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SCV News | Six-Year-Old Removed from Foster Family Despite Protests
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SCV News | Six-Year-Old Removed from Foster Family Despite Protests
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While a petition to keep a 6-year-old part-Native American girl in the home of her foster family garnered thousands of supporters, Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services relocated Lexi Monday afternoon. Lexi was removed from her foster parents, Rusty and Summer Page, at about 3 p.m. and will reportedly be relocated back to her extended family in Utah. The Page’s began the Keep Lexi Home petition after losing an appeal to deviate from the Indian Child Welfare Act, an act that aims to keep American Indian Children with American Indian families. The petition can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/keep-lexi-home A GoFundMe account was set up to help the family offset legal costs: https://www.gofundme.com/xrvswuv6 A copy of the appeal can be found here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/archive/B252999.PDF Lexi is 1.5 percent Choctaw and was removed from her biological parents at 17-months-old because of her mother’s substance abuse and her father’s extensive criminal history. Lexi has lived with the Page’s for the past four years. After reunification efforts with Lexi’s biological father failed, the ICWA, the Department and the Choctaw Nation felt that Lexi should be placed with extended family in Utah whom she had met and had a relationship with. It was around this time that the Page family, who had been caring for Lexi, decided to apply for adoption for Lexi. When the appeal was turned down Friday, friends, family and community members rallied in support for the Page family at the corner of Ron Ridge Drive and Pamplico Drive. Local leaders and lawmakers issued statements about the turn of events with Mayor Bob Kellar stating, “ It seems virtually impossible to imagine taking a 6 year old child from the family that she has lived with, virtually her entire life. Our thoughts and prayers are with this Santa Clarita family as they are bravely navigating through the system and working to keep their foster child.” The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma issued a statement saying the foster family was aware of the goal to place Lexi with her biological family and her placement with them was delayed by ongoing opposition by the Pages. “From the beginning of this case, the Choctaw Nation advocated for Lexi’s placement with her family. Lexi’s family was identified early on, and they have created a loving relationship with her. The Pages were always aware that the goal was to place Lexi with her family, and her permanent placement has been delayed due to the Pages’ opposition to the Indian Child Welfare Act. “We understand the public’s concerns for Lexi’s well-being as this is our main focus, but it is important to respect the privacy of this little girl. “We believe that following the Choctaw Nation’s values is in Lexi’s best interest. The Choctaw Nation will continue to uphold these values, and advocate for Lexi’s long-term best interest.” Representative Steve Knight said, “The Page family and their struggle is very concerning to me, and my heart goes out to them at this dark hour. While this issue must be handled primarily by the judicial system, my staff and I will stay in close contact with the family to provide any support and information possible.” Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich issued the statement: “As with any child, we want the best for her and to ensure her safety and well-being. Los Angeles County and the Department of Children and Family Services is required to uphold the decisions of the judge in Dependency Court and the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA is a federal law passed by Congress in 1978 which sets federal requirements that apply to all local child custody proceedings involving an Indian child who is a member of or eligible for membership in a federally recognized tribe. We will continue to work with the Department of Children and Family Services and our County Counsel to ensure Lexi’s well-being.” Senator Sharon Runner’s spokeswoman issued the following statement on behalf of Runner: “This is truly a devastating situation. Senator Runner has long been a strong supporter of adoptive and foster families, advocating for them on both a personal and policy level. Her number one concern in these situations is always what is best for the child. Unfortunately, the law governing Lexi’s case is a federal law that Senator Runner does not have jurisdiction over. However, she is following the situation closely, as is her staff, and she supports any action that values Lexi’s needs above all else.” ©2016 SCVTV |
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CFS refuse to acknowledge my daughters heritage, I am currently back home on my rez in Lame Deer, MT spending time with uncles, aunties and cousin’s healing from this insanity they have going on in So. Cal. same situation, foster parent’s have become inappropriately bonded to my daughter and has been working scandalously with CFS intern social worker Jasmine Alvarez to adopt my daughter. After repeatedly telling her of my Northern Cheyenne heritage, my uncle’s and aunties and refusing to take or return calls from ICWA rep Mark Roundstone.
My Nation has stepped in faxed Judge Pace, and Child Advocacy and prevented Aponii’s June 1st adoption. We need to get these people out of these positions even if it means criminal prosecution, cfs interns such as Alvarez and attorneys like Clark, should not be allowed anywhere near our children. .they are judicial pedophiles and should be punishable under the same charges. .STOP STEALING OUR CHILDREN !!!!
See you in federal court
(909)586-4331
I am currently going through another ICWA case with my daughter Aponii Whitewolf,CFS San Bernardino and my Nation the Northern Cheyenne. I am coming back to CA with my daughters letter of eligibility, my father’s probate/enrollment records. For the past two years they have stated in court doc’s “ICWA does not apply” th
THIS WAS TRULY DISGUSTING AND NARCISSISTIC how the foster parents and their pre-arranged group of supporters behaved (AKA: performed) for the news media. Did they ever consider in their selfish minds that the over-the-top emotionalism and a hyped-up crowd could be traumatizing for this child? Was their media circus performance just evidence of the negativity they portrayed to the child about returning to her blood relatives? Perhaps the Pages having only temporary custody is the first of other future blessings for this 6-year old. I suspect based on all the news reports and and actual facts about the Page’s fostering, she is much better off with her extended Native American family that maintained relations throughout her temporary custody stay — versus a bunch of entitled narcissists masquerading as parents. Shame on the Page parents (and their supporters) for trying to imprint their self-serving negativity and emotional agenda on this child — or any child. UNDENIABLY INCONSIDERATE AND NARCISSISTIC!
Wow, these are only foster parents, this is not adoption, this girl needs to be with her real family, even if not blood related, these people do not need to be foster parents if they cannot respect the agreement of the contract. These people are trying to rip her from her real family. They seriously need to be evaluated, it sounds to me they had more intentions of being more than a foster parent from the beginning. They really should not be foster parents again.
The law is quite clear and the right action has been taken. DPS are mandated to place any child with family first period!!!! Enjoy Utah Lexi cause that is now your home.
This is so wrong! She is with a loving family that is her life don’t destroy this little soul! Please let justice proveal! The justice of doing the right thing for a change!
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
This is ridiculous! I hate this kid no of nonsense…” Blood” allows us to destroy a child’s life and take her from the family she knows and loves..how does ANYONE justify this??
How would you feel if this child was your relative and they were trying to take her away from your family?
She has know THIS family as her family! Now she’s being ripped from the people she loves… It’s wrong in my view
She’s had a family that has wanted her all along. Why did the foster family try to keep her from them?
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
But the sister with them is her biological sister and that should not be taken lightly. Maybe lexie will develope a close relationship with her sisters and maybe the pages can still maintain close ties with her. Maybe people should be looking for the positive now. What’s done is done and everyone that loves her should move forward in a positive manner.
SCVTV your story is biased.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/03/22/breaking-california-returns-child-family-icwa-case-163881
They seem like nice people, but as a foster parent, they have no right, none.
Labeling her “Native American” because she’s 1.5% choctaw is ridiculous. So what about the other 98.5%?
Here’s the real question, why should this little girl be kept away from her own family ? family, that I learned, have been fighting for custody of her from temporary foster care.
Exactly!!!
Geez not about how much Indian she is. .. she and her biological siblings have the right to be raised together this is what it is about. These people are foster parents and were ordered 3 years ago to return lexie to her biological family. They have done more harm to this child and her biological sisters then good by not abiding by the court order 3 years ago. According to media this is not the first child they have tried to keep. They should be reevaluated to determine their ability to foster.
I feel that these foster parents need a mental and psychological evaluation, it sounds to me like they are trying to find a legal way to obduct children from their own family
The world is not black and white, laws regarding children should be protect them, keep them safe, keep them healthy physically and emotionally, this is a travesty.
DCPS is over worked, have too many kids on their caseloads. they are more then relived to get this off their docket. This case has never ever been about a child….always about the broken system.
In LA County foster children are exploited everyday by their pre screened over checked foster parents. Just two years ago the LACO foster system was hit with allegations of foster children being sold in the sex trade…sold by their foster parents to pedophiles. The system does not work! Lexi is just another sad statistic in our broken system.
I believe if our country….Americans…Christians acted out what we’ve been taught by Jesus, we would have no need for Foster Care or Welfare. Christians, are we sheep or goats? I too struggle to care for others….I too can be selfish….I too have harden my heart at times to needs of the poor. I too have judged the drug addict, the welfare mom! Enough….enough!
The Page family was acting selflessly when they made the decision to be Foster parents. Life is messy and sadly this family is feeling the results of a fallen and sinful world.
My prayers are with the Page family. mostly praying for a scared child who is not able yet to understand, fully, what is happening. My hope is in Christ and His grace and mercy.
They weren’t acting selflessly when they fought to keep her from her biological family.
Tracy Walling Otis I respectfully disagree.
Tracy Walling Otis I have noticed that you are very passionate about the Lexi story. Wonder if you are equally passionate about Laurynn Whiteshiled story?
You should do a little more research before you make such harsh judgments of caring people, who open their home and life to children who need a loving family….temporarily or forever.
May I suggest reading “The Wrongs We Are Doing Native American Children”
Published in Newsweek and authored by Clint Bolick on 11/02/15.
Each case stands alone. There is more to Lexis’ case then what your reading online.
My hope is that you become more informed and have a heart that is open.
It’s not about the foster parents, they seem very nice but it’s about CPS coming in a destroying families. That child should have been placed with family from the beginning.
JerryBarbi Newbold, I can tell when people are exploiting the media and emotionally manipulating other people’s emotions. And I think it is wrong for children to be taken away from their biological family that wants them. I only know of this story because I live in SCV and have many Facebook friends here who have been sucked in by this story and the theatrics involved in it. My heart is for a child to not be taken away from relatives that want her and have had to fight for her too. I know what it’s like to have to fight this system when my daughter’s father tried to take full custody of her when she was 14 for the sole reason that he didn’t want to pay child support. I know personally how this system is messed up and abused and my daughter and I are still suffering the consequences of it.
Her biological family are her parents. They were to busy doing drugs and committing crimes to care for her and her siblings. Why does her father have the right to decide her fate when he can’t make good decisions in his own life? How many kids does he get to leave with various family members? Many of you forget you are dealing with a child not a dog! If the other family cared about her well being they would have formed a relationship with Lexie and the current family. That is called acting in the best interest of the child.
And if they truly cared as much for her as they are acting, they would not have gone out of their way to make this as traumatic as possible for her either. And I feel sorry for the trauma that they have caused their other children too. Why try to adopt a child that they knew was not adoptable when there are so many others that are?
Tracy Walling Otis sorry for your situation. My daughter has been friends with the Page family and I can say earnestly that is not the case. They are broken. They are reaching out to the public for any help. In our society families like, your’s has experienced much brokenness and stress because of custody battles. The innocent have paid the price or mothers have had to carry the burden of supporting the family. Lexi, was in a family that provide her much love and stability. Then county of LA placed her there. The Page family said “yes” will take her and bring her into our home like one of our own.
No theatrics just emotion that being thrown all over the media. I think it’s a good thing for the Page family to fight for Lexi.
We too have have placed a child into the hands of another family…an adoptive family and everyday my heart breaks for her. My, first grand daughter….I wanted her to live with us. Over the years I have laid my burden….emotions at the foot of the cross. It’s not easy…you could witness blubbering and emotion at times. The pain is real….just like your pain. May I encourage you to reach out and search the scripture , The Bible, for comfort. God is a BIG God who also, gave up His one and only Son, Jesus.
My our Lord fill you with the knowledge of Him.
Tracy Walling Otis the Page family children did not know that Lexi was leaving until the social workers came to get her. The judge gave very strict orders not to tell them. They were traumatized when she was carried out by her dad.
JerryBarbi Newbold, my heart goes out to the Page children and I think their parents could have made this much less difficult and traumatic for them too. This is part of being a foster family so as painful as it is they also knew what they were getting into for their family. I’m sorry for your pain and loss too. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be and that is why I feel that Lexi should have the chance to be with her biological family including her sister. I do know the Lord, I know and read scripture, and He is my comfort too. <3
She have to back to her real home sorry
Her real home was in Los Angeles. She never lived in Utah. The father hadn’t lived there in years, if at all. These people are not Indian and are not related to her at all.
This Utah family is the niece of the bio fathers step father. This is the step dads extended family not this little girls fathers family.
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
This breaks my heart. That poor family. That poor little girl.
The thing that gets me about this is the hypocrisy. I am more native than this girl, yet when it came time to find funding for college, I didn’t have “enough” blood to qualify for aid. I don’t have “enough” blood to apply for a res card. I don’t have “enough” blood to receive dividends from casino earnings or any other reservation endeavor. HOWEVER, 1.5% is ENOUGH to rip this girl from her loving home?! Why? For whose agenda? Sounds more like political pandering rather than legitimate usage of a tribe preserving law. I’m embarrassed for LA County, the State of California and most of all, the Choctaw nation, because I guarantee you they have done absolutely zero for the betterment of ANYONE in this case. Shameful.
If it wasn’t for the ICWA and the Choctaw Nation this child would have been taken away from her biological family. So stop being bitter about the benefits you didnt get and think how you would feel if this was your sister or your relative that was being kept from your family.
Fostering a child is hard, I don’t know how someone can do it and understand how a family can get attached to a child they are caring for. But they knew when they joined the program that their care is only temporary! For them now to say that “their” daughter has been taken away is wrong. They knew that this child could never be adopted and that someday she might be moved to an Native American family. Maybe they shouldn’t foster a child again.
This is the 2nd time they have done this too. They should never be allowed to foster again.
I have hope that this will be corrected and soon. . This precious little girl is depending on adults for her Life. She will grow up one day and hopefully we will hear and see how the Adults decision comes after. .prayers over her and the ones that truly have concerns and care n love for this beautiful little life♥ prayers for unveiling the TRUTH+++
If she is 1.5% Native American, that means she is 98.5% non-Native American. The law is biased and negates the rest of her racial/ethnic identity.
Did DFS and the CA Court system assure the foster family would have visitation rights? Or that Lexie could contact them in the future? Did they require assurance of and funding for the years of psycho-therapy this child will need to deal with the long-term effects of being ripped from the only family she knows? If they didnt, then they are just hiding behind the letter of the law with no view of the law’s actual intent. Praying the appellate court system sees the light and acts in the best interest of the child, and reunites this child with her foster family before more damage is done.
Law is law.
I truly believe that the courts sometimes must intervene in cases with laws like this. “Law is law” doesn’t make sense here. If “Law is law,” then police officers wouldn’t let motorists off with warnings rather than tickets, there would be no need for appellate courts or the Supreme Court if “law is law!”
What I mean is….if you don’t like the law, vote. Change it. In the meantime, it’s law. As crappy as it is, it’s law. There series of ridiculous laws on the books.
1. How do u know she’s not Native American? 2. What’s horrible about it she already had a family when they brought her to them 3. Why are blaming DCFS? They were only doing their job. It’s been a federal law since 1978. No matter how many signatures you gather the would be outnumbered if all Native Americans signed their own petition on top of the one signed in 1978
You need to do your research before you write your comments Chayo.
^^^^^yup^^^^^ people are SO quick to comment on something they know nothing about.
I agree with you Chayo.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/03/22/breaking-california-returns-child-family-icwa-case-163881
This is so messed up the girl is only 1.5% Indian
The problem is, she should’ve been out with her extended family a long time ago, if that’s what they were gonna do. She bonded with this family all these years; they’re all shrs ever know. NOW, they wanna take hef out of that environment and out her with her extended family. On the other hand, this family was her FOSTER family. Si, they should’ve known that she was gonna be taken out at some point. If they wanted to keep her there, they should’ve adopted her.
Chris, they did apply to adopt Lexi. Unfortunately the Choctaw nation would not allow that to happen.
Actually that’s not accurate. The father still has all his rights and has been fighting for her for several years now. The Page family has been manipulating the system and drawing out this situation for years. They were trying to adopt her out from under her father who still wants her and wants to raise her.
If they honestly cared about her, they’d want her to be with her biological family since its possible. If they cared they wouldn’t have made such a scene making it more traumatizing than it needed to be. They showed no strength, they showed no restraint and did this little girl a disservice by keeping her way longer than they should have. Her father has been trying to get her back for 3yrs now and has complied. If they would have given her up when first requested (3yrs ago), this would have never happened. They kept her for their own personal reasons without thinking about what was truly best for her. They don’t care about her, they care about themselves. How do I know? They’ve tried this before with another child. They should no longer be able to foster since they don’t seem to understand what it means to be a “foster” family.
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
If it weren’t for the Choctaw Nation this child would have been kept from her biological family.
ICWA was implemented for a reason. Lexi is Native American and should be with her tribe. When she was place in the home they knee she was native and should have read the ICWA law before getting attached. Because of their actions the child was confused and made it worse for her. The law is very specific. A native child cannot be adopted as long as they have native parents or relatives on the reservation. What do they know of her ancestry, culture that they could share with her? The law was enacted because the public thought they could just find a native child and make their own. First they take their land, spirituality and now they want the children? My daughter is 1/4 native and was educated at UC Davis at no cost. They make it seem that she’s going to go downhill because of her new surrounding. Her bloodline is probably 1/8. I’m sorry you got attached with her however from the beginning you knew she couldn’t be adopted whether or not her parents gave her up. You are not the first to challenge this law and are not the first to lose. Our numbers are dwindling and believe it or not she will be better educated because of the new tribes history. I’m sorry for your loss however………………
U need to get lost take a long walk off a short bridge
Im u sorry exist in this world maybe u should be in Utah
Your comments and callousness clearly demonstrates you’ve not read one bit of the background or court documents. She’s got a minuscule drop of “native” blood and now pawned off on a random, non-blood, non-Indian couple. She’s not going “with her tribe”.
She’s not going to a reservation. She’s been taken to make a political point …. To help YOUR cause … Not her. And that’s a special kind of evil.
Do your research Chayo! The family in Utah is NOT Native American and NOT on the reservation.
Keri Leiner you forgot they are NON blood relatives too! This whole thing makes me sick!
Idiot – treat them like chattel. That’s what you are saying. 1/64th Choctaw blood and she becomes a commodity to graze on the reservation. Well maybe we should send all the black children adopted by white families in the suburbs back to the reservation that the government set up for them aka the projects. Dumbass. By the way do you know the ancestry of the almost adoptive parents? No you don’t. I’ll stop before I become uncivilized.
Oh and your family is your favorite Christmas present Chayo? Good for you. Too bad this little girl won’t have that luxury anymore – asshole.
Michelle Larkins Pinto Ha, I’ve been commenting so much about this case and have pointed out numerous times that the Utah family is in no way Lexi’s “biological/blood-related” family! My husband is freaking out that I’ve been so obsessed with this case, but I just feel so badly for this poor girl and the Page family.
Keri Leiner and not her family
Keri Leiner mine too. I can’t get over this. It’s so wrong and the fact that people can’t see that is horrifying
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
Why did they attempt to adopt a child who they knew was not adoptable in the first place? Why try to take her away from her biological relatives to begin with? There are plenty of children in the foster system who are unwanted by anyone in their biological family. If it were not for the ICWA this biological family would have lost this child.
Tracy Walling Otis The Utah family is not Lexi’s biological family. I’ve never been a foster parent but I can’t imagine opening my home and heart to a child, have them bond with siblings, neighbors, school friends, foster parents and then not desire to adopt.
Keri Leiner, she will be with her biological family including her sister. Allowing a child to go back to their biological family is what a foster parent is supposed to do. There are other unwanted children that are adoptable and need loving homes too.
Shame on LA DCFS!!!!!
If the parents, aunt/uncle, or grandparents are not asking for
Custody, then the foster parents should be able to adopt. Another option should be joint custody with full physical custody to the foster parents, since she has lived with them for 4 years. The foster mom is American Indian, but what tribe?
Why? This is so sad this breaks my heart it makes me cry.
There is much more to this story
1.5% Native American. 😰. Soo wrong
While I understand that this is heart wrenching, please understand who is truly responsible for this law:
Indian Child Welfare Act: DEMOCRATIC LAW, introduced by SD Democrat James Abourezk April 1st, 1977, signed by DEMOCRATIC President Jimmy Carter November 8th 1978. WHO ARE YOU VOTING FOR AGAIN?
Citation: Wikipedia & all of Google
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Child_Welfare_Act
Here is the go fund me link to help them being Lexi home https://www.gofundme.com/xrvswuv6
Unlike the euro style…native style the lineage is matriarchal not patriarchal. ..if she is or eligible to be claimed by her own people…that is the law…I got moved around a lot more then she has…I’m a combination of the time I spent with my Irish family as well as my mother and her people…a foot in each camp…I’m sad for the family who wants to keep her…I know they love her a nd only want the best for her…and I hope they continue to foster other needy children…they are obviously good people….
So horrible.
I hate how the media sensationalizes everything. Read the full story. The relatives have been fighting for this kid for 3 years and it is the foster family who have been dragging it out in court. I see no one questions their actions as not being in the best interest of the child and they are the ones who brought it to the media to make this a circus.
Exactly !!
Where was this “family” when Dad first went to jail?
When the child was placed it was explained to this foster family that they were still in the process of finding family to take the child this foster family was the 3rd family she was with. The foster family knew from the beginning that family was trying to be located and this placement would not be permanent. Shortly after placement family was found and that began the process for the child to be reunited with her family. The foster family then decided to go to court to be declared de facto parents this process took several months which turned into years all of this delayed the child being turned over to her family. The foster family delayed the child being returned. Even though all this was going on the child’s family has never given up wanting her, for the last 3 years the family has made monthly visits to California to see her and she has visited them they also talk on the phone and Skype.
http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/archive/B252999.PDF
So it takes over a year to find family? Dad did not know where his family was? Both sound sketchy.
I read the court documents too and this so called family, is family by marriage. To be exact something like a distant step cousin or niece to a step grandfather. Regardless, no family was available the first 17 months of her life while she bounced from one foster family to another. She came to this family and became stabilized. They complied with the reunification orders with the bio father who initially did it and then blatantly decided one day to no longer see her. At that time the foster family applied to adopt her.
Tina Ann and you know all this how
But there were paper’s in place since 2011, this was never intended to be a forever home, she was never suppose to be adopted, this is why they call it foster….I want a lot of things in my life does not mean I can bully someone else into giving it to me, The Foster family drug this out and made it harder on the child, they knew about the American indian order…..The Tribe was involved from the Get go, they removed the mother….
Chris Richardson, you are 100% right!
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/03/22/breaking-california-returns-child-family-icwa-case-163881
If these family members have been involved nearly all her life as the article states then why was she not put in their custody when Dad went to prison? It does not make any sense for the child to be in the system when there is family available to care for her while her one parent is in prison. Something is not adding up.
Chris Kasten, the system is very messed up.
If they drag this out and continue to convolute exactly what has transpired, it will be easier for them to manipulate the system.
Poor baby girl….
just let her have her innocence. Protect her.
No doubt that the system is messed up. But having gone through something similar with a family member, family when present, can get it done. Even when out of state. And it does not take years.
It takes money, a good lawyer, and a good judge too. Without that it can take a long time. Some of our judges are really bad.
They are now part of the cash siphoning system….everybody and anyone will be happy to gain from their pain.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Been there.
She’s not NA
This is so heartbreaking
How many children will not be adopted or fostered because of this horrific tragedy?
My thoughts exactly thinking about so many others kids out there very sad
Exactly, I would never do it after seeing this child abduction. Why would you voluntarily sign up to have your heart ripped out?
They are picked out by their perspective tribal representatives.
It is not a horrific tragedy. It is the law that was enacted by the president. Refresh your history
there are more black. Hispanic, white, oriental children in foster care and orphanages that there are Indian natives waiting to be adopted. Once they discover their culture they are placed with their relatives or people. The other children stay there most of the time because the majority want white babes, which is harder to do or tottlers. Do don’t blame ICWA we take care of our own
As usual, there are 2 sides to every story.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/03/22/breaking-california-returns-child-family-icwa-case-163881
Chayo Romero you take care of your own? Clearly. That’s why this bio father lost his first daughter and then lost his second. Not one of you helped him before that happened did you?
No, you’re just jumping on the band wagon now. That family didn’t even know her until they started seeing her after her fathers reunification was done with. That is when that family (who is not Indian or even family) should have been good human beings and saw a healthy happy child and left her alone. No they continued to fight people who had her and cared for her for 2.5 years at that point. You know, while “you guys were taking care of your own” this family was loving this little girl.
Unbelievable!!!
Why shouldn’t this child be with her biological family who have been fighting for her for years?
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
Such a sad story. Many lives have been changed forever. No telling the long term effects this will have.
This makes me sick….this will alter her poor little life, her sense of safety, those people make me sick!!!
What makes me sad is people like you who doesn’t know history of the Indian and this law that was enacted in 1978. Google it for more information and this child WILL thrive in her new environment
Or maybe she will develope a loving relationship with her biological siblings and grow up happy and secure with her family. Her biological family is just as important. Maybe the foster family the pages can use the $22 thousand dollars from their go fund me accountbe used to visit her instead of wasting it all on a custody case they will lose anyway.
Chayo Romero you’re wrong. She was thriving. Now she will live in home where one half sister lives with the step grandfather and the other half sister lives down the street.
I’m sorry sweet little girl. You had a wonderful life with a stable unified family, a church family, a school family, and a community that love you. Now go live with these other people because they get your half sister on holidays and 2 weeks in the summer and your other sister lives down the street. They’re gonna teach you all about your native tribe…. Oh wait, no they won’t because they are not Indian.
Huh? What just happened here. Oh yeah, a loop hole the the Choctaw nation abused to take this little girl.
Her best interest was to stay where she was. These people cannot offer her anymore then her foster family could. They can’t offer blood, they can’t offer Indian culture, and they sure as hell cant explain to her why they took her from her mommy and daddy.
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
Her best interest is to be with her biological family that wants her and has been fighting for her. Who are you to say otherwise? How would you feel if this was a child being taken away from your biological family? You are wrong Megan Lloyd-Colón.
1.5% doesn’t make you Native American. She’s a little girl, taken from the family who loves her. The family she loved. 💔
It’s just simply not right.
Even I drop of verified Indian blood makes you native. Read the ICWA statement and Indians bill of rights
Why do you say this? Are you enrolled in a tribe? Do you work for the bureau of Indian affairs or the department of interior? Because they believe she is or she wouldn’t have been take away
She’s 98.5% something other than Choctaw. Why do the Native Americans get to “claim” her?!? Where are the other nationality groups that this child would “belong” to?? Why can’t they fight for her? And where was the biological parent’s “faith, family, and culture” when he walked away from his child in 2012?!? This is B.S.! Once again, the government has failed and the people suffer. No common sense, whatsoever. I definitely don’t buy it that the Choctaw have the child’s best interest at heart. It’s a stinking power play. And Lexi is the pawn. So very heartbreaking.
This is so crazy. We was the tribe six years ago? This child was in a loving home and is uprooted for some insane law! Horrible!!!
There’s more to the story. He’s been fighting for his child all along. If she wasn’t NA, he probably would have lost her all together. How is that fair to the biological father when a foster family tries to take away his child? It’s a messed up system.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/03/22/breaking-california-returns-child-family-icwa-case-163881
Jennifer DeFusco Hayes yes! yES! YES!!
Tracy Walling Otis well maybe he shouldn’t have been out stealing cars and she wouldn’t have been taken away. Blame blame blame!!!
the court documents say the bio father went to jail for Grand Left Auto. But I like the down play of this article above.
It’s crazy how a story can be twisted to make the only good people in her life look shady.
I fully support the Page Family and I have never met them. I have read court documents and article after article and I still believe that they have her best interest at heart.
#prayforlexi
#sendlexihome
She will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father. 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 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 Daily News.
“She has a loving relationship with them,” Heimov said. “They are not strangers in any way, shape or form.”
In a statement, the National Indian Child Welfare Association said 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.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-21/native-american-girl-6-removed-from-california-foster-home
How can this article say she is being ‘ reunited’ with these people in Utah when she’s only met them on Skype? She is only 1.5% Indian, and the STEP Aunt who wants to start raising this 6 1/2 yr. old, has NO Indian blood in her. However, her foster mom in Santa Clarita who has raised her for 4 yrs. does!!!!
So much for ‘ the best interest’ of the child!
All you people with the signs..”so called human shields” did great stoping dcfs from taking the poor child…. You guys did the “el matador” Olay!!
😓
This is just sad .. The little girl had been with this family since she was a baby .
How is that in the best interest of the child to rip her from the only family she has known ??
Prayers go out to this little girl and her foster family . Just heart breaking
I just lost my BIOLOGICAL granddaughter, to a woman who previously adopted my other two grandchildren. I was under the impression at the time, that this woman was a biologically related cousin, to the BIOLOGICAL mother. I subsequently then learned, there afterwards, to the official adoption of my grandchildren, that she was simply but only a family friend, and that the two mother’s of both BIOLOGICAL and adoptive mom, were old friends and of whom their children, collectively, referenced them as to being their ‘AUNTS!’
Well, these types of relationships are defined by way of an accepted sociological definition to terms, being otherwise known as ‘fictive familial relations.’
I am the paternal grandfather, of whom had temporary legal custody of my new little granddaughter for eleven full months, uninterrupted time; she having had been removed from my youngest son and his paramours custody, due to good cause and reason. And they ultimately lost their parental rights to her, by way of ‘TPR.’
I fought hard and long to try and keep her, by way of petitioning for adoption. Ultimately, last Thursday, the final decision was made, and after eleven months of literally raising my fourteen-month-old granddaughter, for essentially all of her knowing life, to date, she was removed from my custody the following day (last Friday) and her only home she has ever known!
I do not know the extent of contact, the adopive mother will permit me, and of not only to her, but my other two grandchildren as well? I’ve struggled with the heart-wrenchingly and tumultuous feelings, of all that are and presently, currently so, rawly, as like an open wound, now exist. And to these totality of circumstances as they are…
However, despite my own WANT and admittedly SELFISHLY, SELF-ABSORBED thinking, and as to the totality of MY FEELINGS in all that has occurred and now is, the REALITIES of the facts are undeniably indisputable: my little granddaughter is with her full BIOLOGICAL FAMILY MEMBERS of RELATIONSHIP, to the most enduringly so of any and all others, with that being and including me! That being that she’s now fully, completely united as is in its realities are, and in so to its being, which indeed is the most properly and right of things for her. And she is now in her forever home, with her full biological brother and sister.
Sometimes, in our own doings of the most right thing? It is actually, in reality, ofttimes, the very most hardest and difficult of all things otherwise so and else, and in our abilities to following through with and in actually doing; and realizing in it, is what that appropriately and properly right thing actually, in its realities, is! And, for a grandpa to truly come to that place and point, of being completely willing and able, to reconcile his own self to that matter of prevailing truth, and to those circumstances all encompassing, surrounding it at hand?
Well, in the end, that reality must be come to, and in the fullness to its entirety of complete understanding and acceptance; these things despite your own wants, needs, desires, or beliefs to those things, and all and everything else that you may or might deem to its being something RIGHT, or TRUTH, in your own mind, by way of thought and thinking?
Well, simply, just perhaps, you may have to consider that the best manifest INTERESTS, to the most loving thing you could possibly ever submit yourself to in its doings, for a child of whom you love beyond descriptiveness, to its actual abilities in its conveyances to another, by way of any knowing words to even describe it? That is, actually in the coming, to whereby you can finally understand to realization, that in the ‘letting go,’ it becomes and in ACTUALITY is the most right thing to do, after all…