published authority, that the error cannot be deemed harmless. The case must therefore be remanded to the juvenile court with directions that the court and SSA comply with their respective ICWA duties.

FACTS A.D. was born in January 2019. In June 2020, SSA sought a warrant to take her into protective custody based on evidence that she had no relationship with J.D., and that her mother had left her in the custody of a paternal relative since mid-2019. That relative, in turn, passed custody of A.D. to unrelated third parties who wished to adopt her. On July 2, 2020, SSA filed a juvenile dependency petition, alleging that dependency jurisdiction was proper under Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 300 based on the parents’ failure to protect and provide for A.D., and their inability to provide for her based on mental illness, developmental disability, or substance abuse.