In re S.S. CA2/6

Filed 8/29/13 In re S.S. CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

In re S. S., a Person Coming Under the 2d Juv. No. B244580 Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. No. JV49815) (San Luis Obispo County)

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

JEREMY S. et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

Jeremy S. (father) and Sherry P., paternal grandmother, (Sherry) appeal from the juvenile court's orders denying Sherry's Welfare and Institutions Code section 3881 petition asking the court to place S.S., the minor child, with her. Father also appeals from the order terminating his parental rights to his daughter, S.S.2 Father and Sherry

1 All further statutory citations are to the Welfare and Institutions Code, unless otherwise stated. 2 The court also terminated the parental rights of A. G. (mother) who is not a party to this appeal. S.S.'s other relatives include maternal grandmother, Tammy G. (A.'s mother), and maternal great-grandmother Angela W. (mother's paternal grandmother), who is married to John W.

contend the court abused its discretion by denying Sherry's section 388 petition. Father also contends the juvenile court erred by finding that the San Luis Obispo County Department of Social Services (department) complied with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare (ICWA), 25 United States Code, sections 1901 et seq., and concluding that ICWA does not apply. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Father and A. G. (mother) have three children. This case concerns S.S., their youngest child. In February, 2011, ten-week old S.S. was living with parents in San Luis Obispo County. Her six-year old brother, Marsel, and five-year old sister, I., were living in Atascadero, with paternal grandmother Sherry P. (Sherry), their legal guardian, and her husband, Thomas P. (Tom). In 2005, when M. was an infant, authorities in North Carolina removed him from parents' home because of "ongoing domestic violence." I. was placed with Sherry shortly after her birth. The department filed a petition on March 1, 2011, alleging parents failed to protect and support S.S. (§ 300, subds. (b), (g).) On February 26, 2011, the police arrested mother for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse and disturbing the peace (Pen. Code, §§ 273.5, subd. (a); 415), and the department took S.S. into protective custody. The petition and detention report describe the parents' "history of alcohol induced violent interactions," their inability to care for M. and I., and mother's severe depression. Mother and father told the department they wanted S.S. to be placed with Sherry. Mother did not have contact with her mother, Tammy G. Maura Hugh, a department social worker, spoke with Sherry about possibly placing S.S. with her. Sherry said she already had custody of M. and I., and did "not feel she [could] take care of another child, especially an infant." Accordingly, the April 6, 2011, jurisdictional and dispositional report stated S.S. could not be placed with Sherry. It also stated the most appropriate concurrent plan for S.S. would be placement with maternal great- grandmother (mother's paternal grandparents) Angela W. and her husband, John (Angela and John) in North Carolina. Pending the department's approval of their home, S.S.