In re D.B. CA3

Filed 3/17/16 In re D.B. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Butte) ----

In re D.B. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile C079549 Court Law.

BUTTE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF (Super. Ct. Nos. EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SERVICES, J37049 & J37050)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

DANIELLE C.,

Defendant and Appellant.

Danielle C., mother of the minors, appeals from orders of the juvenile court terminating her parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 395.)1 Mother argues that the Department of Employment and Social Services (Department) failed to comply

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

1

with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901, et seq.) because the Department failed to make adequate inquiry into the parents’ claim of Indian heritage, resulting in defective notice to the tribes. We agree and will reverse the orders terminating parental rights and remand the case for the limited purpose of determining whether the Department satisfied its duty of inquiry as to mother’s claim of Cherokee heritage. FACTS In February 2014, the Department removed the minors Dap. B and Dal. B. from the home due to the parents’ ongoing substance abuse and domestic violence which resulted in the parents’ arrests. The court detained the minors, who had been placed with a maternal uncle, found they came within the provisions of section 300 and ordered services for both parents. At the six-month review hearing the court terminated services due to the parents’ lack of participation and set a section 366.26 hearing. At the section 366.26 hearing in May 2015 the court terminated parental rights. Mother was present at the detention hearing in February 2014 and claimed Cherokee Indian heritage through her deceased father but was not sure who to contact for more information. Mother was advised it was important to provide contact information for the paternal relatives so that they could give further facts about their Indian heritage. When asked about relatives living in the county, mother did provide names of a maternal great-aunt; a maternal great-great aunt and uncle; her brother, with whom the minors were placed; the paternal grandparents and a paternal great-grandmother. The social worker, Jennifer Hamilton, obtained further information from mother about her Indian heritage in March 2014. The resulting Indian ancestry questionnaire provided mother’s name and birth date; the maternal grandmother’s name, birth date, and a last known address; and the maternal grandfather’s name, birth date and last known address. Although mother had previously claimed Cherokee heritage only through the paternal line, in the questionnaire, she claimed Cherokee heritage through both maternal