Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Jackson W.

After years of bouncing from foster home to foster home, eight-year-old Elizabeth W. has a chance at a normal life as the adopted child of her present caregivers. The only thing standing between Elizabeth and the pot of gold at the end of her rainbow is her father’s challenge to the Department of Children and Family Services’ failure to comply with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Because we must, we hold that Elizabeth’s chance at stability will be delayed—but we publish this opinion with the hope that other children will fare better in the future, and that the Department and its lawyers will at some point learn to give the proper notices at the proper times, and to file the required documents with the dependency court, keeping in mind that childhood is brief and fleeting, as is a foster child’s hope of finding and keeping a stable home.

*903 FACTS

Jennifer J. and Jackson W. have five children, at least four of whom have at one time or another been dependents of the juvenile court. Our immediate concern is Elizabeth W., the youngest child, who came to the attention of the Department when she tested positive for cocaine at the time of her birth…