In re Aiden D. CA2/6

Facts and Procedural History On February 11, 2015, HSA detained Aiden after he was born with heroin and marijuana in his system and was exposed in utero to Xanax, methadone, and Tylenol

1 Unless otherwise noted all statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. with codeine. Aiden suffered from drug withdrawal symptoms and was hospitalized for six weeks before he was placed in a foster home. On February 17, 2015, HSA filed a juvenile dependency petition for failure to protect (§ 300, subd. (b)) and sibling abuse (§ 300, subd. (j)) based on appellants’ chronic substance abuse. The petition alleged that appellants failed to reunify with Aiden’s sibling (Savannah D.) who was removed and placed for adoption due to appellants’ substance abuse. At the detention hearing, mother indicated that Aiden’s great-grandfather may have Indian ancestry from North Dakota, possibly the Sioux Tribe. Diedre Smith, an ICWA paralegal employed at HSA, interviewed mother and the grandmother. When asked if anyone in the family was eligible for tribal membership, the maternal grandmother said “absolutely no, nothing like that.” Smith did not interview the great- grandparents and, in a March…