The Court of Appeal finds the Department did not fulfill its duty to conduct an adequate inquiry into whether the child may be an Indian child because it did not ask any extended family members – some of whom were readily available – whether the child had any possible Indian ancestry. The court also states that the extensive inquiry requirements under WIC 224.2 presume that a parent’s declaration on the ICWA-020 form, reliable or not, is not enough, and that the child protective agency must do more than look at the form.
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