In re M.T. CA2/4

BACKGROUND

Because the sole issue on appeal relates to compliance with ICWA, we limit our summary of the facts to those relevant to that issue except as necessary for context. Father had sole physical custody of M.T. pursuant to a custody order issued in 2019, at the termination of a previous dependency case involving the family. The custody order permitted M.T.’s mother, Martha A. (mother), to have only monitored visitation with M.T. The family came to the attention of DCFS in April 2021, when a reporting party alleged that father allowed M.T. to have unsupervised and overnight visits with mother, who had a history of substance use and was residing in a homeless encampment.

2 During its ensuing investigation of the allegations, DCFS spoke with paternal grandmother, paternal aunt, paternal uncle, and father’s adult daughter, some on multiple occasions. There is no indication in the record that the topic of father’s or M.T.’s potential Native American ancestry was raised during these conversations, or during any subsequent conversations with these family members. DCFS detained M.T. from father on April 30, 2021 and placed her with paternal aunt and paternal uncle. On May 4, 2021,…