In re J.P. CA4/2

BACKGROUND

The child was one day old in December 2022 when respondent Riverside County

Department of Public Social Services (the Department) took him into protective custody

pursuant to a section 340 detention warrant after he and mother tested positive for

amphetamines at the time of his birth. The Department placed the child with his paternal

great-aunt and filed a juvenile dependency petition alleging the child came within

subdivision (b)(1) of section 300.

In the course of the detention hearing, mother and the child’s father each

submitted Parental Notification of Indian Status forms (ICWA-020) indicating the child

was not an Indian child. The court found ICWA did not apply, but directed the

Department “to inquire of any relatives regarding ICWA.”

All further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise designated. References to rules are to California Rules of Court.

2 At the combined hearing on jurisdiction and disposition, the juvenile court

sustained an amended version of the petition, adjudged the child a dependent of the court,

and ordered him removed from his parents’ custody. It found his parents came…