Congress did not intend ICWA's placement preferences to be used to remove a child from a loving home in these circumstances. Please respect the privacy of Lexi and her family. 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. What happened yesterday should never happen, to any child. 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. Group that started #KeepLexiHome is still outside praying/singing. Track SoCal rain with LIVE Megadoppler 7000 HD. 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. ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News Stream. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Supreme Court made no comment when it denied certiorari in the case Monday (PDF). "It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said. Lexi is now with her extended family and her biological sister in Utah. 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 Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. 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. Read More Congress did not intend ICWA's placement preferences to be used to remove a child from a loving home in these circumstances. Rusty Page carries Lexi while Summer Page, in the background, cries as members of family services, left, arrive to take Lexi away from her foster family in Santa Clarita, Calif., on March 21. The following statement reflects the Choctaw Nation's position on the case of Lexi. Lexi is now with her extended family and her biological sister in Utah. 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. 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 . DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. The Pages were always aware of this goal. Remember that LA County placed this little girl in foster care with our clients after she had suffered two years of neglect and abuse. Tribes also have a say in foster care placements. The Pages said they had not spoken with Lexi since she was removed from their home and continue to asked her relatives in Utah to allow communication. 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. At issue is the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a 1978 federal law meant to keep American Indian children within their tribe whenever possible. "But nobody could possibly be more devastated than our 6-year-old daughter who found herself restrained in a car and driven away to go and live in a foreign place hundreds of miles from her family, friends, teachers, home and life," the statement said. Relatives are relatives.. Thousandsnearly one-third of the Choctaw Nationdie of starvation, exposure, and disease on the more than 500-mile journey. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. What happened to Lexie Grey? Images of foster father Rusty Page clutching 6-year-old Lexi left an indelible mark when the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services arrived to take her away from Page and his wife's Valencia home in March. 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 can remain where she belongs, with extended family that will raise her and a sister in the Choctaw tradition. After several trials and appeals, a judge ruled that Lexi should leave her foster family and be placed with distant relatives in Utah. The foster family understood this. "She has a loving relationship with them," Heimov said. ", The Choctaw Nation said it "desires the best for this Choctaw child.". By. The state denied their request after the Navajo Nation identified a potential home with a Navajo family in New Mexico. Oak Lawn police officer charged after teen's violent arrest, ABC7 Chicago says farewell to Meteorologist Phil Schwarz, Kitchen Possible empowers kids in Chicago. Last March, she was taken from her foster home near Los Angeles, and a state appeals court in July upheld the girl's removal from the Page home. In the days since Lexi was removed from the Southern California home, her foster parents have continued to fight the decision. Six-year-old Lexi was removed from the home of the family she has been living with for four years because of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. If the good-cause exception isn't satisfied in this case, it is difficult to imagine when it ever would be. All Rights Reserved. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. 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. It means if youre a foster family and if you have an Indian child, you should be terrified that your child could be taken at any time, says Mark Fiddler, a Minnesota attorney who represented the adoptive parents in the Baby Veronica case. This existing Indian family doctrine is a subject of conflict in the lower courts, the Pages petition said, and warrants review. Kastelic also said there was a misconception that Native American families were unfit or too poor to care for their children. Lexi's case is one of dozens brought by foster families since the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed. LOS ANGELES -- A California appeals court affirmed on Friday a lower court's decision to remove a six-year-old girl with Native American ancestry from her foster family of four years and reunite her with relatives in Utah. Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear on Monday as Rusty Page carried her out of his home near Los Angeles and Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away in a waiting car. 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. A Santa Clarita family appealed to California's highest court to keep a 6-year-old foster child who was removed from their home and sent to live with relatives in Utah. "The issue is not what degree of Choctaw ancestry a child has," Singel said. Lexi is now with her extended family and her biological sister in Utah. Testimony in Congress showed that was due to ignorance of tribes' values and social norms. "There is a 6-year-old little girl who is going to be ripped away from the only family that she has ever known. 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. The boy is now 3, and the couple is seeking to adopt his younger half-sister. 1 talking about this. 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. Associated Press The case brought dozens of people to the Pages' Santa Clarita neighborhood to demonstrate against plans to move Lexi. 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. We, as a tribe, are required to follow federal law. and Often there are no easy solutions, but when a court makes an order, we must follow it, said the departments director, Philip Browning. Unlike other cases in Grey's Anatomy where the actors left due to behind-the-scenes problems, Chyler Leigh decided it was time to close Lexie's arc as she wanted to spend more time with her family. "It was important to halt that removal, to correct state behavior, to put in minimum standards," she said. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Lexi and her extended family have had monthly visits and Skyped at least once a week prior to her relocation. 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. Bridgeport, NJ - The NOS Energy World of Outlaws sprint cars invaded the Bridgeport Motorsports Park on Tuesday eveningand thrilled the Standing Room Only crowd who poured into th Santa Clarita, Calif., March 21, 2016, PEZ Cancels Easter Egg Hunt After Parents Cause Huge 'Mess', How We Can Learn to Live with COVID-19 After Vaccinations. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Hernandez isn't Native American, but the biological father is from Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas. Wenona Singel, a law professor at Michigan State University, said membership requirements vary among tribes, with some being more restrictive than others. 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. "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?" Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Fiona Morgan. May 21, 2022 . Summer Page runs out of her home after social workers took her foster child way. Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. 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. 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. 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. All Rights Reserved. The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. Official Statement from Lori Alvino-McGill representing The Page Family's Legal Team. The childs birth parents struggled with substance abuse, according to court documents. Before enactment, as many as 25 to 35 percent of all Indian children were being removed from their Indian homes and placed in non-Indian homes, with presumably the absence of Indian culture. The Page family loves you.. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, Inside the Agonizing Custody Fight Over Six-Year-Old Lexi. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. 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. Read More Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear on Monday as Rusty Page carried her out of his home near Los Angeles and Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away in a waiting car. Please help #bringlexihome ", 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. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. A crowd of friends and neighbors wept, prayed or sang hymns. Her name is Lexi, the petition said. The bottom line is that children subject to ICWA are second-class citizens, by law. The LA DCFS said in a statement that the department always seeks to act in the best interest of the children it serves. 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. 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. 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. Lexi had sobbed as she was taken away, begging her father: 'Don't let them take me away.'. The child ultimately was placed with her maternal grandmother, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. "It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said. 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. The Pages were always aware of this goal. The foster family filed appeals three times to keep Lexi, delaying the reuniting of Lexi with her relatives. 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. 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. 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. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. Maddie cant fathom it, and she asks us why, and the fact of the matter is that I cant tell her why, because I cant fathom it.. Therefore we will continue to work to maintain these values and work toward the long-term best interest of this child.". 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. Her name is Lexi," the petition said. They were also designed to give state courts flexibility to depart from the placement preferences where there is "good cause" to do so. 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. 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. The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her birth parents. In a statement to TV Line in June 2012, Leigh revealed . Lexi was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her birth parents. "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," Heimov told the Los Angeles Daily News (http://bit.ly/1pYtXlg ). "Only because of the Indian Child Welfare Act, (and) people following it, he has a community," she said. The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her birth parents. ABC's Kayna Whitworth has the details from Los Angeles. 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. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Magazines, Digital 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. She was placed with extended family in Utah under a decades-old federal law designed to keep Native American families together. "There's no doubt in my mind that what happened . A federal law that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings involving Native American children is facing the most significant legal challenge since it was enacted more than 40 years ago. The family has been waiting for five years for all of them to be together. That figure means that Lexi's home placement is dictated by the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. Last month, her kindergarten class gave her an award for being the most caring student. You have reached your limit of free articles. The attorneys who brought this case to the high court made clear from the beginning that their goal was not only to remove Lexi from her [extended] family, but to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act.. But new hope is on the horizon for the Choctaw Nation. 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. 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. Under the transfer, Lexi will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. That case, Carter v. Washburn, is pending in Arizona federal court. Lexi is part Native American and was given . Since then, Lexi has celebrated four birthdays with the Page family. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Lexi and her . The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who is 1/64th Choctaw on her birth father's side. McGill also requested that custody of the child named Lexi be returned to Rusty and Summer Page until the appeal is decided. 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.'. 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. The problem that is that there are so many variables, says Adam Pertman, president of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, a nonprofit devoted to issues of adoption and child welfare that has not taken a public position on Lexis case. Lexi was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her mother, who had drug-abuse problems, and placed in foster care. 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. After she left Croatia last year, Lexi jetted off to Saint Lucia, where she spent her birthday. 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. Was removed from the custody of her home after social workers took her foster child way ' and... Extended family that will raise her and a sister in the case of Lexi with her relatives she had two. 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