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Name: In re Enrique O.
Case #: F046608
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 5 DCA
Opinion Date: 03/13/2006
Summary

The Indian Child Welfare Act was not implicated where the juvenile’s actions would have been considered a “crime” if committed by an adult. The court rejected an argument that the juvenile court is required to comply with the ICWA where the disposition is based on considerations other than the criminal act that forms the basis for the 602 proceedings. Here, the minor argued that ICWA was implicated because he was placed in a group home based on a variety of considerations, including his needs and the need to remove him from his mother’s home, and not solely because of the criminal acts. The court held that regardless of whether the ICWA might be implicated in some 602 proceedings, in this case the juvenile court expressly considered whether dependency proceedings were more appropriate than delinquency proceedings, and found that delinquency jurisdiction was appropriate.