The case was assigned to the ICWA unit due to a conflict of interest in another unit. The worker had 6 years of experience working as a CP investigator in the ICWA unit. The worker described feeling uncomfortable having to contact the family after everything that had transpired (child fatality) and explain child protection's role is in the investigation. The worker's focus of attention was on talking with the detective to coordinate efforts during the investigation. Case notes indicated that the subject child's father initially denied American Indian heritage in a previous case and during the 10/22/2018 CP investigation he stated potential American Indian heritage. The father was not able to provide additional information and denied any tribal affiliation. From the worker's perspective, if a parent states they have American Indian heritage, a notice is completed and sent to the tribe, a phone call to the tribe is made, and this information is documented in SSIS in case notes and in tabs under each child. The worker stated that if a parent says they are Cherokee, Ojibwe, etc., the worker would send notice to all of the Cherokee tribes or all of the Ojibwe tribes, follow up with a phone call, and document the info in SSIS. In situations where a parent is not sure or states possible American Indian heritage and cannot provide any information regarding a tribe, would typically not be considered ICWA and notice would not be sent. 

The worker stated that she felt personally protective of the family because of what they had experienced and felt pressure when DHS called shortly after the critical incident occurred and asked whether or not the agency was planning to place the surviving siblings out of the home.