N.M.

N.M. (mother) appeals the juvenile court’s order terminat-

ing her parental rights to Y.R., age eight, and Daniel R., age five. (See Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26; all further unlabeled statutory citations are to this code.) Mother contends the juvenile court erred in concluding the children were likely to be adopted and she asserts the court should have sua sponte evaluated a maternal aunt in Arizona for placement. We conclude substantial evidence supports the juvenile court’s adoptability finding and the court had no independent duty to evaluate the maternal aunt for placement after the aunt ceased contact with Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA). We therefore affirm the judgment.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in Los Angeles removed Y. and Daniel at ages five and three, respectively, from mother’s Long Beach apartment in September 2004 after reports of domestic violence between mother and the children’s stepgrandmother. DCFS’s earlier intervention efforts had failed, and mother’s methamphetamine abuse remained unresolved. The Los Angeles County Superior Court sustained jurisdiction over both children…