KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday it will not be hearing the custody case of Lexi, a girl with Native American ancestry fostered by a Saugus family.
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The California Appellate Court decision that Lexi be moved to Utah to stay with extended family is upheld. There is no more opportunity for appeal.
Lexi, who is 1/64th Choctaw, was 6 years old when she removed from the Page family last March because of the Indian Child Welfare act of 1978.
“To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. It is difficult to describe the turmoil, heartbreak and devastation that our family and Lexi has endured over the past 10 months.” said the Page family in a statement, “The light that has kept us going has been the incredible prayers and support from our family, friends and supporters.”
The girl was removed in March, by the Department of Child and Family Services. 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. Lexi had lived in the home since she was 2 years old.
Advocates for Lexi’s foster family stirred national protests when she was initially taken from the home.
“While this is certainly a crushing blow, it will not stop us from fighting for Lexi’s rights and the rights of other children unnecessarily hurt by the Indian Child Welfare Act.” said the Page family, “We will continue to advocate on Lexi’s behalf.”
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If Lexi was removed from a loving family because she was 1/64 Indian, does that entitle those of us who are 1/8 Indian to b on the roll and collect $ as others do???? Or to obtain benefits from the Indian gambling institutions??????
This story was misrepresented. Lexi belongs with her biological family and NOT the Pages.
You don’t get money just because your Indian that is a myth. If you’re registered with a reservation and they have a casino , you get a portion of the winnings. You also have to be registered with the Dept of Interior and the BIA. If your reservation has mineral rights and they sell it to the govt the monies made go to the reservation and you must and you must be 1:4 Native to collect not 1/8th
Maybe are incoming president has enough (you know whats) to get involved and stop this injustice.
1/64th, Really!!!
Let’s hope not! It’s not about being Native American- it’s about a child going to live with her biological family. The public had no business interfering.
Good!
She wasn’t their child, she was their foster.
She wasn’t up for adoption.
Hopefully the county will never place a child in their care, obviously they do not have the foster child’s welfare at heart.
What a heartless reply. This child lived and was loved by this family since she was two years old. To rip a child from the only family she’s known for four years for any reason (1/64 Indian being the poorest excuse ever.) to live with strangers should be a crime. The law should fit each situation. The distant relatives didn’t come forth for Lexi when she was a baby. Many caring foster families adopt the children in their care. Those are the best.
You don’t know all the facts. The Pages should not have fought for her. This public display by the Pages was damaging to Lexi. Lexi is with her loving biological family.
I agree. They knew from the very beginning she was not adoptable. All of the media attention was useless and they put right in the center.and the public doesn’t sway the ICWA. Read it
Not strangers, she knew her relatives well in past visits. Not the only family she knows. Her father has been fighting for her. She has siblings she is living with. Had to use Indian % to get cut thru legal fight vs the Pages put up. Never adoptable. The Pages tried to adopt another child before that was only needed foster family time. Facts vs emotion/manipulation.
Actually Kimberly, there is more to this story and you are wrong about the relatives. It’s so sad that most people don’t know the whole story behind this situation and instead only see the Pages as saviors being mistreated by “the system” and the relatives as horrible baby stealers.
This foster family, The Page family, took Lexi in, knowing that the relatives would eventually get custody of the child if her dad didn’t get reunification. Lexi was with this family as a foster child (not for adoption, there’s a difference) Because the father lived out here, DCFS found a local foster family for the daughter to stay with, so the father could have regular visitations with Lexi while he tried to regain custody of his daughter. That is why she didn’t immediately go to Utah. There was always a chance that the father would get his daughter back (another thing the foster parents should have been preparing the child for)
The Utah relatives were not complete strangers. They had met with Lexi and also Skyped with her regularly. They also have another sibling of Lexi’s that either lives with them or with another relative on the same block.
I know the Page family probably grew to love Lexi, but they were completely inappropriate in their actions as foster parents. They should have prepared Lexi for an easy transition to her relatives and not tried to put their own feelings and best interest first. They turned this into a very sad and overblown situation. And then to top it off, instead of having the originally arranged private exchange, to hand Lexi over to DCFS quietly at a park, they made the DCFS workers come to their home where they had tons of protesters and made a huge ordeal, crying hysterically and having this poor child ripped away from them (the famous picture in the paper), while they screamed, scaring her and making her feel like she was going to a terrible place. Any truly loving parent would want to make this transition as easy and comfortable as possible for the child, no matter the parents own feelings. A decent foster parent would have told her happy and kind things about the relatives and made her excited to start this new journey, telling her she was so loved and this family would love her too, instead of surrounding her with chaos and instilling complete fear and confusion (not to mention the mental stress the Page family put on their own children by behaving the way they did) They should have kept their pain private from Lexi and found a healthy and sensitive way to help her and their own children deal with transition, instead of the public display of grief and dramatics.
As a foster mom myself, I can tell you there is a difference between fostering and adopting… and yes, sometimes you are able to adopt a child you foster, but that is not always the case, nor what fostering is about. Fostering is offering a transitional, loving and safe home for a child while they are wards of the court and usually giving their parents time to get their act together and get their child back. You have to be very careful not to mislead the foster child. As hard as it is, many times you have to prepare the child for possible reunification with their parent. Also being aware that if the parents are unable to reunify with the child there is always a possibility of a relative (even a distant one) coming forward. It’s not always easy and it doesn’t always seem fair or right, but the court has the ultimate decision. People who foster need to be very careful they don’t cross lines and don’t put the child through even more mental stress than their life has already had.
Thank you for posting. I also posted with similar information. This has been so frustrating as people jump on a bandwagon with limited information.
The reason she was with the foster daily so long was because they filed lawsuits to keep her when she was supposed to go to family years ago. They harmed her by relinquishing her years before. They were told from the beginning that she was not available for adoption. Shame on the Pages.
The fostering family knew she was Native when they first got her and were told she was not adoptable, Her Indian family were in contact with her while she was with them. Her grandmother was still alive. So as far as I’m concerned she is where she needs to be
How do we know that the extended family is not the best situation for her?
Very sad situation for all concerned, but I bet that the “extended family” have
been fighting for her as well, since she was two and placed in the foster home.
I guess this sort of heartbreak comes with the territory when you agree to be
a foster family. Sad
This has been frustrating. Few supporters have read all the documents available The family was told it was temporary. The father agreed to allow her to go to a non-native family so she would be close and he could see her. His reunification failed. The biological family tried to have this move done three years ago but the Page family continued to fight it. If her best interest was their only concern then clearly moving her again would not be good. Having spoken to someone in the Family Services Department (off the record) – she is happy and well adjusted. The biological family and Social Services had intended to offer the family contact but, due to the media circus created, they did not feel it was in her best interests.
Katy, until you know the full story, DO NOT pass judgment on what you know nothing about. Try researching the WHOLE story before you judge others who only want to continue to love a child who had been with them since she was 2 years old!
If you had read the whole story and all the documents you would be aware that the delay in placing her permanently with her biological family was caused by the foster family’s legal delays. I feel bad for both families and want what is in the best interest of the child but much of the difficulty was created by the foster family. I agree that they only want to love her but so does the biological family and, again, if they had won this appeal and had proceeded to move her again, that clearly would not have been in her best interests.
I truly admire your courage and efforts fighting for YOUR child Lexi! I completely support you 100% and am willing to sign a petition or whatever I can do to help.
the court documents are available here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/archive/B252999.PDF
relevant passages:
“The R.s expressed their interest in adopting Alexandria as early as October 2011.
They were initially told that to avoid confusing Alexandria, they should not contact her
while father attempted to reunify. If reunification efforts failed, they were the tribe’s first
choice for adoption. ”
“By the time Alexandria was placed with the P.s in December 2011, her extended
family in Utah, the R.s, were aware of dependency proceeding and had spoken to
representatives of the tribe about their interest in adopting Alexandria. The tribe agreed
to initial foster placement with the P.s because it was close to father at a time when he
was working on reunification. If reunification services were terminated, the tribe
recommended placement with the R.s in Utah.”
“On October 4, 2012, the court terminated father’s reunification services and
scheduled a hearing for termination of parental rights under Welfare and Institutions
Code section 366.26. At the Department’s request on November 16, 2012, the court
issued a request for expedited placement, identifying the R.s in Utah as the planned
placement under the ICPC.”
“On January 17, 2013, while the ICPC request was still in process, Alexandria’s
guardian ad litem and court-appointed attorney requested a “Do Not Remove” order to
prevent Alexandria from being moved out of state without a court order. Commissioner
Sobel granted the request on January 18, 2013”
It seems that the R’s (the Utah family) had expressed interest in adopting Lexi and early as October 2011. And that by November 16, 2012 (after reunification failed), the courts had already issued a request for expedited placement with the R’s.
The Page’s issued the legal challenge to block the request on January 17, 2013 only two months later.
As a former Foster Parent, I understand how the family feels. Having to return a child that you cared for as your own for any length of time is not easy. not even a little
But sorry they tell you when you are given custody of a child as a Foster Parent that it is a temporary arrangement. Period. The end.
The parents knew this, and knowingly put that girl through all that the emotional stress that she did not need at that age. The real loser here is Lexi, who got the worst from both sides.
You may not agree with this, but just so you know, this sort of thing happens every day all over LA and around the country. It is the definition of what a Foster Parent is.
This whole situation is purely racist. The courts are in effect saying that Indian children are not the same and the rest of the population and need special handling. Whatever happened to all men (mankind) are created equal?
There is a federal law that is similar that applies to all children, IV-E. ICWA requirest the state to notify the tribe if they take custody, and allows the tribe to bring the case to tribal court IF they desire. In this case, the tribe did not.
This is great news for Lexi and her family! Rusty and Summer Page are NOT her family and had no business holding Lexi hostage for three years! They should be ashamed of themselves and their selfishness. I’m thankful Lexi got away from them and I hope they are never again allowed to foster children. They obviously have zero respect for biological family and want only to possess the children that are temporarily placed with them. I wish a lifetime of happiness and blessings to Lexi and her family!