In re Gissele R.

Filed 7/14/06 In re Gissele R. CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Timothy J. Heaslet, Judge. Affirmed.

Niccol Kording, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Joe S. Rank, County Counsel, and Anna M. Deckert, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Konrad S. Lee, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Minors.

F.G. (Mother) is the mother of Gissele R. and Y.R., aged two and one, respectively, at the time of the detention. Mother appeals from an order terminating her parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26.)^[1] On appeal, she contends (1) the juvenile court and the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) erred in failing to comply with the provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act (the ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.); and (2) the juvenile court violated her due process rights by summarily denying her section 388 petition without an evidentiary hearing. We reject these contentions and affirm the judgment.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On November 3, 2004, the family came to the attention of DPSS when an immediate response referral was received alleging that a warrant was issued at an apartment in Coachella and that all of the adults, including Mother, had been arrested for possession of methamphetamine. Officers found a total of 7.2 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia all within the reach of four small children. In addition, the apartment was filthy, had cockroaches crawling up the walls and dirty dishes all over the kitchen, was minimally furnished, and had a patio covered in beer cans and pieces of foil paper. The children were filthy, were odorous, and appeared not to have been bathed for some time. It was later determined that Gissele had an upper respiratory infection and Y.R. had an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection. The children were detained and placed in foster care.

Mother, who appeared to have poor personal hygiene and characteristics of a habitual drug user, informed the social worker that she was just visiting her friends at the apartment and that she actually lived in Indio. However, she was unable to provide an address. She denied that her children were ill or that she had any other children. Mother had had two prior DPSS contacts in April 1998 related to her substance abuse. She had previously been referred to the MOM's substance abuse program. She had at least five other children who had been removed from her care. Gissele and Y.R.'s father (Father) was in federal prison awaiting deportation.^[2] The paternal grandmother (the grandmother) desired to have the children placed with her and was being investigated for placement purposes.

On November 4, 2004, Mother admitted that she did in fact have five other children, two of whom were adults; her three other children lived with their father in Mecca. She stated that she rarely visited those children. The grandmother confirmed that Mother's other three children lived in Mecca with their father and added that Mother had left them when the youngest child was an infant. The parental grandmother also stated that Mother had never visited these children and did not provide them with any support.

At the November 8, 2004, detention hearing, Mother and the grandmother were present. After confirming with the grandmother that Father was in prison awaiting deportation, the juvenile court asked the grandmother, â€