In re S.M.H.

Hill, J.:

V.H., mother of two Cherokee Indian children, claims that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was not followed in her case and appeals the district court’s judgment that her children were children in need of care as defined by the Kansas Code for the Care of Children. Because the ICWA standards were not followed in her case, we reverse the finding.

Background

V.H., mother of L.M.H., age 15, and S.M.H., age 12, contacted the Pottawatomie County Sheriff s Department around midnight on June 13, 2003, to report that L.M.H. had run away from home. The father of L.M.H. and S.M.H. is…