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Name: ICWA
Case #: F084976
Opinion Date: 03/01/2023
Attorney: Sarah Marie Vaona
Summary

In an appeal from juvenile court’s jurisdictional and dispositional findings and orders pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 360, the Court of Appeal found that the Department of Human Services and the juvenile court did not satisfy their duty to inquire into the extended family’s possible Native American ancestry. The error was not harmless. The juvenile court’s finding that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) does not apply was conditionally reversed and the case was remanded for compliance with ICWA.