In Re Antoinette S.

Stephen S. Buckley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for the Minor.

R.S. (father) contends the juvenile court's failure to comply with the notice provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA, or the Act) deprived the court of jurisdiction to terminate his parental rights to five-year-old Antoinette S. The court held the termination hearing without waiting "at least ten days after receipt of notice" by the Secretary of the Interior. ( 25 U.S.C. § 1912 (a); subsequent statutory citations are to this title unless otherwise noted.) While broad language utilized by some of our sister Courts of Appeal and other state courts suggests such error is jurisdictional, we agree with those courts reaching the opposite conclusion. In our view, the error is not jurisdictional. Nor does it always require reversal or remand for strictly proper notice. Here, the failure to ensure a 10-day window after notice to the Secretary was harmless. Finally, father's argument that the court should have applied the substantive provisions of the ICWA is also without merit. We therefore affirm the judgment.

Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) placed a hospital hold on then…