In re A.R. CA2/6
A.R. (father) appeals the juvenile court’s orders terminating parental rights to his two-year-old daughter, A.R. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26.) He contends the juvenile court and Ventura County Human Services Agency (HSA) failed to comply with their duties of inquiry under the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.; ICWA) and related California law.
The juvenile court found ICWA did not apply based solely on the parents’ denials of Indian ancestry. Neither HSA nor the court asked any of A.R.’s extended family members whether she is or may be an Indian child, as required by section 224.2, subdivision (b).
HSA concedes that “because certain relatives were readily accessible in this case . . . father is probably correct that HSA and the court could have asked those relatives about Indian ancestry and that the court may have erred by accepting just mother’s and father’s denial of any Indian ancestry.”
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