Placer County Department of Health & Human Services v. Tena F.

Appellant, the mother of the minors, appeals from the order of the juvenile court terminating her parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 395. 1 ) Appellant contends the juvenile court failed to comply with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ( 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) We will remand for a determination as to whether the “request for verification” sent to the Pawnee Tribe by the Placer County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) complied with the requirements of the ICWA and of federal regulations implementing that act.

Factual and Procedural Background

In 1998, the minors, then 10 and 13 years old, were made dependents of the juvenile court based on allegations that appellant regularly left them for weeks at a time with various caretakers, including a registered sex offender. A subsequent petition alleged that the minors’ father had been convicted of raping the minors’ 13-year-old half sister and that he was a registered sex offender with a condition that he have no contact with children. Appellant reported that the minors’ father was her uncle, with whom she had lived beginning at age 13. According to appellant, the…