I have fixed the problem. It turns out that the drive WAS encrypted but somehow the encryption key wasn't uploaded to my MS account. A Dell support staff suggested I remove the encryption which I did (took ~ 1/2 hr), restarted and encrypted (again 1/2 hr) and the encryption key WAS uploaded to my MS account and visible from there as article from MS describes, and no warning message. 
I understand that Windows 11 Home has a lower version of BitLocker than Windows 11 Pro. On my Windows 11 Home, the settings have "Device Encryption" enabled. My question is about how do I get the actual encryption key? I read several comments and Microsoft official information on getting the key from my Microsoft Account associated with my laptop, but when I checked it, it said I have no encryption keys in my account. So is this normal for Windows 11 Home? Or should I be able to get the encryption key for Windows 11 Home so I can back it up? Another post also suggested that the Windows 11 keys would be automatically sent to my OneDrive account but it's not there either.
XPS 15 9510, Windows 11 Home, Device Encryption