Today's Tweets:
@Phase3ofLife @zealousidler Here another piece on this case https://t.co/UUJBhzwfqC @Trace15 @Adoptiontraffic
— Frank Ligtvoet (@frank_ligtvoet) March 26, 2016
@peaceandharmon6 @frank_ligtvoet @Trace15 That's the problem-not an orphan, not Pages' child. They fought family for years. That's not love.
— PriscillaSharp (@PriscillaStoneS) March 26, 2016
ABC7
On
Monday, March 21, pandemonium broke out in Santa Clarita, California,
at the home of foster couple Summer and Russell Page as social workers
from the Department of Children and Family Services arrived to pick up a
6-year-old girl who was being held by the couple in defiance of a court
ordering her returned to relatives after a five-year custody battle.
Breaking: California Returns Child to Family in ICWA Case
3/22/16
On
Monday, March 21, pandemonium broke out in Santa Clarita, California,
at the home of foster couple Summer and Russell Page as social workers
from the Department of Children and Family Services arrived to pick up a
6-year-old girl who was being held by the couple in defiance of a court
ordering her returned to relatives after a five-year custody battle. At
2:45 p.m. PST, the sobbing girl was carried to a vehicle and whisked
away as dozens of media outlets and protesters looked on, bringing an
end to a stand-off over the child’s custody that had made headlines
around the world.
The girl, who goes by the name “Lexi,” was ordered to be placed with
relatives, including her biological sister, in Utah in compliance with
the Indian Child Welfare Act. Her identity was released to the media by the Pages over the weekend, including a Facebook page titled “Save Lexi,” in which they sought public support in defiance of the court’s order, according to legal experts in California.
On Sunday, the Pages, who authorities say were told repeatedly from
the beginning that the child was “never up for adoption,” were supposed
to facilitate a peaceful transfer at 10 a.m., but efforts to retrieve
the child were blocked by protesters who had surrounded the couple’s
house to prevent her removal. Officials did not want the transfer to
become a dangerous situation and left without the child, according to
those familiar with the case.
Yesterday morning, however, officials from DCFS released a statement
that the agency intended to carry out the court’s order and asked the
media “to respect the child’s privacy.” Behind the scenes, authorities
were in contact with the foster parents to inform them to prepare Lexi
for transfer or face criminal charges.
The girl has been at the center of a custody battle between the
couple, her biological father and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, for
nearly five years. She is the second child that the Pages have attempted
to adopt out of foster care, according to court documents. The first
child was also returned to its extended family after a custody battle
with the Pages.
Indeed, according to both court documents and those familiar with the
case, Lexi has had an ongoing relationship with her relatives in Utah
for nearly her whole life. The couple, who are non-Indian relatives of
Lexi’s biological father, fall within the familial placement preferences
under ICWA. They have visited the girl at their own expense every month
and regularly Skype with the girl at least once a week. Additionally,
she has visited them in Utah, as well, and―significantly, she considers
them family, according to insiders.
“These are not strangers that she’s never seen before or had any kind
of relationship with,” said a source close to the father’s family who
declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issues
involved. “Her sister also lives with [the Utah couple] and she has
another sister who lives down the street from them. She has a very close
relationship with the Utah relatives, and the Pages have been a big
part of facilitating that over the years, so it’s baffling that they
would create this kind of drama and friction between the two families at
the last minute when they have thus far had a very amicable
relationship that was in Lexi’s best interest. They knew good and well
that the transfer was coming―this was not a surprise visit from DCFS, so
all this drama was completely for show.”
Attempts to reach the Pages or their legal team by ICTMN were
unsuccessful, however, their attorney, Lori Alvino McGill―who also
represented Baby Veronica’s birth mother, Christy Maldonado in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl
in 2013―told local media that she will be filing an appeal with the
California Supreme Court forthwith for the girl’s return and that
another trip to the United States Supreme Court may be in the works “if
that becomes necessary.”
RELATED: Broken: Choctaw Father in California Thwarted in Custody Battle With Foster Couple
A Little Perspective
The case began in 2010 when the child’s father lost custody of his
daughter after he went to jail for selling stolen auto parts, according
to court documents. The girl went through several foster homes before
being placed with the Pages, who have been attempting to retain her ever
since, in spite of being reminded numerous times by the state and the
courts that she would eventually either be reunified with her father or
be sent to live with relatives.
RELATED: The Battle for ICWA Goes to California With Contested Choctaw Foster Case
The girl’s father was released from jail in December 2011, after
which the girl remained with the Pages while he worked to complete a
“reunification plan,” which included unmonitored day visits over
weekends.
At some point, however, communication between the Pages and father
broke down after it became clear that they were targeting his daughter
for adoption and interfering with his visitations, he told ICTMN at the
time. According to court documents, the father was a “model parent” who
had over time become depressed and worn down by fighting with the Pages
and what he considered lengthy, unnecessary reunification requirements
that he felt were not getting him any closer to regaining custody of his
daughter.
In December 2013, he reluctantly ceased reunification and requested
that she be placed with relatives according to placement preferences
under ICWA. In 2014, however, the Pages went to court to establish “de
facto parent” status―giving them the same rights and standing as
biological parents―which was unanimously rejected by a California
appeals court.
RELATED: California Appeals Court Upholds ICWA in Choctaw Foster Case
“The foster family was well aware years ago this girl is an
Indian child, whose case is subject to the requirements of the Indian
Child Welfare Act and who has relatives who were willing to raise her if
reunification with her father was unsuccessful,” the National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement. “The purpose of foster care is to provide temporary
care for children while families get services and support to reunite
with their children, not to fast-track the creation of new families when
there is extended family available who want to care for the child. The
temporary nature of these relationships is also the reason we view those
who serve as foster parents as selfless and nurturing individuals.
Reunification and placement with extended family whenever possible is
best practice for all children, not just Native American.”
Moving Forward Under the New Normal
According to officials with the California DCFS, peaceable
transitions for the child are the primary objectives when replacing them
to another home. Alerting the media, refusing to relinquish the child
and releasing her name to the press is in violation of not only the
court order, but also a violation of confidentiality that is enumerated
under state statute.
“We like all of our transitions and replacements to go smoothly,”
said Armand Montiel, public affairs officer for DCFS. “We don’t like
drama for the child.”
Montiel said the actions by the Pages over the weekend could trigger
sanctions not only by the court, but also by the foster agency in making
a determination about whether they should remain a foster family.
Leslie Heimov is the executive director of the Children’s Law Center of California,
which represents 33,000 children in Los Angeles and Sacramento, with
over 275 lawyers, paralegals, investigators and social workers. They
also represent Lexi’s interests in this case. Heimov said the main
priority at present is to ensure her safety and well-being during the
transition period, in spite of the media chaos surrounding her retrieval
yesterday.
“The privacy issues in dependency court proceedings are confidential
under state statute, so we try to follow the law and we have not yet
decided whether we’ll pursue legal action against the Pages for
violating confidentiality,” Heimov told ICTMN this morning. “At the
moment we are more concerned about our client and the best way to get
her placed with relatives and her emotional and physical well-being.
That said, even setting ICWA aside, this child has a family and sibling
that she should be placed with, which is also the preference under
California state law. We are very cognizant of the privacy issues, but
we feel that the information that is being reported in the public arena
about this case should be accurate.”
RELATED: Trafficking Native Children: The Seamy Underbelly of U.S. Adoption Industry
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/03/22/breaking-california-returns-child-family-icwa-case-163881
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