In re F.D. CA2/1
Because the sole issue on appeal is compliance with state law implementing ICWA, a detailed recitation of the non-ICWA related background is not necessary to the resolution of this appeal.
On January 22, 2019, DCFS filed a petition under section 300 seeking to detain minors F.D., K.D., and A.D., then ages five, three, and one, from father and mother. The petition alleged violent altercations between the parents in the children’s presence. DCFS amended the petition on March 1, 2019, to add allegations that father abused alcohol and used marijuana.
In advance of the detention hearing, mother and father both signed ICWA-020 forms indicating they had no Indian ancestry as far as they knew. Mother and father were both present at the detention hearing, as were the children, maternal grandmother, and paternal great aunt. The juvenile court asked, “Is there any American Indian ancestry, mother, father?” Mother’s counsel and father’s counsel both answered, “No.”
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