In re A.P. CA2/8

BACKGROUND

Because this appeal concerns only whether the requirements of ICWA were satisfied, we will limit our factual summary to those facts relevant to ICWA. On September 14, 2011, then 15-month-old A.P. was detained by the Department after mother was arrested for physically abusing him in a thrift store in Covina. Mother’s two older children were in a guardianship with their maternal grandmother because of mother’s drug use. During an interview with a Department social worker and a Sheriff’s detective, mother identified R.P. as A.P.’s father, but indicated that father “is not involved in [A.P.’s] life and does not provide . . . any financial support.” When mother was seven months pregnant with A.P., she and father were arrested (mother for driving under the influence of a controlled substance, and father for possessing a controlled substance and violating his parole). At the time of A.P.’s detention, father was in custody at the West Valley Detention Center. Father was being held, without bail, on a U.S. Marshall’s hold. On September 19, 2011, mother filed a Parental Notification of Indian Status, indicating that she had no Indian ancestry. She also completed a Parentage…