In re Harmony J. CA2/7

Filed 11/7/23 In re Harmony J. CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SEVEN

In re HARMONY J., a Person B318432 Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County ________________________________ Super. Ct. No. 21CCJP04311A) LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

DURRELL J.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Jean M. Nelson, Judge. Dismissed. Robert McLaughlin, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Durrell J.

Dawyn R. Harrison, County Counsel, and Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_____________________________

Durrell J., father of Harmony J., appeals from the juvenile court’s January 27, 2022 disposition order declaring Harmony a dependent child of the court and removing her from his custody. Durrell’s only argument is that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services failed to comply with the inquiry requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) and related California law. Durrell argues that the Department and the juvenile court failed to conduct “any ICWA inquiry whatsoever with respect to father” and that the Department “failed to inquire about Harmony’s possible Indian ancestry” with “two readily available paternal family members”: a paternal grandmother and a paternal aunt. Durrell asks that we conditionally affirm the jurisdiction findings and disposition order and remand the matter “to achieve ICWA compliance.” On October 6, 2023 the juvenile court ordered the Department, among other things, to continue investigating Harmony’s possible Indian ancestry and to “contact/attempt to contact all known and available paternal relatives,” including Durrell, the paternal grandmother, and the paternal aunt, “about whether [Harmony] is or may be an Indian child through her paternal lineage.” The court further ordered the Department to submit a report on its interviews of the paternal family members and stated that the court, after reviewing the report, “shall make a finding regarding ICWA’s applicability.”