In re D.A. CA4/1

Filed 3/30/23 In re D.A. CA4/1

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re D.A., Jr., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. D081298 SAN DIEGO COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY, (Super. Ct. No. J518811B)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

D.A. (Father),

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Browder A. Willis, Judge. Conditionally reversed and remanded with directions. William Hook, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Claudia G. Silva, County Counsel, Lisa M. Maldonado, Chief Deputy County Counsel, and Kristen M. Ojeil, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Defendant and appellant D.A. (Father) appeals from an order issued at

a Welfare and Institutions Code 1 section 366.21 six-month review hearing in the section 300 dependency proceedings pertaining to his son D.A., Jr. Father argues the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) failed to comply with its initial inquiry obligations under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) and Welfare and Institutions Code section 224.2, and the juvenile court failed to ensure the Agency did so. The Agency concedes that its ICWA inquiry was deficient and agrees a conditional reversal with a limited remand is appropriate in this case. Father and the Agency have submitted a joint stipulation for issuance of an immediate remittitur pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 8.272(c)(1). We conditionally reverse the order and remand for the limited purpose of ensuring compliance with ICWA and section 224.2. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On November 11, 2021, law enforcement responded to a call reporting that D.A., Jr., who was one year old at the time, was left unattended in a car with the doors unlocked and unrestrained in his car seat. While officers were on scene, Father arrived and could not explain why he left D.A., Jr., unattended. Officers found a glass methamphetamine pipe in Father’s pocket and arrested him for drug paraphernalia and child endangerment.