Dozens of cases involving foster families have gone to court around the country after the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the late 1970s. Lawmakers found that Native American families were broken up at disproportionately high rates, and that cultural ignorance and biases within the child welfare system were largely to blame. Opinion. Lexi clutched a teddy bear and cried as she was taken from the Pages' home on March 21 as neighbors prayed and sang hymns in support of the family. But placement with family is always our priority. ###. Thousandsnearly one-third of the Choctaw Nationdie of starvation, exposure, and disease on the more than 500-mile journey. What happened to Lexie Grey? Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Closing arguments underway in double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. "There's no doubt in my mind that what happened to Lexi should have never occurred," said Lauren Axline, a former foster care worked who handled Lexi's case in the past. Tribes also have a say in foster care placements. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, refused to intervene in their battle over Lexi. In an official statement (via TVLine), Leigh shared she made the decision that season 8 was going to be her last, and along with Rhimes, they worked to "give Lexie's story appropriate . The boy is now 3, and the couple is seeking to adopt his younger half-sister. Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear on Monday, March 21, 2016 as Rusty Page carried her out of his Santa Clarita home and social workers whisked her away. A king among men, he. Foster care is a much-needed temporary service provided for children until the child can be returned to the care of his or her family. Even if they were the best family in the world, he says, its not who Lexi views as family.. Please enter valid email address to continue. . I'm scared. One of Lexis biological sisters, who is Choctaw, lives with the Utah family, and another lives nearby. Distraught and weeping, Page shared his foster daughter's parting words with CBS Los Angeles: "Don't let them take me. However, a three-judge panel in Los Angeles found the lower court made the right decision and correctly considered the bond Lexi developed with the Pages as well as other factors related to her best interests. They also agreed that the Pages did not prove with clear and convincing evidence that Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer. That law "seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian families," according to its own language. "They are not strangers in any way, shape or form. But he believes that shouldnt matter here. "She has a loving relationship with them," Heimov said. 2019 The Associated Press. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. All Rights Reserved. Many in tears @NBCLA pic.twitter.com/lM1iWZiChk, The Pages lawyer said in a statement Sunday that they had been willing to offer the Utah family visitation rights, but they never responded to offers of compromise.. First published on July 8, 2016 / 10:41 PM. The case was decided in the California court system three separate times, with three different trial court judges ruling in favor of Lexi's relatives in Utah. Lexi is now with her extended family and her biological sister in Utah. The tribe at first said she wasn't eligible for membership but later reversed course. A 6-year-old girl was removed from the California home of the foster family she has lived with for four years because she has a tiny sliver of Native American heritage despite resistance from her foster parents and their tens of thousands of supporters. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. They do not get the same best-interest-of-the-child standard that applies to all other children. ICWA gives tribal governments a strong voice concerning child custody proceedings that involve Indian children, by allocating tribes exclusive jurisdiction over the case when a child is a ward of the tribe. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The family has been waiting for five years for all of them to be together. There is a 6-year-old little girl who is going to be ripped away from the only family that she has ever known. We, as a tribe, are required to follow federal law. The tribe and parents or Indian custodian of the Indian child have an unqualified right to intervene in a case involving foster care placement or the termination of parental rights . She said unlike her, 11-year-old Riley is growing up on the reservation and learning about traditional medicine and a culture that includes hunting and fishing. By This button displays the currently selected search type. ", The Associated Press contributed to this report, Elizabeth Holmes has 2nd child as she tries to avoid prison, New Topgolf facility opens next to Montebello Golf Course, Man stopped at Pa. airport with explosive concealed in checked luggage. "While the past 10 days have been complete anguish for our family, there's no way our pain can compare to the confusion and disorientation that Lexi is experiencing," Rusty Page said. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital She did make the mat for Daytona 2020 but unfortunately never got to perform one final time as the . ", The Choctaw Nation said it "desires the best for this Choctaw child.". The law was designed to help Native American families remain intact. He said the Indian Child Welfare Act may have been well-intentioned, but it illegally segregates Native American children by race and has upended his clients' lives. The standard is supposed to be the best interest of the child, and thats why these things have to be judged on a case-by-case basis., The Choctaw Nation declined to make the Utah family available for comment, citing concerns over Lexis safety. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law didn't apply in a South Carolina case involving a young girl named Veronica because her Cherokee father was absent from part of her life. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. There is a healthy debate going on in this country about whether the Indian Child Welfare Act is on balance a good thing, or not, as a policy matter. Regardless of tribal membership, Lexi should be allowed to live with her family, just as all children in any deprived case should.. However, a court found that the Pages have not proven Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer. The Librettis in Nevada arranged with a pregnant woman, Altagracia Hernandez, to adopt her unborn child. ", The National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement that the Pages were aware for years that the girl was an American Indian but chose to "drag out litigation as long as possible, creating instability for the child. ICWA is the subject of other legal challenges, as the ABA Journal noted last October. / CBS/AP. The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who has lived with them since she was 2. In a statement, they said this case is not about politics. Still, Lexis story is reigniting tensions over the purpose of the ICWA and thorny questions over its role in determining the best interests of Indian children. Like many six-year-olds, shes obsessed with the animated super-dog Bolt, and she spends her weekends playing with her three foster siblings in the backyard of her foster parents home in Santa Clarita, CA. But thats not an absolute. By. The Pages had cared for the girl, known in court as Lexi, for four years and wanted to adopt her. Chris Evans doxxed his own dick Tweet may have been deleted By accidentally leaking his own nude, Chris Evans gave us one of the only relatable celebrity moments of 2020. They said they wanted to adopt the girl. Removal 1830-1862. They have maintained a relationship with her, visiting her in California, making regular SKYPE calls, and Lexi has also been on extended visits to Utah. 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The case was one of dozens brought by foster families since the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the late 1970s. The child's case falls under the purview of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which was enacted in the 1970s to help keep American Indian children with American Indian families. A California appeals court affirmed in July a lower courts decision to remove the girl. Those factors included Lexi's relationship with her extended family and half-siblings, their capacity to help her reconnect with her tribal roots, and the Pages' "relative reluctance or resistance" to foster Lexi's relationship with her extended family or encourage exploration of her Choctaw cultural identity, the judges wrote in their ruling. The foster family filed appeals three times to keep Lexi, delaying the reuniting of Lexi with her relatives. She was placed with extended family in Utah under a decades-old federal law designed to keep Native American families together. "It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said. We believe that following the Choctaw Nations values is in Lexis best interest.". "These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. Further complicating the matter is that no two adoption cases are alike, which can make legal rulings meant to apply broadly particularly fraught. Hernandez isn't Native American, but the biological father is from Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas. But officials determined that Lexi is 1/64th Choctaw based on his ancestry. Elisha Fieldstadt is a breaking news reporter for NBC News. A crowd of friends and neighbors wept, prayed or sang hymns. The Pages and their attorneys believe the ICWA forced the countys hand, requiring them to take Lexi away from a loving home with foster parents and siblings she considers family. (TR Knight) in a December 2020 episode. But this case shines a bright light on the ways in which the law in its current form is routinely being misinterpreted, with devastating consequences for families and children. The case was decided in the California court system three separate times, with three different trial court judges ruling in favor of Lexi's relatives in Utah. Placement with family is the gold-standard of any child-custody case, not just a case involving tribal children. The case is one of dozens brought by foster families since the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the late 1970s. The California court appointed a marriage and family therapist to perform a child custody evaluation to assess the mental health and parenting practices of both parties. However, Lexi also had extended family members who sought to adopt her once it was clear that a reunion with her birth father was not possible. "The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011," the tribe said in a statement. The law has led to some emotional, high-profile cases, including one in 2016 in which a court ordered that a young Choctaw girl named Lexi be removed from a California foster family and placed with her father's extended family in Utah. Our family is so incredibly devastated, Rusty Page said in a video statement. Earlier this week I shared the story of a California family that risked losing their six-year-old foster daughter Lexi simply because the girl is 1/64 Choctaw. Lexis only parent with Choctaw blood is her birth father, who never had custody of her. The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the 1970s to reunite Native American families broken up at disproportionately high rates due to cultural ignorance and biases within the child welfare system. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. Sleep is overrated. The National Indian Child Welfare Association argues that the decision to re-place Lexi was the right one because "the purpose of foster care is to provide temporary care for children not to fast-track the creation of new families when there is extended family available who want to care for the child.". "It was important to halt that removal, to correct state behavior, to put in minimum standards," she said. Since then, Lexi has celebrated four birthdays with the Page family. The law is very clear in California that family gets priority, she said. In their petition, the Pages argued that the lower court misapplied the standard of review for good cause to depart from ICWA, but also that ICWA should not apply to children who had never been part of an American Indian family. The Pages argued that Lexi has lived with them since the age of 2 and considers them her family. They are not strangers. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. We are appealing the decision, and we have asked the state Supreme Court to step in and halt this hasty change in custody before it causes irreparable harm. Lexi had sobbed as she was taken away, begging her father: 'Don't let them take me away.'. What happened yesterday should never happen, to any child. She is watching them drive off. The law allows states to deviate from placement preferences when there is "good cause." Lexi, who is 1/64 Choctaw, was taken from her foster home north of Los Angeles in a tearful parting in March and placed with extended family in Utah under a decades-old federal law designed to keep Native American families together. Circuit Court of Appeals. Alexa suffered injuries on her face. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. Leslie Starr Heimov, executive director of the Center, told the ABA Journal last year that the Pages would have been unlikely to get custody even if ICWA had not applied to the case. LEXINGTON, Ky. (RNS) After more than two weeks and worldwide headlines, revival services at Asbury University in central Kentucky came to an end recently . One of Lexis biological sisters, who is Choctaw, lives with the Utah family, and another lives nearby. The appeal to return Lexi to the Pages is still before the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. Lexi, a six-year-old with one-and-a-half per cent Choctaw blood has been removed from her foster parents of five years Protesters tried to stop government officials from taking the child from. Often there are no easy solutions, but when a court makes an order, we must follow it, said the departments director, Philip Browning. They do not get the same best-interest-of-the-child standard that applies to all other children. 0 . The girl, Lexi, was taken away from foster parents. "The foster family was well aware years ago this girl is an Indian child, whose case is subject to the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act," the National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement. Fletcher contends the Pages lawyers are using Lexis case as a legal weapon to challenge ICWA. The Removal Act affects Choctaw first. All Rights Reserved. Read More Summer Page runs out of her home after social workers took her foster child way. "Our family is so incredibly devastated. Lexi had a court-appointed attorney from the Childrens Law Center of California in the lower courts. "The issue is not what degree of Choctaw ancestry a child has," Singel said. The foster family understood this. We are appealing the decision, and we have asked the state Supreme Court to step in and halt this hasty change in custody before it causes irreparable harm. "Rather the issue is whether the child is a citizen of the tribe in question or eligible for citizenship.". ", The National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement that the Pages were aware for years that the girl was an American Indian but chose to "drag out litigation as long as possible, creating instability for the child. They are taking her! Remember that LA County placed this little girl in foster care with our clients after she had suffered two years of neglect and abuse. . Oak Lawn police officer charged after teen's violent arrest, ABC7 Chicago says farewell to Meteorologist Phil Schwarz, Kitchen Possible empowers kids in Chicago. Because Lexi is 1.5% Native American, the Choctaw Tribe was able to completely tear apart Lexis life due to an egregious misapplication of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Lexi is a 6-year-old girl from California who has spent the the majority of her life in a loving home - a home that she wanted to be her forever home. They were also designed to give state courts flexibility to depart from the placement preferences where there is "good cause" to do so. The following statement reflects the Choctaw Nation's position on the case of Lexi. Lexi, who is 1/64th Native American, was 17 months old when she was removed from the of her birth parents. After several trials and appeals, a judge ruled that Lexi should leave her foster family and be placed with distant relatives in Utah. "It coerces state agencies and courts to carry out unconstitutional and illegal federal policy, and it makes child custody decisions based on racial preferences," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said. It means that Indian kids will not have the same stability that non-Indian kids have. The Pages say they have repeatedly tried to adopt Lexi since she came to live with them when she was two-years-old. Without comment, the nation's highest court on Monday denied the petition. 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