In re Heaven G. CA2/6

Filed 8/18/15 In re Heaven G. CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.111.5.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 HEAVEN G., a Person Coming Under 2d Juv. No. B260160 the Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. No. 1435841) (Santa Barbara County)

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.

ERNEST G.,

Defendant and Appellant.

Ernest G., the biological father of Heaven G., appeals from an order 1 terminating his parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26.) Appellant contends that Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services failed to comply with the notice provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq) and the California ICWA related statutes (§ 224 et seq.). We conclude that proper notice was not provided and conditionally reverse for the limited purpose of complying with the notice provisions of ICWA. (In re Justin S. (2007) 150 Cal.App.4th 1426, 1437-1438; In re Francisco W. (2006) 139 Cal.App.4th 695, 711.)

1 All statutory references are to the Welfare & Institutions Code unless otherwise stated.

Procedural History On September 19, 2013, Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services (CWS) detained two-year-old Heaven after the child's mother, Rosa G., was arrested at home where drugs were being used. Mother was under the influence of methamphetamine. Heaven was wet and filthy, and toddling about the room with access to the drugs. A male subject was in the room and had a heroin needle in his arm. CWS filed an amended petition for failure to protect (§ 300, subd. (b)) and no provision for support (§ 300, subd. (g)). The petition alleged that mother suffered from substance abuse and had a lengthy criminal history for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, battery, burglary theft, providing a false ID to an officer, and making criminal threats. The petition stated that appellant had a lengthy criminal history, was in the Santa Barbara County Jail awaiting transport to state prison, and had left Heaven with no provision for her care and support. Before the detention hearing, mother told CWS "[t]here is a little bit of Indian" in her family. Appellant declared that he had no Indian heritage. At the October 17, 2013 jurisdiction hearing, mother filed a Parental Notification of Indian Status form (ICWA-020) that she was or may be a member or eligible for membership in the Shoshone tribe. The trial court sustained the petition, found that Heaven may be an Indian child, and ordered reunification services for mother but not appellant. When CWS inquired about mother's Indian heritage, mother referred the case worker to the maternal grandmother (Maria C.). The maternal grandmother believed that her last name came from a Shoshone tribe and that her family had Indian heritage. The maternal grandmother provided the names, partial birthdates, and birthplaces of the maternal grandmother and grandfather, the maternal great-grandmother and great- grandfather, and the maternal great-great-grandparents. CWS, however, failed to list the information in the ICWA notice which was mailed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Shoshone tribes. (§ 224.2, subd. (a)(3)-(4).) Nineteen Shoshone tribes responded that Heaven was not an Indian child.