In re M.C. CA4/3

Filed 9/12/24 In re M.C. CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

In re M.C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

ORANGE COUNTY SOCIAL G064088 SERVICES AGENCY, (Super. Ct. No. 21DP0066) Plaintiff and Respondent, OPINION v.

A.C.,

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Joseph Kang, Judge. Affirmed. Tracy M. De Soto, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Leon J. Page, County Counsel, Debbie Torrez and Deborah B. Morse, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

No appearance for Minor. * * * A.C. (Mother) is before us a second time on appeal from an order terminating her parental rights. In the first appeal, we conditionally reversed the order, after concluding respondent Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) failed to comply with the California Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) by not inquiring of several maternal relatives. We remanded the matter to the juvenile court for the limited purpose of allowing SSA to comply with ICWA. (Orange County Social Services Agency v. A.C. (Aug. 1, 2023, G062205) [nonpub. opn.].) Following remand, the juvenile court held a hearing where it accepted evidence of additional ICWA inquiries. Mother was not present, but her counsel was present. After considering the evidence and hearing arguments, the court found ICWA did not apply, and affirmed the order terminating parental rights. Mother appeals, arguing the order must be reversed because she did not receive notice of the hearing. We conclude any notice error was harmless, and accordingly, affirm. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY I. PRIOR APPEAL The factual background of the case can be found in our prior opinion. (See Orange County Social Services Agency v. A.C. (Aug. 1, 2023, G062205) [nonpub. opn.].) As to ICWA, Mother repeatedly denied Native American Indian heritage to various social workers and to the court. Although Mother provided no names of any relatives for social workers to interview about the applicability of ICWA, a social worker was able to contact Mother’s sister, who reported the family did not have any Native American