In re A.M. CA3

Filed 9/23/25 In re A.M. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (San Joaquin) ----

In re A.M., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile C103820 Court Law.

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES (Super. Ct. No. STK-JD-DP- AGENCY, 2022-0000171)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

C.M.,

Defendant and Appellant.

1

This is the second appeal filed by appellant C.M. (mother), mother of the minor A.M., after termination of her parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26.)1 In mother’s previous appeal, this court conditionally reversed and remanded for limited proceedings to ensure compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.). (In re A.M. (Jan. 17, 2025, C101220) [nonpub. opn.].) In this appeal from the juvenile court’s orders reinstating the orders terminating parental rights and freeing the minor for adoption, mother contends the juvenile court and the San Joaquin County Human Services Agency (Agency) failed to comply with this court’s earlier remand. We agree and are compelled to, once again, remand for further ICWA compliance. During the course of our review of the record in the previous appeal, we noted this court had denied appellant’s earlier-filed petition for extraordinary writ relief, finding the contention that the inquiry and notice provisions of the ICWA were not satisfied was premature because it did not appear the juvenile court ruled on the application of the ICWA to this case at or before the challenged hearing. Further, the appellate record in the previous appeal reflected that the juvenile court had not made an ICWA finding prior to the April 29, 2024 termination of parental rights, which order is the subject of that appeal. We provided the parties with the opportunity to provide supplemental briefs regarding the effect of the juvenile court’s termination of parental rights without first determining the applicability of the ICWA or the sufficiency of the ICWA notices. Thereafter, on November 20, 2024, at a hearing at which neither mother nor her counsel were present,2 the juvenile court made a finding the ICWA did not apply.