In re K.D. CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

Appellants D.D. (Mother) and D.D. (Father) appeal the juvenile court’s

order terminating parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code,1 § 366.26.) This is the third appeal in this juvenile dependency matter targeting the juvenile court’s findings and orders under the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) (ICWA) and section 224.2. In the first appeal, we conditionally reversed the juvenile court’s jurisdictional and dispositional order declaring minor K.D. a dependent and removing him from his parents’ custody. (In re K.D. (Jan. 6, 2023, D080817) [nonpub. opn.] (K.D. I).) In the second appeal, we conditionally reversed the juvenile court’s six-month review order declining to return K.D. to Father’s custody. (In re K.D. (Sep. 21, 2023, D082387) [nonpub. opn.] (K.D. II).) Following remand from both prior appeals, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) conducted additional ICWA inquiries, and each time the juvenile court found ICWA did not apply. In this appeal, the parents’ sole contention is that the juvenile court erred when it found the Agency conducted a diligent inquiry into K.D.’s

Native American heritage at the section 366.26…