In re O.S. CA4/2

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Y.A. (mother) and A.S., Jr. (father) have four children together, all boys: G.S.,

born in 2011; J.S., born in 2016; I.S., born in 2020; and O.S., born in 2021.

When O.S. was born, he tested positive for methamphetamine. The mother had a

history of drug abuse. The father was incarcerated. The mother reported that the father

had engaged in domestic violence.

Accordingly, in September 2021, CFS detained the children and filed dependency

petitions concerning them. They were placed with the paternal aunt (D.L.).

In November 2021, at the jurisdictional/dispositional hearing, the juvenile court

found that it had jurisdiction based on failure to protect and, as to the father only, failure

2 to support. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300, subds. (b), (g).)1 It formally removed the

children from the parents’ custody. It ordered reunification services for the mother but

bypassed reunification services for the father. It also found that ICWA did not apply.

II

FAILURE TO CARRY OUT THE ICWA DUTY OF INQUIRY

The mother contends that CFS failed to carry out its duty of inquiry under ICWA

and related federal and state law, and that, as a result, the juvenile court…