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6 Year Old Foster Child Ripped from Loving Home Because of 1978 Law

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posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 05:47 PM
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This story will not just tug at your heart-strings, but gouge a chunk out. So many times we have read about child abuse in foster care homes, even deaths, but following story is about an exceptional foster family and how they lost the little girl they love.

A Californian couple living Santa Clarita, Rusty and Summer Page, have provided a loving home for 6 year old Lexi since she was 17 months old. Lexi became part of a tight-knit family, sharing her life with the Page's biological children, where she thrived and flourished. Lexi became so enmeshed in this family unit, so much a part that the Pages fought a 2 year battle to adopt her. This is where the troubles began. You see, 6 year old Lexi is part Choctaw Native American, and the Tribe wants her to be sent back, to live with the biological parent's family--you know, the people who gave her up in the first place, sending her to foster care with a black eye. BTW, Lexi is 1.5% Choctaw.

Lexi, who is 1.5 % Choctaw, has been living in Santa Clarita with Rusty and Summer Page, but is now being taken to relatives in Utah after a court ruling on the Indian Child Welfare Act and an emotional goodbye to her foster family. The 1978 federal law was designed to keep Native American families together, attempting to stop large numbers of children with tribal heritage from being taken away and given to non-Native American households.

www.dailymail.co.uk...


Normally, I think a child should grow up learning and understanding their heritage, history, and traditions, but to rip a 6yo from the only home, a loving one at that defies reasoning and logic. Below encapsulates what happened leading up to the State taking her away:

The Choctaw tribe agreed to send her into the foster care system to “facilitate efforts to reunify the girl with her father.” Her mother, who is not Native American, had substance abuse issues. Her father, an enrolled Choctaw member, has a criminal history and attempts to have him reunite with his daughter failed. She spent time with two other families before being placed with the Pages, who have three other young children and have tried to adopt her.

www.nydailynews.com...
I cannot justify ripping a 6yo girl from a loving, nurturing family because of a 1970's law that should be enforced on a case by case basis. Further, although birth parents must have a venue for reclaiming their children due to poor personal decisions, in this one case Lexi's future seems much brighter being part of the Page family. The Pages aren't Native, so they can't meet the criteria of the Federal Law. After reading the linked articles, and pics below, make me understand how Lexi's present and future are best served by the State ripping her from the only home she's ever known.
Lexi is carried by the only father she's known, Rusty Page

Lexi's foster mother, Summer and her foster siblings watch in anguish as Lexi is taken by the State.

Page family, surrounded by family and supporters as Lexi leaves her home.

This story makes me not just sad, but pissed. The people that weren't capable of finding a home for Lexi when she needed one wants her back. The Page family stepped up, and provided Lexi with a loving environment that she thrived in. Let her go back to the only home she's ever known. Now.


edit on 9912016112016-03-22T17:48:11-05:0020162pm110548 by Boscowashisnamo because: none given.

edit on 9922016312016-03-22T17:49:31-05:0020162pm310549 by Boscowashisnamo because: no reason given.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 05:49 PM
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From what I understand, the foster family has been stonewalling reunification with the extended family who's been fighting to get her back for years. I really have no sympathy for people who deign to keep a child from family who love & want them because they can.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 05:52 PM
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1.5%

Ridiculous...

Just how many people out there have 1.5% of just about anything in them? Honestly. If that is the case I wonder what the government would say about giving millions more people treaty status up here in Canada under the same logic.

This is the precise reason why I hate laws so much. They can be so absurd, easy to break, immoral, easy to find a loophole, not applicable to modern times, backwards bat-sh** crazy nonsense that half of them shouldn't even exist, and they take decades to change.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 05:54 PM
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originally posted by: Nyiah
From what I understand, the foster family has been stonewalling reunification with the extended family who's been fighting to get her back for years. I really have no sympathy for people who deign to keep a child from family who love & want them because they can.


Is that why unification tried with the biological on multiple occasions "failed". What's in Lexi's best interest? Where was the "love" and "want" from the biological parent's family in the first place? Why didn't family members step up with their "love". Did you even read the linked articles?



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 05:58 PM
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originally posted by: Boscowashisnamo

originally posted by: Nyiah
From what I understand, the foster family has been stonewalling reunification with the extended family who's been fighting to get her back for years. I really have no sympathy for people who deign to keep a child from family who love & want them because they can.


Is that why unification tried with the biological on multiple occasions "failed". What's in Lexi's best interest? Where was the "love" and "want" from the biological parent's family in the first place? Why didn't family members step up with their "love". Did you even read the linked articles?

Again, from what I understand, reunification with the biological parents didn't succeed. Afterward, extended family had to jump through the system hoops to be considered for placement with family, while she was in foster care already. Then these blowhards initiated trying to adopt her, which is the equivalent of throwing a wrench in the process of placing with family. Whether or not that wrench had more to do with general procedure, or Native laws, I don't know. All I know is what I've read, and it stinks from the foster family's end. In the end, they really did try to adopt her before anyone could do anything about it.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:00 PM
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a reply to: Ghost147

I have more than that. I'm 1/8th Blackfoot.
________________

This is just wrong. The child is, or was rather, happy. Well cared for.

But, hey, she's back with her family, right?



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:06 PM
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originally posted by: Nyiah

originally posted by: Boscowashisnamo

originally posted by: Nyiah
From what I understand, the foster family has been stonewalling reunification with the extended family who's been fighting to get her back for years. I really have no sympathy for people who deign to keep a child from family who love & want them because they can.


Is that why unification tried with the biological on multiple occasions "failed". What's in Lexi's best interest? Where was the "love" and "want" from the biological parent's family in the first place? Why didn't family members step up with their "love". Did you even read the linked articles?

Again, from what I understand, reunification with the biological parents didn't succeed. Afterward, extended family had to jump through the system hoops to be considered for placement with family, while she was in foster care already. Then these blowhards initiated trying to adopt her, which is the equivalent of throwing a wrench in the process of placing with family. Whether or not that wrench had more to do with general procedure, or Native laws, I don't know. All I know is what I've read, and it stinks from the foster family's end. In the end, they really did try to adopt her before anyone could do anything about it.


I understand your position, and had to step out of my emotional outrage to see it. Apologies for being catty, this case hits close to home, and fries my butt. I work with DVS, and see the fall-out from broken homes regularly. I will admit that my sole intention is what's best for the child, and wishing the State would exercise common sense instead of strict adherence is a futile endeavor.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:11 PM
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a reply to: Nyiah

From what I also understand, the only reason Lexi is with her family now is because of her tiny percentage of Choctaw blood. Otherwise, she would still be with the family she has grown up with and knows as her family.

Thank God my husband is past this otherwise this could have happened to him, too. He was raised by an adoptive family but carried Native American blood, more than this poor kid.

I mean, really, at what point do we even let people have children that aren't theirs by blood if the system can arbitrarily decide that biology will always trump love? It's as bad as arbitrarily deciding that the mother is always a better fit for a child than the father.
edit on 22-3-2016 by ketsuko because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:13 PM
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It's a shame when the State drags their feet for over 4 years deciding that reuniting with the biological parents, permanently, is never going to happen and looking for other options.

Then when they "run out of time" so to speak they finally begin looking for suitable biological family members who must then jump through hoops (classes, background checks, fingerprinting, possibly moving into another home etc) to be able to receive this child into their home.

It is not a quick or easy process unless you have been "vetted", so to speak, by the state already.
When someone becomes a foster parent it is acknowledged and agreed upon, regardless of how hard that may be, that the placement is likely NOT going to become permanent. There is always a parenting plan and the biological parents are given much time and assistance to meet the requirements (in my experience).

In my opinion this is a problem, nothing new, with the departments (policies, laws, and procedures) that provide services to children and families in need.

I was adopted. I'm half Irish. My biological father was born in Belfast. Should the state have sent me back to Ireland to my "biological" family? Perhaps.


JMHO.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:14 PM
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a reply to: Boscowashisnamo
My only experiences with the system are knowing a teenager who waited til her teens for her forever family, and my best friend & her sister being placed with their abusive dad after their parents divorced because he claimed out of spite that she was the mentally unstable, abusive one. The mom tried for a year, and barely had anyone believe she was stable despite the psychologist's findings. They were eventually returned, and they still don't trust their dad 20 years later.

For the determined, the system is quite easily manipulated. I'd wages the Pages thought they could manipulate things in their favor, but it didn't work out that way. I feel worse for the uncle who was given the shaft for so long.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:16 PM
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a reply to: Nyiah

Yeah, so a family who has a kid since she was 17-months-old are only looking to game the system and couldn't possibly love the kid in question ...



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:27 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko

Returning kids to their biological parents is the courts default position, and isn't always in the child's best interest. One size fits all doesn't work, and laws should be tempered with a case by case analysis to enhance a child's chance at a meaningful life. The Pages fought like hell to adopt her, not to stymie the biological parents as much as to give Lexi a good life IMO.

Once again, what's best for this 6yo girl?



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:38 PM
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a reply to: Boscowashisnamo

It just chaps my hide that society seems to think that biology is somehow stronger than love. I have a lot of relatives who are related to me through adoption, not biology. My husband, as I mentioned, was adopted. I have two adopted nephews. My husband's friend has two adopted sons and one biological son, and my husband and I discussed adopting ourselves. I had a cousin who was adopted too.

So many people who can get simply ripped out of my life because I don't have a biological tie to them.

Had there been biological relatives capable of caring for this little girl at the time her parents abused her, she would have been given to them then, but they apparently either were unable or didn't want her. So now that she has a family she has always known, the blood relations turn up and she gets simply ripped out of one life for another?

No wonder people choose abortion.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:44 PM
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By allowing this to happen it suggests to me that no one in authority considered the little girls psychological and emotional needs. Was a child psychologist consulted and any recommendations followed? This WILL damage her and she will will grow up with problems. These people defy empathy and common sense.


edit on 22-3-2016 by Morrad because: Spelling



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:52 PM
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This issue is one Canada has been in turmoil over for decades now. It was called the 60's Scoop and has caused hurt and pain on both sides.

I had a sister once. She was taken from us when I was around 10. I will never forget her.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:56 PM
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a reply to: Boscowashisnamo




BTW, Lexi is 1.5% Choctaw.


From what I heard on the news Lexi is being placed with extended family that aren't blood relatives, but related through marriage and that they're not Choctaw or any other tribe of Native American. While, her foster mother is of Native American blood, I'm not sure which tribe.

I have a hard time understanding how this qualifies under the Indian Child Welfare Act.




edit on 22-3-2016 by windword because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 06:59 PM
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a reply to: windword

You might have read the same article I did which basically makes it sound like the prime mover in all this is the Choctaw Tribe.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 07:01 PM
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From what I heard on the news Lexi is being placed with extended family that aren't blood relatives, but related through marriage and that they're not Choctaw or any other tribe of Native American. While, her foster mother is of Native American blood, I'm not sure which tribe. I have a hard time understanding how this qualifies under the Indian Child Welfare Act.


That is one aspect of this case that I now regret in omitting. The irony isn't humorous, and this girl will be traumatized for years to come by the way in which she was separated.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 07:07 PM
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a reply to: Boscowashisnamo

None of this issue made any sense, anywhere.



posted on Mar, 22 2016 @ 07:11 PM
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originally posted by: windword
a reply to: Boscowashisnamo




BTW, Lexi is 1.5% Choctaw.


From what I heard on the news Lexi is being placed with extended family that aren't blood relatives, but related through marriage and that they're not Choctaw or any other tribe of Native American. While, her foster mother is of Native American blood, I'm not sure which tribe.

I have a hard time understanding how this qualifies under the Indian Child Welfare Act.




Depending on the news source, a LOT is being omitted that clarifies a lot of this case.



Under the transfer, Lexi 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.

Edit: Dang, my reading comprehension is right out the window today. Under, not until. She still has the benefit of being with her blood siblings.

And these people aren't strangers to her, she knows them and so do the Pages:


She said Lexi and the Utah family had traded messages and had monthly visits during the past three years.

"She has a loving relationship with them," Heimov said. "They are not strangers in any way, shape or form."

www.yahoo.com...

These people KNEW this was eventually coming, and nowthey cry to the media about it after they can't throw up any more brick walls?
edit on 3/22/2016 by Nyiah because: Correction, my mistake



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