In re R.V.
C.R. (Mother) appeals from an order of the juvenile court terminating Mothers parental rights to her sons, R.V. and L.H. She seeks to invalidate all prior findings and orders, contending that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) failed to comply with the requirements of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.), as well as various requirements of recently enacted California statutes governing custody proceedings involving Indian children. (Welf. & Inst. Code, 224 et seq.)[1] DCFS concedes error in failing to give notice of the dependency proceedings to a particular tribe, the Northern Cheyenne. We therefore reverse the order terminating parental rights and direct DCFS to comply on remand with the notice provisions of the ICWA, as discussed herein. As to Mothers other contentions of ICWA error, we conclude that the juvenile court committed error by failing to receive the required expert testimony before terminating parental rights, but find the error to have been harmless. Court find no merit in Mothers remaining contentions of error in giving notice of the proceedings.
Comments on In re R.V.