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. 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 . "To this day, she's never come back to the reservation. 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. 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.. The family has been waiting for five years for all of them to be together. 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. , updated The state Supreme Court declined to review the case, clearing the way for the family to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. 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. 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. Lexi, who is 1.5 percent, or 1/64 Choctaw, was six years old when she was taken from her foster home near Los Angeles in a tearful parting last March. That case has key differences from the fight over Lexi: Baby Veronica was legally adopted through a private agency, while foster care is a more limited form of guardianship. Lexi had a court-appointed attorney from the Childrens Law Center of California in the lower courts. 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.. In March, Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear as Rusty Page carried her out of his home and Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away in a waiting car. The Pages have appealed the case to the California Supreme Court. Her father has a criminal history, according to court records. 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 . But 6-year-old Lexi's foster family says the application of the law in . Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital Lexi was ripped away from the only family she has ever known because of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). 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. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, Inside the Agonizing Custody Fight Over Six-Year-Old Lexi. All children, not just Native children, do better with caring relatives. Many of those gathered had been camped out in the street singing and praying since Sunday, when the officers were originally expected to arrive. Where is Lexi page now? 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Kastelic also said there was a misconception that Native American families were unfit or too poor to care for their children. 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. The following statement reflects the Choctaw Nation's position on the case of Lexi. Please enter valid email address to continue. "To Lexi this family is her everything . February 28, 2023. Associated Press 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. Regardless of tribal membership, Lexi should be allowed to live with her family, just as all children in any deprived case should.. Her . ", 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. We told her we loved her and were fighting for her and well never stop fighting for her., Then, as can be seen in a video that soon went viral, he handed-over a crying Lexi as her foster mother Summer Page and three siblings sobbed in front of the house. Group that started #KeepLexiHome is still outside praying/singing. 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 following statement reflects the Choctaw Nation's position on the case of Lexi. 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. Lexi is now living with relatives of her father who are not Native American. 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. Lexi, who is part Choctaw, was 17 months old when she was removed from custody of her mother. The child ultimately was placed with her maternal grandmother, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. All rights reserved, Two Hospitalized in Critical Condition, Including 3-Year-Old Child, in Fire at Long Beach Home, There Goes My Hero.' Officials with the Choctaw Nation have said previously they desire "the best for this Choctaw child. What happened yesterday should never happen . 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. They do not get the same best-interest-of-the-child standard that applies to all other children. The tribe intervened and has identified three dozen possible placements. She said Lexi and the Utah family had traded messages and had monthly visits during the past three years. Once a child is placed with a Native American family, it is highly unlikely that the decision would be reversed, he added. These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. The family has been waiting for five years for all of them to be together. The Choctaw Nation has advocated for Lexi to live with her family since 2011. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Lexi and her . 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. 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. 1 talking about this. 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 a statement to TV Line in June 2012, Leigh revealed . Fiona Morgan. "They are not strangers in any way, shape or form. They were also designed to give state courts flexibility to depart from the placement preferences where there is "good cause" to do so. Testimony in Congress showed that was due to ignorance of tribes' values and social norms. "Early this morning, we learned that the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear our case," the Pages wrote in a statement on the SaveOurLexi Facebook page. Lexi is now living with relatives of her father who are not Native American. A California appeals court affirmed in July a lower courts decision to remove the girl. Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com Her name is Lexi, the petition said. The placement preferences are just that -- preferences-- and they apply only when a child is in need of a placement. In a statement, they said this case is not about politics. 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. One of her biological sisters lives with the family in Utah, and another lives down the street. "They were ashamed she was Native American, and they made her ashamed she was Native American," Maldonado said. They are not strangers. . These relatives have been a part of Lexi's life for almost five years. 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. To Lexi this family is her everything her mommy, daddy and brother and sisters. By Monday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had signed the petition. At issue is the Indian . 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. Her name is Lexi," the petition said. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The custody battle over a 6-year-old girl heated up on Friday, as a state appeals court heard arguments from both sides. Rusty and Summer Page said in a statement that the high court's decision was a 'crushing blow.'. Congress did not intend ICWA's placement preferences to be used to remove a child from a loving home in these circumstances. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. The tribe at first said she wasn't eligible for membership but later reversed course. Read More Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Her father, who had a criminal history, never lived on a Choctaw reservation and didnt have any social, political, or cultural ties to the tribe, according to the court documents. Lexi was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her mother, who had drug-abuse problems. 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. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. Family . 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. "To say we are heartbroken is an understatement.". . Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records. 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. The law is very clear in California that family gets priority, she said. ABC's Kayna Whitworth has the details from Los Angeles. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. If the good-cause exception isn't satisfied in this case, it is difficult to imagine when it ever would be. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Distraught and weeping, Page shared his foster daughter's parting words with CBS Los Angeles: "Don't let them take me. Since then, Lexi has celebrated four birthdays with the Page family. Lexi's safety and wellbeing are the Choctaw Nation's paramount concern. One of Lexis biological sisters, who is Choctaw, lives with the Utah family, and another lives nearby. Copyright 2023 by The Associated Press. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. ", Page said he responded: "I have to because the county of L.A. said I have to.". Removal 1830-1862. A crowd of friends and neighbors wept, prayed or sang hymns. Further complicating the matter is that no two adoption cases are alike, which can make legal rulings meant to apply broadly particularly fraught. "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?" While it is unclear what she is up to now in terms of her career, Lexi has enjoyed traveling quite a bit in the meantime. 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. We, as a tribe, are required to follow federal law. Lexi was taken from the Page home on Monday afternoon, Armand Montiel, a public affairs director with LA DCFS, told NBC News. The Pages were always aware of this goal. I'm scared. 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. 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 LA DCFS said in a statement that the department always seeks to act in the best interest of the children it serves. Where is Lexi page now 2021? Elisha Fieldstadt is a breaking news reporter for NBC News. The Pages have fought efforts under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act to place Lexi with relatives of her father, who is part Choctaw. 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. 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. Rusty and Summer Page of Santa Clarita, California, had asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a Los Angeles juvenile courts ruling that there was no good cause to depart from the placement preferences in the Indian Child Welfare Act. A federal judge in Texas ruled the Indian Child Welfare Act is unconstitutional, saying it is racially motivated and violates the equal protection clause. McGill also requested that custody of the child named Lexi be returned to Rusty and Summer Page until the appeal is decided. 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. Thomas Blakely, a Choctaw Indian teenager, lives with his family in Idabel, Okla., one of many poor, rural communities within the sprawling . The case brought dozens of people to the Pages' Santa Clarita neighborhood to demonstrate against plans to move Lexi. The California Court of Appeals originally ruled in August of 2014 that Lexi could stay with the Pages and they could continue to fight the Utah family for custody of the child. 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 Rights Reserved. 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. The Brackeens got an emergency stay and went to court. The family's lawyer, Lori Alvino McGill, filed the request for the California Supreme Court to hear the appeal. The bottom line is that children subject to ICWA are second-class citizens, by law. LEXINGTON, Ky. (RNS) After more than two weeks and worldwide headlines, revival services at Asbury University in central Kentucky came to an end recently . They do not get the same best-interest-of-the-child standard that applies to all other children. "It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said. Our clients have been the only consistent source of love, nurturing, parenting, and protection she has received her entire life. 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. 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. IE 11 is not supported. 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. 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