Sacramento County Department of Health & Human Services v. Joann W.

Joann W. (mother) appeals from the dispositional orders of the juvenile court removing her son, Jeremiah G., from her custody and denying her reunification services pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.5, subdivision (b). (Further section references are to this code.) Mother, who has a history of drug abuse and has previously failed to reunify with her three other children, claims the considerations underlying section 361.5, subdivision (b) do not apply in this case, and the dispositional orders did not comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA; 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.).

We publish this opinion to emphasize, again, what we thought that our court made clear in In re O.K. (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 152 [ 130 Cal.Rptr.2d 276 ]. In a juvenile dependency proceeding, a claim that a parent, and thus the child, “may” have Native American heritage is insufficient to trigger ICWA notice requirements if the claim is not accompanied by other information that would reasonably suggest the minor has Indian ancestry. Here, the assertion that there was a “possibility” the great-grandfather of the minor’s father “was Indian,” without more, was too vague and…