In re K.B. CA2/6

Filed 11/17/15 In re K.B. 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 K.B. et al., Persons Coming Under the 2d Juv. No. B263822 Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. Nos. 1435820, 1435821) (Santa Barbara County)

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

S.T.,

Defendant and Appellant.

S.T. (mother) appeals the juvenile court's order terminating parental rights and selecting adoption as the permanent plan for her minor children K.B. and B.B. (Welf. & Inst. Code,1 § 366.26.) Mother contends the court failed to comply with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA ), (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.). We affirm.

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

BACKGROUND Because the sole issue on appeal concerns ICWA notice, we need not discuss at length the factual, procedural and legal grounds supporting the court's orders terminating mother's parental rights. Instead, we concentrate on the facts relating to compliance with ICWA. In August 2013, Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services (CWS) filed a section 300 petition as to then-four-year-old K.B. and three-year-old B.B. alleging, among other things, that mother was abusing drugs and had been arrested for willful cruelty to a child. The whereabouts of the children's father, R.B., Jr., (father)2 were unknown. Father did not appear at the detention hearing. Mother told CWS she had no Indian heritage and that she did not believe father had any such heritage. On September 17, 2013, the social worker spoke to father by telephone. Father said that although he and mother were never married, he was present when both children were born and had signed declarations of paternity. Two days later, the social worker emailed father to inquire about possible Indian heritage. Father replied that he believed he had five percent Cherokee Indian heritage and gave the name and date of birth of his mother, Shawn M. (the paternal grandmother), and the name and month and year of birth of his biological father, Richard B., Sr. (the paternal grandfather). Father also stated that his grandparents' names were Harold and Nora Tronstad and Jessie and Emma Roberts. Father appeared at the jurisdictional hearing and completed a Parental Notification of Indian Status (ICWA-20) indicating possible Indian heritage through the paternal grandfather. Following the jurisdiction hearing, father stated his belief that his Cherokee heritage was through the paternal great-grandfather. Father, however, did not have any relationship with the paternal grandfather, had not seen him since father was three years old, and had no knowledge of his whereabouts. The paternal grandmother