In re N.D. CA2/8

BACKGROUND

1. Overview of Proceedings N.D. is now 18 years old. K.D. is now 17 years old. This dependency proceeding began three years ago, in 2019, when N.D. and K.D. were detained from their parents due to parents’ drug abuse and neglect of the children, who lived in a dangerously filthy and deplorably unsanitary home. Soon thereafter, the Department added allegations of domestic violence. The children were placed with N.D.’s high school music teacher and her husband. The parents failed to reunify with their children, and the court terminated reunification services in April 2021. The foster parents wanted to adopt both children, and both children told the court they wanted to be adopted. The court terminated parental rights in September 2021. 2. Facts Relevant to ICWA Inquiry Paternal grandmother lived in the squalid home with the family when the children were detained. In the detention report, the Department reported the children would be staying with paternal aunt while the parents cleaned the house. The petition reflects that the Department questioned father in person about K.D. and N.D.’s ancestry and he advised that neither has any known Indian ancestry. In August…