San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. Leonard D.

The sole issue in this case is whether reversal of a judgment terminating Leonard D.’s parental rights over his son, A.B., is warranted because the juvenile court violated state law interpreting the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA; 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) by not inquiring as to the Indian heritage of A.B.’s mother, Angelique B. We grant the motion *836 of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (the Agency) to augment the record to include a document Angelique filed in a dependency case in Monterey County Superior Court in which she denied having any Indian heritage, and based thereon, we affirm the judgment for lack of prejudicial error.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Angelique has a lengthy history of mental illness and substance abuse. 1 Before she and Leonard moved to California they lived in the State of Washington, where child protective services received approximately 600 referrals on her and she lost custody of two daughters. Leonard also has a child protective services history in Washington concerning his older children. Leonard admitted there was a restraining order in effect in Washington between him and Angelique, and they fled that…