Rule 5.480.Application

The chapter applies to most proceedings involving Indian children that may result in an involuntary foster care placement, a guardianship or conservatorship placement, a custody placement under Family Code section 3041, a declaration freeing a child from the custody and control of one or both parents, termination of parental rights, or a preadoptive or adoptive placement.

It names five categories: dependency proceedings; wardship proceedings where the child is in foster care or at risk of entering it; custody proceedings under section 3041; Family Code proceedings resulting in adoption or termination of parental rights; and the listed probate proceedings.

Wardship is the qualified one, and the qualification matters. Inquiry is always required there. But the rest of the chapter applies only where the court’s jurisdiction rests on conduct that would not be criminal for an adult, or the court has found that placement outside the home is based entirely on harmful conditions within it, or the court is setting a hearing to terminate parental rights. Without a specific finding, placement outside the home is presumed to be based at least partly on the child’s criminal conduct, and the chapter does not apply.

One exclusion closes the rule: it does not apply to voluntary foster care and guardianship placements where the child can be returned to the parent or Indian custodian on demand.