In Re Alexandria Y.

Sylvia L. Paoli, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Intervener and Appellant.

Laurence M. Watson, Chief Assistant County Counsel, and Michelle Ben-Hur, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Harold LaFlamme, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, and John L. Dodd for Minor.

OPINION

WALLIN, J.

The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma (the SNO) appeals from the judgment terminating the parental rights of Renea Y., an enrolled tribal member, to her daughter, Alexandria. The SNO contends the trial court violated the Indian Child Welfare Act (hereinafter ICWA or Act) by failing to transfer jurisdiction of the proceedings to the SNO and failing to follow the ICWA placement preferences. We find the trial court properly refused to apply the provisions of the ICWA because neither Alexandria nor Renea had any significant social, cultural or political relationship with Indian life; thus, there was no existing Indian family to preserve.

Alexandria Y. was born in December 1990 with cocaine in her system. She was immediately taken into custody by the Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) and was placed in an emergency shelter home. She was declared a dependent of…