In re S.K. CA4/1

I.

INTRODUCTION

V.Z. (Mother) and B.K. (Father) appeal a juvenile court’s jurisdiction and disposition orders removing their minor children, A.K. and S.K., from parental custody. Mother and Father’s sole complaint on appeal is that the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) failed to conduct an adequate initial inquiry into the children’s potential Native American ancestry, as required by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA; 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.). The Agency concedes that its initial inquiry was deficient but contends this error was harmless. We agree that the Agency failed to conduct a sufficient initial inquiry under ICWA and that this was error. The Agency was statutorily required to ask maternal grandmother, maternal aunt, and stepmother about the children’s potential Native American ancestry. We do not agree with Mother and Father, however, that this error was prejudicial. (See In re Benjamin M. (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 735, 744 (Benjamin M.).) Rather, we conclude that because asking these family members about the children’s potential Native American ancestry is unlikely to “bear meaningfully” on the question of whether the children are Indian children…