IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION THREE In the Matter of the Parental Rights to:
D.J.S. ) ) ) ) ) ) No. 37711

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UNPUBLISHED OPINION

P ENNELL , C. J.

— Dennis J. Smith 1 is a Native American child who was removed from his home at birth by the Department of Children, Youth and Families (Department). Court orders terminating the parental rights of Dennis’s father, James Smith, have been subject to substantial litigation due to t he Department’s struggles with satisfying the terms
of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) , 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901

- 1963 , and the

1 In the interest of consistency, we adopt the pseudonyms for the child and father used by this court in its prior decision. See In re Parental Rights to D.J.S. , 12 Wn. App. 2d 1, 7, 456 P.3d 820 (2020) , overruled in part by In re Dependency of G.J.A. , No. 98554

- 5, slip op. at 37 n.16, 44 n.17 (Wash. June 24, 2021), https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/985545.pdf

. 

### FILED J ULY 6, 2021 In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division IIINo s
. 37711

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2 Washington State Indian Child Welfare Act (WICWA) , chapter 13.38 RCW . Most recently, we remanded on appeal of an order termi nating Mr. Smith’s parental rights
based o n the Department’s failure to engage in active efforts at family reunification , as required by ICWA and WICWA

. In re Parental Rights to D.J.S. , 12 Wn. App. 2d 1, 7, 456 P.3d 820 (2020) ( D.J.S. ) , overruled in part b y In re Dependency of G.J.A. , No.
98554

- 5, slip op. at 37 n.16, 37 n.16, 44 n.17 (Wash. June 24, 2021), https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/985545.pdf

. In o ur remand , we directed the juvenile court to assess whether active efforts would be futile, an is sue that had not been previously addressed

. At the remand hearing, the juvenile court determined active efforts
would be futile and Mr. Smith appeal ed the court’s findings on remand

. The juvenile court later incorporated its futility findings in an order t erminating parental rights. Mr. Smith also appealed from that order and the two cases have been consolidated for review.
We reverse the juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights

. The Supreme
Court’s decision in G.J.A. overturned our holding in D. J.S. that the futility doctrine applies in dependency cases involving Native American children. See G.J.A. , No. 98554

- 5, slip op. at 44 n.17. Bas ed on our prior ruling that the Department failed to provide Mr.
Smith with active effor ts at family reunificat ion, the order terminating Mr. Smith’s parental rights t o his so n must be reversed. 25 U.S.C. § 1912(d) (termination of parentalNo s
. 37711

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3 rights must be preceded by active efforts) ; RCW 13.38.130(1) (same) . This matter is
remand ed to reinstate the dependency. A maj ority of the panel has determined this opinion will not be printed in
the Washington Appellate Reports, but it will be filed for public record pursuant to
RCW 2.06.040.

_________________________________ Pennell , C.J. WE CONCUR:

______________________________ Siddoway, J.

______________________________ Fearing, J.