But 6-year-old Lexi's foster family says the application of the law in . Lexi was ripped away from the only family she has ever known because of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. The law, passed in 1978, outlines federal requirements that apply to state custody proceedings that involve a child who is a member of or eligible for membership in a federally recognized tribe. Page says he has met the Utah relatives and they seem like well-meaning people who would be great parents. One of her biological sisters lives with the family in Utah, and another lives down the street. Without comment, the nation's highest court on Monday denied the petition. We appreciate the concern for Lexi and want to assure everyone she is in a safe, loving home with her relatives and her biological sisters. It was enacted in 1978 because of the high removal rate of Indian children from their traditional homes and essentially from Indian culture as a whole. We, as a tribe, are required to follow federal law. The states say the law is discriminatory, and the federal government has no right to tell states how to regulate child welfare cases. The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. 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. Because Lexi is 1.5% Native American, the Choctaw Tribe was able to completely tear apart Lexi's life due to an egregious misapplication of the Indian Child Welfare Act. The result here is all the more senseless because placing Lexi with her non-Indian extended family members does nothing to further ICWA's purpose of keeping children connected to their tribes. The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who has lived with them since she was 2. Even if they were the best family in the world, he says, its not who Lexi views as family.. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. The Page family spoke out during a news conference a day after the California Supreme Court refused to intervene in their custody battle over Lexi. The Pages issued a press release saying To say we are heartbroken is an understatement While this is certainly a crushing blow, it will not stop us from fighting for Lexis rights and the rights of other children unnecessarily hurt by the Indian Child Welfare Act., The Choctaw Nation issued a press release saying it was pleased that this lengthy and unnecessary litigation has been brought to an end by the U.S. Supreme Court. 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"To Lexi this family is her everything . 2023 TIME USA, LLC. 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. Lexi is part Native American and was given . 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. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. Lexi's safety and wellbeing are the Choctaw Nation's paramount concern. The Pages were always aware of this goal. Lexi lived four of her first six years with a non-Native American California foster family, but because she . AccuWeather: AM showers before a mild afternoon, Teammate facing charges in crash that killed local UGA player, Teens in stolen car crash into school bus on way to field trip in NJ. She is watching them drive off. Lexi is now living in Utah with relatives of her father who are not Native Americans. The Pages said they will keep fighting for changes to the law 'and the rights of other children unnecessarily hurt by the Indian Child Welfare Act.'. / CBS/AP. What happened yesterday should never happen . Hernandez is a plaintiff in the case. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The foster family filed appeals three times to keep Lexi, delaying the reuniting of Lexi with her relatives. 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. The family has been waiting for five years for all of them to be together. What happened yesterday should never happen, to any child. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, refused to intervene in their battle over Lexi. Track SoCal rain with LIVE Megadoppler 7000 HD. The foster family understood this. Dozens of supporters also surrounded the Pages home Monday in an attempt to block LA DCFS officers. 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. ", Page said he responded: "I have to because the county of L.A. said I have to.". 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. There is still considerable disagreement over the application of the law and whether it serves children's best interest, said Ralph Richard Banks, a professor at Stanford Law School. The girl's sister is living with the couple, and another sister will be living down the street, said Leslie Heimov of the Children's Law Center of California, Lexi's court-appointed legal representatives. The tribe intervened and has identified three dozen possible placements. The case brought dozens of people to the Pages' Santa Clarita neighborhood to demonstrate against plans to move Lexi. Rusty Page says his young biological children still cant seem to understand what happened. 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. The appeal to return Lexi to the Pages is still before the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. Often there are no easy solutions, but when a court makes an order, we must follow it, said the departments director, Philip Browning. Please enter valid email address to continue. This existing Indian family doctrine is a subject of conflict in the lower courts, the Pages petition said, and warrants review. Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, U.S. officials clashed over asylum restriction before Biden proposed it, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Transcript: CIA director William Burns on "Face the Nation," Feb. 26, 2023. Alexa suffered injuries on her face. The family's lawyer, Lori Alvino McGill, filed the request for the California Supreme Court to hear the appeal. Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com The bottom line is that children subject to ICWA are second-class citizens, by law. Her former foster parents, Rusty and Summer Page, asked the appeals court to reverse a lower court ruling that ordered them to surrender Lexi. Our hearts are broken and we are trying to make sense of everything that has happened with our three other children who witnessed their sister Lexi forcefully ripped away from our family by strangers," the Page family said in a statement Monday night. Her family will provide her a safe, stable and nurturing home to grow up with her sisters and to have contact with her extensive extended family. Lexi, who is part Choctaw, was 17 months old when she was removed from custody of her mother. Congress did not intend ICWA's placement preferences to be used to remove a child from a loving home in these circumstances. Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 because a high number of Native American children were being removed from their homes by public and private agencies. Official Statement from Lori Alvino-McGill representing The Page Family's Legal Team. The brutal racial politics of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Because Lexi is 1.5% Native American, the Choctaw Tribe was able to completely tear apart Lexi's life due to an egregious misapplication of the Indian Child Welfare Act. ", 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. . Wenona Singel, a law professor at Michigan State University, said membership requirements vary among tribes, with some being more restrictive than others. Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. "It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said. The Page family loves you.. Testimony in Congress showed that was due to ignorance of tribes' values and social norms. 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. A foster home is supposed to be temporary, says Matthew Fletcher, director of the Indigenous Policy Law Center at Michigan State University. Lexi was placed with the Pages who have three other children in December 2011 after two unsuccessful foster homes, including one where she was taken out of because of a black eye and a scrape on her face, the court documents said. The Pages argued that Lexi has lived with them since the age of 2 and considers them her family. In the days after losing their legal battle, the Pages addressed an online petition called Keep Lexi Home to several California and LA DCFS officials. They also agreed that the Pages did not prove with clear and convincing evidence that Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer. 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 Pages' case to get Lexi back went all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear it. Copyright 2023 Celeberinfo -All rights reserved. The girl, Lexi, was taken away from foster parents Rusty and Summer Page on March 21, 2015, after about four years living with the family. Associated Press The Pages have appealed the case to the California Supreme Court. Many steps have been taken by the Choctaw Nation to ensure the best placement of Lexi. Like many of her teammates, Lexi had left Navarro College by the time Daytona 2021 took place. Tribes also have a say in foster care placements. The comments below have not been moderated, By what happened to lexi choctaw 2021. Last month, her kindergarten class gave her an award for being the most caring student. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The documents said that Lexi is related to the Utah couple, who are not Native American, through her step-grandfather. One of Lexis biological sisters, who is Choctaw, lives with the Utah family, and another lives nearby. After leaving the boat, Lexi decided to completely leave the yachting industry. The case was one of 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. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the case of a Santa Clarita family fighting to regain custody of a 6-year-old foster girl. Lexi can remain where she. She has a broken nose, a cheekbone and also a hole in her jaw. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. BY LORELEI LAIRD January 11, 2017 www.abajournal.com. February 28, 2023. Lexi had sobbed as she was taken away, begging her father: 'Don't let them take me away.'. In the meantime, our clients hope that the family in Utah will follow through on their promise to keep Lexi in contact with her family in Los Angeles. When the grandmother died, Maldonado's mother was sent to live in Indiana with a Mennonite family who put bleach on her skin to lighten it, told her to say she was Armenian and kept her from communicating with her family, she said. Lexi, who is 1/64th Native American, was 17 months old when she was removed from the of her birth parents. Summer Page runs out of her home after social workers took her foster child way. The Pros and Cons of Staying in a Business Hotel, The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying Crabs and Lobsters Delivered Right to Your Door, Golden Rule Quotes Meaning and Their Implementation. All children, not just Native children, do better with caring relatives. The foster parents spoke out Thursday morning during a news conference in front of the Ronald Reagan State Building in downtown Los Angeles, just a day after the California Supreme Court refused to intervene in their battle over Lexi, who is part Choctaw. ICWA is the subject of other legal challenges, as the ABA Journal noted last October. "Rather the issue is whether the child is a citizen of the tribe in question or eligible for citizenship.". Oak Lawn police officer charged after teen's violent arrest, ABC7 Chicago says farewell to Meteorologist Phil Schwarz, Kitchen Possible empowers kids in Chicago. The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who is 1/64th Choctaw on her birth father's side. "It was important to halt that removal, to correct state behavior, to put in minimum standards," she said. Her family will provide her a safe, stable and nurturing home to grow up with her sisters and to have contact with her extensive extended family. Reading ICWA to demand this tragic result is inconsistent with Lexi's constitutional right to stability and permanence-- a right recognized by the California Supreme Court more than twenty years ago. The Pages had cared for the girl, known in court as Lexi, for four years and wanted to adopt her. 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 fathers extended family in Utah. "How is it that a screaming child, saying, 'I want to stay, I'm scared,' how is it in her best interest to pull her from the girl she was before that doorbell rang?" "Rather the issue is whether the child is a citizen of the tribe in question or eligible for citizenship.". 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. And applying ICWA to children who had no prior connection to any tribe raises grave equal protection concerns, as the US Supreme Court recognized in 2013, in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. But a decision earlier this month ordered the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (LA DCFS) to place Lexi with the Utah family in accordance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, the department said in response to inquiries about Lexi's case. Rusty and Summer Page of Santa Clarita, California, have long fought to gain custody of Lexi, 6, who is 1.56 percent Choctaw Native American. The Minnesota couple, the Cliffords, wanted to adopt a girl who lived with them after being in various foster homes for two years. The girl, Lexi, was taken away from foster parents. The following statement reflects the Choctaw Nation's position on the case of Lexi. and The Librettis in Nevada arranged with a pregnant woman, Altagracia Hernandez, to adopt her unborn child. But other experts say that placing children with relatives is the goal of foster care and adoption, and even non-Indian kids are better off with relatives. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Theyre using this to attack tribal sovereignty, attack Indian people, and attack the Indian Child Welfare act, he says. "The Pages are obviously extremely disappointed with the court's decision, but they believe in our judicial system and remain hopeful that they will ultimately prevail," their attorney, Lori Alvino McGill, said in a statement. Chyler Grey starred in Grey's Anatomy on ABC from 2007 until 2012. . She did make the mat for Daytona 2020 but unfortunately never got to perform one final time as the . Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. Since then, Lexi has celebrated four birthdays with the Page family. Hernandez isn't Native American, but the biological father is from Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas. 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. 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. Her name is Lexi," the petition said. The latest case centers on Chad and Jennifer Brackeen, a Texas couple who fostered a baby eligible for membership in both the Navajo and Cherokee tribes. The emotional scene played out on a Facebook live stream watched by more that 1,000 people which showed a teary child, wearing a pink shirt and grasping a teddy bear while Rusty Page carried her out of the home and loaded into a black sedan as his wife wailed I love you Lexi from the driveway. Images of the girl being carried away from her foster home drew widespread attention. Previously, Leslie Heimov of the Children's Law Center of California said: 'The law is very clear that siblings should be kept together whenever they can be, and they should be placed together even if they were not initially together. Lexi's case is one of dozens brought by foster families since the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed. The expansion of Anglo-American settlement into the Trans-Appalachian west led to the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, forcing all eastern tribal nations to move to new homelands west of the Mississippi River in the Indian Territory. "To say we are heartbroken is an understatement.". "They are not strangers in any way, shape or form. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. 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. Lexi was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her birth parents. The Pages argued that changing the girls placement after four years would be difficult for her, given her rocky emotional adjustment when she first came to them, but the lower court ultimately disagreed. She was reunited with her biological sister in the home but none of the family members are Native American. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. "How is it that a screaming child, saying, 'I want to stay, I'm scared,' how is it in her best interest to pull her from the girl she was before that doorbell rang?" The Pages have fought efforts under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act to place Lexi with relatives of her father, who is part Choctaw. "It's not going to be true in every case.". Lexi can remain where she belongs, with extended family that will raise her and a sister in the Choctaw tradition. They were also designed to give state courts flexibility to depart from the placement preferences where there is "good cause" to do so. In adoptions of such children, the law requires states to notify tribes and seek placement with the child's extended family, members of the child's tribe or other Native American families. 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. Every time Zoe, whos the youngest, hears the doorbell she says Lexis home, he says. Reading ICWA to demand this tragic result is inconsistent with Lexi's constitutional right to stability and permanence-- a right recognized by the California Supreme Court more than twenty years ago. McGill also requested that custody of the child named Lexi be returned to Rusty and Summer Page until the appeal is decided. After several trials and appeals, a judge ruled that Lexi should leave her foster family and be placed with distant relatives in Utah. Their attorney argued the lower court made an error by failing to take into account Lexi's bond with her foster parents and siblings. The tribe also has jurisdiction over non-reservation Native Americans foster care placement proceedings. A happy, thriving six-year-old girl was forcibly removed from the people she knows as her parents because of a terribly misguided interpretation of a federal law that was designed to keep families together, not tear them apart. ICWA gives a higher preference to family members seeking to adopt, as does California law. That case, Carter v. Washburn, is pending in Arizona federal court. Here are the world's 25 best beaches and top 10 in the U.S. Elizabeth Holmes has second child, seeks to delay prison, remove a six-year-old girl with Native American ancestry from her foster family, asked the appeals court to reverse a lower court ruling. Family members said Monday they were disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving their former foster daughter, a girl with Native American ancestry, who was ordered removed from their California home and reunited with relatives in Utah. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. The state denied their request after the Navajo Nation identified a potential home with a Navajo family in New Mexico. Official Statement from Lori Alvino-McGill representing The Page Family's Legal Team. Once a child is placed with a Native American family, it is highly unlikely that the decision would be reversed, he added. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES. Lower courts found the Pages had not proven Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the case of a Santa Clarita family fighting to regain custody of a 6-year-old foster girl. , updated She says she's an apple, red on the outside, white on the inside.". I'm scared. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Its a crusade to them. One of the Pages attorneys, Lori Alvino McGill, also represented the adoptive family in the Baby Veronica case. In 2015, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued guidance on implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act - clarifying that tribes alone are responsible for determining who is a member. Tribes and tribal advocates say Native American children are still separated from their families at rates higher than the general population, and the law helps them stay connected to their tribes, relatives and culture. She has woken up in their home every Christmas morning she can remember, and she has grown up over the past four years with three siblings who are her best friends and playmates. 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. ", The Choctaw Nation said it "desires the best for this Choctaw child.". 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Her . Fletcher contends the Pages lawyers are using Lexis case as a legal weapon to challenge ICWA. 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. Under the transfer, Lexi will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. More than 20 states have joined hundreds of tribes, advocacy groups and the federal agency that oversees Indian affairs in urging an appellate judge to uphold the law. On Thursday, in a statement to ABC7, the Choctaw Nation said, "We are pleased with the state Supreme Court's decision, but what is most important is that Lexi is settling into her new, loving home with her family. 07:28 GMT 10 Jan 2017. The state Supreme Court declined to review the case, clearing the way for the family to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. A similar case, National Council for Adoption v. Jewell, is on appeal to the 4th U.S. 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. (TR Knight) in a December 2020 episode. The Pages have fought efforts under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act to place Lexi with relatives of her father, who is part Choctaw. Regardless of tribal membership, Lexi should be allowed to live with her family, just as all children in any deprived case should.. Maldonado and her husband have an adopted son from a neighboring tribe. Lexi is also one sixty-fourth Choctaw, and last week she became the latest flash point in a long-running dispute over child welfare and Native American tribal identity. 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. Kastelic also said there was a misconception that Native American families were unfit or too poor to care for their children. 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. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. When the federal law was enacted, studies showed up to one-third of Native American children were being taken from their homes by private and state agencies, including church-run programs, and placed with mostly white families or in boarding schools. Lexi is now living with relatives of her father who are not Native American. However, a court found that the Pages have not proven Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer. The wrenching dispute echoes themes of the 2013 Baby Veronica case, in which an adoptive family sued for custody of a young Cherokee girl after her biological father renounced paternal rights. Many Native American families have stories about loved ones who disappeared and never returned. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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