In re A.H. CA4/2

I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant K.H. is the mother of two-year-old A.H. Mother appeals 1 from the juvenile court’s order terminating her parental rights as to A.H. (Welf. & Inst. 2 Code, § 366.26) On appeal, Mother contends (1) the juvenile court abused its discretion

by denying her section 388 petition to modify the court’s prior order terminating her

services, and (2) plaintiff and respondent, the Riverside County Department of Public

Social Services (DPSS) and the juvenile court failed to comply with the duty of inquiry 3 under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) and

related state law.

We find the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in denying Mother’s section

388 petition. However, we conditionally reverse the order terminating parental rights and

remand this matter to the juvenile court to comply with the duty of inquiry under

subdivision (b) of section 224.2.

1 M.L. (alleged father of A.H.) is not a party to this appeal. 2 All future statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. 3 “[B]ecause ICWA uses the term ‘Indian,’ we do the same for consistency, even though we recognize that other terms,…