In re Kenneth D.

BACKGROUND

Given father’s limited issues on appeal, we focus on the information related to his ICWA claims. Following the minor’s premature birth and positive test for amphetamine, the Department filed a Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 300 petition on his behalf alleging he was a person described in subdivisions (b)(1) and (j)(1). The petition alleged the minor suffered, or was at substantial risk of suffering, harm due to substance abuse by C.B., the minor’s mother, who had previously had another child taken away as a result of her substance abuse. On April 20, 2021, mother reported to the Department that she may have Native American heritage on her father’s side, but her relatives were not enrolled members, and she believed the tribe was out of Kentucky. Thereafter at the April 22, 2021 emergency detention hearing and in response to court inquiries, mother informed the court she did

Subsequent undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2 not have any Native American heritage that made her eligible for registration as a tribal member. Accordingly, the court determined the ICWA did not apply. Mother repeated her denial of Native…