In re A.D. CA3

DISCUSSION

I. ICWA Notice Compliance

Mother contends the Department and the juvenile court failed to comply with the notice requirements of the ICWA. Mother asserts that there was incomplete or inaccurate information regarding father’s paternity in the notices, the notices did not state what Indian heritage father claimed, and the return receipts and responses from the tribes were not filed with the court as required. A. Background Early in the proceedings, mother completed the Parental Notification of Indian Status (ICWA-020) form indicating there may be Cherokee and Blackfeet heritage on her father’s side. At the intake appointment on March 9, 2010, father declined to sign the form without consulting his attorney. The Department sent the first ICWA notice at the end of March 2010. The form listed father as the biological father with the word “Legal” in parentheses after his name.

2 However, all the boxes for question six, dealing with father’s paternity status, were marked “Unknown” for all three minors despite the fact that father’s name appeared on Ke.D.’s birth certificate.1 In the box labeled “Tribe or band, and location,” for father, the form stated, “No information…