UPDATED to include a statement from the Choctaw Nation received March 23, 2016
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) – A 6-year-old girl who spent most of her life with California foster parents was removed from her home under a court order that concluded her Native American blood requires her placement with relatives in Utah.
Lexi, who is part Choctaw, cried and clutched a stuffed bear Monday as Rusty Page carried her out of his home north of Los Angeles to a waiting car. Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away.
“How is it that a screaming child, saying `I want to stay, I’m scared,’ how is in her best interest to pull her from the girl she was before that doorbell rang?” he told KNX-AM radio.
His wife, Summer Page, screamed “Lexi, I love you!” and a crowd of friends and neighbors cried, prayed or sang hymns.
The Pages had fought efforts under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act to place Lexi with relatives of her father, who is a Native American. The Pages argued that Lexi had lived with them since the age of 2 and knew no other life.
However, a court found that the Page family “had not proven by clear and convincing evidence that it was a certainty the child would suffer emotional harm by the transfer.”
The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi. The family is appealing and will go to the California Supreme Court if necessary, said their attorney, Lori Alvino McGill.
Lexi was 17 months old when she was removed from her birth parents’ custody. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had an extensive criminal history, according to court records cited by the Los Angeles Daily News.
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 said the girl and the Utah family had traded messages and monthly visits over the past three years.
“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.”
In a statement, the Choctaw Nation said it “desires the best for this Choctaw child.”
“The tribe’s values of faith, family and culture are what makes our tribal identity so important to us. Therefore we will continue to work to maintain these values and work toward the long-term best interest of this child,” the statement said.
Choctaw Nation Indian Child Welfare Case: Statement from the Choctaw Nation
A custody case over a six-year-old Choctaw girl named Lexi that has been going on nearly five years has been settled after three separate court battles. The Choctaw Nation began the journey to reunite Lexi with her family in 2011. Lexi is now home with her extended family – where she is able to grow up with both of her biological Choctaw sisters.
From the very beginning of Lexi’s case, the goal was for Lexi to have a permanent home with her family. The foster parents were always aware that Lexi’s presence in their home was intended to be temporary, as is the nature of foster care. The foster parents were also always aware that Lexi’s case fell under the federal and California Indian Child Welfare Acts.
Lexi’s family made sure they were part of Lexi’s life, and they have a relationship with her. Each month, they made the long drive to see Lexi. Twice each week, her family had SKYPE visits with Lexi. In addition, Lexi has had extended visits in her family’s home in Utah. Lexi has a relationship with her biological sisters and she knows them as her sisters.
The tribe and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services have been vilified and the facts of this case have been warped in an attempt to gain public sympathy for the foster family. This case is not about the foster family – but about a child’s long-term best interest- Lexi’s best interest.
Lexi – a child who should never have been subjected to the trauma of a media circus when the foster parents’ legal remedies were exhausted.
Lexi- a child who should never have had her rights to privacy and confidentiality violated.
It appears the foster family and their counsel are attempting to turn Lexi’s case into a political call to arms to dismantle ICWA. For the Choctaw Nation this case is not about politics. This case is about one of our children, one of our tribal members.
And regardless of tribal membership, Lexi should be allowed to live with her family, just as all children in any deprived case should.
The law requires Lexi be given the chance to grow up with her family, with her sisters. The California courts, time and again, found that Lexi should live with her family. The Pages have done nothing but delay Lexi’s reunification with her family.
Despite all the delays, the Choctaw Nation can report that Lexi is safely home with her loving family and her sisters, and she is doing well.
The Choctaw Nation is grateful that so many people are interested in Lexi’s wellbeing, and hope everyone continues to look at both sides of Lexi’s case. We also request that each of you respect this young child’s right to privacy.