RAMIREZ P. J.
APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County No. J273637. Annemarie G. Pace, Judge. Affirmed.
Emily P. Uhre, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Michelle D. Blakemore, County Counsel, and Jeffrey S. Moret, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
RAMIREZ P. J.
D.M. (sometimes father) appeals from an order terminating his parental rights to his biological daughter A.C. (sometimes child). He contends that there was a failure to inquire into whether he had Indian ancestry, as required by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) and related federal and state law.
The issue arose because the mother plainly did have Indian ancestry - she was an enrolled member of a federally recognized Indian tribe; an older daughter had been removed from her custody and transferred to the jurisdiction of the tribe. Apparently no one thought it was worth asking whether the father, too, might have Indian ancestry. When the mother's tribe surprised everyone by reporting that the child was not a member and not eligible for membership, the juvenile court found - without any further inquiry regarding the father - that ICWA did not apply.
San Bernardino County Children and Family Services (CFS) does not dispute that there was an erroneous failure to inquire. It contends only that the father has not shown that the error was prejudicial.
We agree. The father has not claimed - in the juvenile court, in his opening brief, in his reply brief, or at oral argument - that he has any Indian ancestry. Because he has not managed to clear this rather low hurdle, there is no reason to suppose that, absent the error, the outcome would have been any different. And, more to the point, there is no reason to reverse and remand for a further inquiry, which would not only entail effort and expense, but would also delay permanency for A.C.
I
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
In November 2017, when the child was one year old, CFS received a report that the mother used methamphetamine, physically abused the child, failed to feed the child, and failed to obtain medical care for the child. When a social worker investigated, he found that the child had been left with the mother's roommate's sister (and occasionally others) for more than a week. In 2015, an older daughter had been removed from the mother's custody. The mother, when interviewed, admitted using methamphetamine.
Accordingly, CFS detained the child and filed a dependency petition concerning her. After a brief placement with the roommate's sister, the child was placed in foster care.
There was some initial uncertainty as to whether D.M. or one E.R. was the child's father; at the detention hearing, however, the mother definitively identified D.M. as the father. Subsequently, paternity testing ruled out E.R. In November 2017, CFS located the father, in prison.