In re B.L. CA3

Filed 7/5/22 In re B.L. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (San Joaquin) ----

In re B.L., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court C094980 Law.

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES (Super. Ct. No. STK-JV-DP- AGENCY, 2019-0000419)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

C.M.,

Defendant and Appellant.

C.M., mother of the minor, appeals from the juvenile court’s order terminating her parental rights and freeing the minor for adoption. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 395.)1 Mother contends the court and the San Joaquin County Human Services Agency

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

1

(Agency) failed to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) (ICWA). Finding any error was harmless, we will affirm the juvenile court’s judgment. BACKGROUND Because mother’s sole claim challenges compliance with the ICWA, we limit the background summary to ICWA related facts and procedure unless otherwise relevant to the issue on appeal. The minor was removed from mother’s sole custody after the Agency filed a dependency petition pursuant to section 300, subdivisions (b)(1), (g) and (j). Mother informed the Agency that T.B. was the minor’s father because he was with mother when the minor was born and he signed the minor’s birth certificate. However, mother later reported that T.B. was not the minor’s biological father. Instead, the biological father was a man named Jonathan, with whom she had had a “brief encounter” when she lived in Mexico. Mother did not know Jonathan’s last name, but she stated he lived in Mexico and had never been in the minor’s life. The juvenile court ordered the minor detained and declared T.B. to be the minor’s biological father. Mother informed the Agency that there was no known Indian ancestry on her side of the family. She completed an ICWA-010A form to that effect. The maternal grandmother and the maternal aunt each completed ICWA-020 forms indicating they had no known Indian ancestry. Mother did not say whether T.B. had Indian heritage on his side of the family. The Agency’s initial attempts to contact T.B. were unsuccessful. Mother had significant child welfare history, including the eventual adoption of her two older children due to mother’s failure to complete services, and the removal of her two younger children who were in the custody of their father, T.B. The court sustained the allegations in the petition, as amended in court, and adjudged the minor a dependent of the juvenile court.