In re Sofia S. CA2/7

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 10, 2025
DocketB341519
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re Sofia S. CA2/7 (In re Sofia S. CA2/7) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Sofia S. CA2/7, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 10/10/25 In re Sofia S. CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SEVEN

In re SOFIA S., A Person Coming B341519, B342725 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. 22CCJP00812)

LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

LORENA R.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the orders of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Cristina Gutierrez Legaspi, Judge. Affirmed (appeal No. B341519); conditionally reversed (appeal No. B342725). Christopher R. Booth, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Dawyn R. Harrison, County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and Jacklyn K. Louie, Principal Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. __________________________

Lorena R. (Mother) appeals from the juvenile court’s order suspending her overnight visits and conjoint counseling with her daughter Sofia at a hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 3881 (appeal No. B341519) and a subsequent order terminating Mother’s parental rights under section 366.26 (appeal No. B342725). Mother’s sole contention on appeal is that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) and the court failed to comply with the inquiry requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA; 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) and the California Indian Child Welfare Act (Cal-ICWA; Welf. & Inst. Code, § 224 et seq.). Mother and Father (Valente S.) denied they had Indian ancestry, and the Department inquired of both maternal grandparents and the paternal grandmother, who stated they were not aware of any Indian ancestry. We agree with Mother with respect to the paternal relatives that the Department’s failure to interview any extended family members other than the paternal grandmother did not satisfy the Department’s duty of inquiry because it left unexplored a branch of Sofia’s family tree—Father’s paternal ancestry. The fact Father and the

1 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2 paternal grandmother denied any Indian ancestry does not mean other extended family members, including the paternal grandfather and paternal aunts and uncles, would not have had meaningful information on whether Sofia had Indian ancestry. The Department therefore did not satisfy its duty to inquire of reasonably available extended family members with respect to the family’s Indian ancestry, and substantial evidence does not support the juvenile court’s finding that Sofia was not an Indian child. We conditionally reverse the juvenile court’s order terminating Mother’s and Father’s parental rights and remand for the court and the Department to comply with the inquiry and notice provisions of ICWA and Cal-ICWA. With respect to the maternal relatives, the Department’s interviews with Mother and both maternal grandparents provided a more complete picture of the family’s Indian ancestry on Mother’s side. In light of our conditional reversal, we do not reach whether the Department and the court also violated ICWA and Cal-ICWA with respect to the maternal relatives. However, we note that on remand the Department continues to have an obligation to interview reasonably available extended family members under section 224.2, subdivision (b). We also reject the Department’s argument that Mother forfeited her challenge to the adequacy of the Department’s ICWA inquiry by not objecting in the juvenile court. Because our order requires that an ICWA inquiry be performed, and Mother raises no other issues with respect to the court’s October 16, 2024 order suspending Mother’s overnight visits and conjoint counseling with Sofia, we affirm that order.

3 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Dependency Proceedings On April 28, 2022 the juvenile court sustained the allegations in a petition under section 300, subdivisions (b)(1) and (j), as amended, with respect to then-seven-year-old Sofia that Mother had a history of substance abuse and was a current user of amphetamine, methamphetamine, and marijuana, which rendered her unable to provide regular care for Sofia, and on February 9, 2022 Mother was under the influence of illicit drugs while Sofia was in her care. The court also sustained the allegations that Father2 had a history of substance abuse, including methamphetamine, and he was a current abuser of marijuana; further, Sofia’s half-siblings were former dependents of the juvenile court and Father’s reunification services had been terminated due to Father’s substance abuse. The court declared Sofia a dependent of the court and removed her from Mother’s and Father’s custody. The court granted the parents family reunification services and ordered monitored visitation for the parents three times a week for three hours each visit. Sofia was placed with the maternal grandmother (Alma G.), where she remained during the dependency proceeding. On October 16, 2023, at the 18-month review hearing, the juvenile court terminated Mother’s reunification services and set the matter for a selection and implementation hearing

2 Father is not a party to these appeals.

4 (§ 366.26).3 At the hearing the court ordered Mother and Sofia to undergo conjoint counseling and allowed Mother to have overnight visits with Sofia in the maternal grandmother’s home. In August 2024 the Department filed a section 388 petition requesting the juvenile court suspend its order for conjoint counseling and require that Mother’s visits be monitored. The Department argued that Sofia did not want to participate in conjoint counseling and felt unsafe with Mother, and further, the therapist had not recommended conjoint counseling. On October 16, 2024 the court granted the petition in part, suspending conjoint counseling and overnight visits, but allowing unmonitored day visits to continue. At the December 11, 2024 selection and implementation hearing, the juvenile court found by clear and convincing evidence that Sofia was adoptable and no exceptions to termination of parental rights applied. The court terminated Mother’s and Father’s parental rights, found adoption was the appropriate permanent plan, and designated the maternal grandmother as the prospective adoptive parent. Mother timely appealed from the October 16, 2024 order suspending conjoint counseling (case No. B341519) and the December 11, 2024 order terminating her parental rights (case No. B342725).

3 The juvenile court previously terminated reunification services for Father.

5 B. The Department’s ICWA and Cal-ICWA Inquiry On April 27, 2022 Mother and Father each filed a parental notification of Indian status (ICWA-020) form stating none of the listed factors indicating Indian ancestry applied. Mother and Father denied having Indian ancestry at other times during the dependency proceeding. The maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather (Victor R.) also denied having any Indian ancestry. The juvenile court inquired of Mother and the maternal grandmother at multiple hearings, including the initial section 366.26 hearing on August 13, 2024, and they consistently responded that they were not aware of anyone in the family having Indian ancestry. Mother told the social worker she had two sisters (Jacqueline and Alma R.

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Related

Riverside Cnty. Dep't of Pub. Soc. Servs. v. E.K. (In re K.R.)
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Bluebook (online)
In re Sofia S. CA2/7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-sofia-s-ca27-calctapp-2025.