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Name: In re Robert A.
Case #: D048994
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 4 DCA
Division: 1
Opinion Date: 01/25/2007
Summary

An agency aware of an Indian child’s heritage must notify the tribe of dependency proceedings under ICWA. The Department was on notice that appellant had Cherokee heritage, but did not send the requisite notices to the Cherokee tribes. On appeal, the Department took the position that the error was harmless, and sought to augment the record with notices it filed in a later dependency case concerning the minor’s sibling. The appellate court reversed and remanded. The agency could not augment the record with a notice it filed two months later in a separate case, since the court never reviewed it for compliance with ICWA. Compliance in a sibling’s case did not constitute compliance in the minor’s case.