In re A.N. CA2/4

INTRODUCTION

In this dependency case, appellants Sabrina M. (Mother) and Ignacio N. (Father) raise only one issue. They argue an inadequate investigation by respondent Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) into their daughter A.N.’s status as an Indian child under California’s version of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) requires us to reverse the juvenile court’s termination of their parental rights, as well as its denial of their Welfare and Institutions Code section 388 petitions.1 We conclude that the ICWA error, although admitted, was harmless. We therefore affirm. Our Courts of Appeal are divided on how harmlessness is assessed in the context of an inadequate initial ICWA inquiry. That issue is currently pending before the California Supreme Court. While we wait for guidance from our higher court, we continue to apply the standard articulated by our colleagues in Division Two in In re Dezi C. (2022) 79 Cal.App.5th 769, 776, review granted Sept. 21, 2022, S275578 (Dezi C.), for the reasons explained in that opinion.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2

PROCEEDINGS BELOW

In September 2019,…