In re B.R. CA3

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS

Because the issue on appeal is limited to ICWA compliance, we dispense with a detailed recitation of the underlying facts and procedures. B.R-D. and Y.T. and their younger maternal half siblings, L.W. & J.W. were removed from mother’s care in May 2020, by the Agency following the death of their stepsibling, B.W. The court later sustained allegations under subdivisions (a), (b)(1), (f), (g), and (j) of section 300, regarding mother T.C. and stepfather Bi.W. (stepfather). At a July 9, 2020, jurisdictional hearing, father of B.R-D (father R-D.), appeared and informed the juvenile court that he had Native American ancestry, but when questioned by the court, he stated that he did not know the tribe and that all of his relatives who might have additional information were deceased. The Agency later filed a jurisdictional report, dated September 28, 2020, incorrectly indicating that father R-D. had stated to the court on July 9, 2020, that there was no Native American ancestry on the paternal side of the family and that in a prior 2016 dependency case, the court found ICWA did not apply to any of the four children. In a March 15, 2021,…