In re T.M. CA2/6

Filed 2/26/14 In re T.M. CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.111.5.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

In re T.M., a Person Coming Under the 2d Juv. No. B249504 Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. No. JV 48803) (San Luis Obispo County) SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. THOMAS M., Appellant.

Thomas M. appeals a June 14, 2013 order terminating his parental rights 1 and freeing his son, T. M., for adoption. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26.) Appellant claims the trial court failed to comply with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA; 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.). We affirm. Procedural History On August 24, 2012, three-year old T. was placed in protective custody due to appellant's domestic violence and his mother's, Julie B., mental illness. Appellant was arrested for assaulting mother with a deadly weapon and inflicting corporal injury. T.

1 Al statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise stated.

saw appellant hit his mother in the head with a glass object, hold a knife to her throat, and pull her hair. Appellant had a long term substance abuse problem and prior arrests for domestic battery, false imprisonment with violence, and assault with a deadly weapon. Family services were provided from 2009 to 2011 without success. Mother had an extensive child welfare history, suffered from substance abuse, and was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder and a Personality Disorder Not Otherwise Specified with obsessive compulsive and dependent traits. After T. was placed in protective custody on August 24, 2012, he was treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. T. suffered nightmares and angry outbursts that included hitting, hair pulling, and cursing. The mother and foster mother reported that T.'s behaviors mimicked the violence appellant perpetrated T. would curse, say "I cut you," and engage in hair pulling. San Luis Obispo County Department of Social Services (DSS) filed a second amended petition for failure to protect (§ 300, subd. (b)), severe physical abuse (§ 300, subd. (e)), no provision for support (§ 330, subd. (g)), and cruelty (§ 300, subd. (i)). At the December 19, 2012 combined jurisdiction/disposition hearing, mother waived services. Appellant submitted on reports that appellant's phone contacts aggravated T.'s behavioral and emotional problems. Appellant had already been sentenced in the domestic violence case and a criminal protective order prohibited appellant from contacting the mother or T. The trial court denied reunification services and set the matter for a section 366.26 permanent placement hearing. Appellant filed a notice of intent to file a writ petition but the matter was dismissed as abandoned. (B245903.) At the June 14, 2013 section 366.26 hearing, the trial court denied a 388 supplemental petition to reinstate services, found T. adoptable, and terminated parental rights. The trial court found that DSS complied with the ICWA notice requirements and that responses "have been received from Eastern Band of Cherokee, Cherokee Nation,