In Re Alexander B.

Certified for Partial Publication. [*]

Appellants, the mother and father of the minor, appeal from an order of the juvenile court terminating their parental rights. (Welf. & Inst.Code, §§ 366.26, 395; further undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.) The mother, who was incarcerated at the time of the section 366.26 hearing, claims that the juvenile court erred by terminating her parental rights without her presence. The mother also claims she received ineffective assistance of counsel because her attorney failed to secure her presence at the hearing. Additionally, appellants claim the matter should be remanded for the juvenile court to determine whether a recently enacted statutory exception to adoption applies. Finding these contentions lack merit, we shall affirm.

A dependency petition was filed in July 1999, regarding the infant minor and his four siblings, based on the parents' substance abuse problems. [1] , [2] The minor and three of his siblings were detained in the home of a maternal aunt. In August 1999, the petition was sustained and a reunification plan was ordered.

By February 2000, the maternal aunt was no longer able…