In re S.M. CA3

Filed 2/9/15 In re S.M. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Sacramento) ----

In re S.M., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court C076930 Law.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF (Super. Ct. No. JD233191) HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

J.M.,

Defendant and Appellant.

J.M., father of the minor S.M., appeals from the juvenile court’s orders terminating his parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 395, 366.26.)1 He contends there was a failure to comply with the inquiry and notice provisions of the Indian Child

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

1

Welfare Act (ICWA). (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) We shall vacate the orders terminating parental rights and remand for the limited purpose of permitting the juvenile court to comply with the inquiry and notice provisions of the ICWA. BACKGROUND In December 2012, the seven-year-old minor and her two-year-old half brother J.V. were placed with the maternal step-grandmother K.B. when their mother and her boyfriend were arrested for possession of methamphetamine. Father was serving a sentence in state prison at the time. After the maternal step-grandmother’s home failed kinship requirements in March 2013, she told the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (Department) she was no longer willing to make efforts to comply with kinship requirements for her home. In April 2013, the Department filed a dependency petition, alleging mother’s substance abuse problems and her inability or unwillingness to comply with informal supervision. Later that month, the juvenile court detained the minor and continued placement with the maternal step-grandmother. Mother had told the Department she had Shoshone heritage in January 2013. The Department filed a declaration about the ICWA investigation in May 2013. A Department paralegal spoke with mother, who said her Shoshone heritage is on the maternal grandfather’s side. Mother said she had a tribal enrollment number but did not know it, and she did not know which of the 20 federally recognized Shoshone tribes her father and grandfather were associated with, but thought the reservation may be near Bakersfield, California. She had no other information on her Shoshone heritage. The paralegal also spoke to the maternal grandmother, who affirmed the Shoshone heritage ran through the maternal grandfather. She was married to the maternal grandfather for only a few years and had no information about his family or tribal history and had no contact information for him. The maternal grandfather’s first name is Toby.