In re J.M. CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

J.N.M. was born in 2012, J.M.M. was born in 2013, N.M. was born in 2015, and L.R. was born in 2019. The proceedings giving rise to this appeal began in September 2021 and have continued for an extended period due to delays in obtaining documents pertinent to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and related California law.

1 At the outset of the Department of Children and Family Service’s (the Department’s) investigation, Mother disclosed Minors may have Cherokee or other Indian ancestry. The Department sent notice of the proceedings to several tribes, and the Cherokee Nation responded the children were eligible for enrollment through a maternal great grandmother but had not been enrolled and “were not considered ‘Indian children’ per federal law.” The juvenile court ordered the Department to enroll Mother and Minors in the Cherokee Nation, but delays ensued and the record does not reveal whether that had yet been accomplished at the time this appeal was taken.

2 A. Investigation and Assumption of Dependency Jurisdiction The Department received several referrals concerning the family between 2012 and 2019. In February 2020, the juvenile court assumed…