In re E.C. CA3

Filed 12/20/24 In re E.C. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Yolo) ----

In re E.C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court C100984 Law.

YOLO COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN (Super. Ct. No. JV20220058) SERVICES AGENCY,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

P.B.,

Defendant and Appellant.

P.B. (father) appeals from an order terminating his parental rights with regard to E.C. (minor) under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26.1 Father contends the

1 The mother appealed separately. Her appeal was dismissed on September 10, 2024, pursuant to In re Phoenix H. (2009) 47 Cal.4th 835. Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

1

Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) failed to perform an adequate inquiry under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.). We conclude the Agency and the juvenile court made all necessary ICWA inquiries and provided sufficient ICWA notice. Accordingly, we will affirm the juvenile court’s orders. BACKGROUND The minor, born in April 2022, was detained by the Agency only days after she was born. At the time of her detention, father reported ancestry with the “Blackfoot tribe from Southern California”; he was not a registered member, but he believed other family members were. Father agreed to provide the Agency any relevant information regarding his ancestry. In May 2022, the Agency reported sending an e-mail notice of the petition to the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Blackfoot Tribe of the Blackfoot Indian Reservation of Montana. The Agency reported at the time that it had not received a response. On June 13, 2022, the juvenile court asked both parents if they had any new information about possible Indian heritage. The parents indicated they did not. In its six- month review report, the Agency stated it asked father for additional information about his relatives and their Indian ancestry, but he did not provide any new information. At the six-month review hearing in January 2023, the juvenile court asked father about his Indian heritage, particularly about any connection to the Choctaw tribe. Father said he was an “aboriginal native” with “intertribal relations and background.” He said on his grandmother’s side he had Choctaw and some Blackfoot heritage, an established full-blood great-grandfather of the Muscogee Nation, and additional records. The juvenile court directed father to provide all relevant ICWA information to the social worker, including the name and birthdate of his grandfather.