Hello again, kiddie winkles. I know it's been a while and I do apologize. I've been rather busy with a writing project, some vacation planning, an upcoming Comicon and well, adulting in general.
Today I bring to you a case that once again oozes of pure entitlement. Rusty and Summer Page took in a little girl as a foster placement several years ago. She'd become a dependent of the state as a toddler and had been shuffled between a few homes before landing in the Page's home. They originally took her in as respite care, but that eventually turned into full fostering of the girl.
But there was a catch.
Lexi is recognized as Choctaw. And from the moment the Pages took her in, they were well aware that ICWA was dictating the child's case. The tribe permitted the Pages to continue fostering her so it would keep her closer to her father during the reunification planning. But one thing was certain, placement preference would prevail if and when adoption was put on the table. The Pages knew this and had originally agreed to this.
When reunification efforts failed, it was made clear the child would be transitioned to out of state family. That is when the Pages dug their heels in and tried to fight her removal. Sound familiar, no? Time and time again, we hear about entitled fosters and PAPs who cling to the children they take in and try to cry "only home they know". Of course, that is what the Pages are doing. A couple of years, few court hears and an appeals decison later, the child is being removed within the next 24 to 48 hours and they've managed to wrangle a circle of supporters crying foul over what they all say is an unjust law.
For those curious about the background, here is the appeals decision:
Court of Appeals
Of course, if you go to their Facebook page (they all have FB pages, don't they?), they make it sound like the child's native status is a shock, how she's only X% and shouldn't be considered native enough for ICWA to apply and boo hoo, her removal is oh so sudden.
Last time blood quantum came into question, it was when those bastard Justices in the US Supreme Court questioned Veronica Brown's native eligibility. Same shit, different case. Supporters of Veronica's kidnappers held onto her low blood quantum with an iron grip. Nearly every supporter and every media outlet who regurgitated the BS the public relations firm spoon fed them focused on how little native blood Veronica had. And now supporters of the Pages are doing the same.
Funny how a bunch of ignorant non native people clamor on about who should and shouldn't be considered native. Especially when it's a child they want to snatch for their own. They seem to forget that if the tribe considers the child eligible, then that's just how it is, regardless of how much or how little native blood runs through that child's veins. WE don't get to determine that decision. The US Supreme court doesn't get to determine that decision (they haggled over it, but ruled primarily on the Existing Indian Family doctrine). The decision to determine eligibility exists with the tribe alone.
The one thing I caught on to with the Save Lexi campaign were the familiar faces of some of their supporters. A great deal of their supporters supported the kidnapping of Veronica Brown and supported the Hodgins in stealing back Sonya McCaul. Even the Facebook page holds a striking resemblance to the Save Veronica campaign and Keep Sonya Home campaign. And the infamous Lori Alvino-McGill - who is well know for calling Veronica and her sister "illegitimate spawn" and who represented Veronica's seller in a lawsuit to dismantle ICWA - is on board with this case, spewing her usual lies. Kid you not. She posted an update on the family's Facebook support page, claiming that the family Lexi will be going to doesn't even know the child.
Everyone supporting the Page family keeps rattling on about how it's the only home she's ever known, it will be traumatic, it's not in her best interest. They said the same about the Hodgins and Sonya (the Hodgins literally stole the child and tied it up in court for 8 yrs). Funny how 2 1/2 yrs ago they were saying tearing Veronica Brown away from her dad to live a life as a hostage wouldn't hurt her at all. Tearing a 4 yr old little girl away from the only family she knew and being forced to live with people she didn't remember and only met once during a brief supervised visit. It's perfectly fine when wanna be adopters do it, but if it's the other way around, then it's the end of the world for the child and so horrible.
They just need to admit that they're thinking about their own best interest. Not the child's. The child isn't being torn away to live with strangers. She's had frequent contact with the family she is going to and had it for quite some time. Everyone involved knew the child would go to out of state family if reunification efforts with her father failed. It's not a surprise. This isn't some sudden change in placement that hit them broadside. The Pages have known for years that the child would not be theirs to adopt. They're the ones to blame for dragging this out longer than necessary. They're the ones who tied it up in court for nearly three years in the hopes they'd get a best interest ruling. They're the ones who have now turned what should be a simple and quiet transfer of placement into a big goddamned circus. People are actually suggesting they help bar social workers from removing the girl by force. They support making this child's transition as traumatic as humanly possible. How is that in the child's best interest?
3/22/2016 ***UPDATE***
On 3/21/2016, around 3:00PM PST, LA County Children's Services arrived to pick Lexi up from the Page home. Surrounded by screaming protesters, news crews and the infamous Troy Dunn, who is best known for stalking Veronica Brown at her school, Lexi was moved through a sea of cameras and screams. People rushed the car with cameras and phones, yelling at her through the glass. Summer Page and the Page children stood in the driveway in hysterics over handing the child over.
It was a horrific thing to watch. And this is what the Page family and their supporters wanted the world to see. They could have arranged a secluded and private transfer somewhere away from the circus, but no, it couldn't happen any other way.
I appreciate the update. Here was a comment on ICT that resonated with me:
ReplyDeletenineateseven
I was adopted. My birthfather is Native. Thankfully, I am in the process of reuniting with my family after 30 years, but this whole thing makes me sick. "From that point forward, attorneys for the foster couple began referring to them as the 'de facto' parents of Baby A and that they therefore had the same rights as the child’s biological parents." This is so wrong. So wrong. What angers me the most is that Baby A has just as much a right to her biological father as he has to his daughter. People like these foster parents wax eloquent about wanting to "do what is best for the child," but then claim that they own her like she's some kind of doll. She is a human being. She has human rights, and part of those rights is to not be separated from her biological and genetic heritage simply because someone else "fell in love with her". I'm sure plenty of people have kidnapped a child because they "fell in love" and wanted to raise her as their own. So-called-love does not grant them any rights whatsoever. They certainly don't have omniscient knowledge of what is best for Baby A. It's awful. When they try so hard to keep her father away from her, what does it tell the poor girl? "Half of you is bad and evil... so bad we had to fight to keep it away." It's deplorable. No, they do not have the same rights as her biological parents. That line makes me want to scream. There is no such thing as a "de facto" parent. They're nothing more than baby snatchers of the worst kind.
The entitlement of wanna be adopters never ceases to amaze me. And ever notice that when adopters have to turn the children over, they create a huge media circus (Baby Jessica, Baby Richard, Baby Veronica when first turned over to dad). When the parents are the ones who have to finally hand their kids back, they make it as low key and private as possible to avoid traumatizing the child.
DeleteIsn't this the second child they tried to adopt that was not up for adoption?
DeleteThanks for the facts and good conversation!
ReplyDeleteLexi is now on her way to where she always needed to be...with her "biological relatives". The GOOD news for adoptees is the Page's attorney claims a trip to the supreme court....This will set a president for adoptee rights. Always the stupid, emotional revenge seekers that can't accept defeat will pay for the new standards for adopted child rights! Keep me posted!
The Page family support page on Facebook has links to that very same COA doc, which it odd seeing that it paints a very different picture than what the family and their supporters are trying to present. Of course, when the facts are pointed out, they all go into the "had her 5 yrs, only home she's known". That doesn't mean they get to keep her.
DeleteI never thought I'd say this, but I hope LA County fast tracks the adoption to the extended fam to keep this family from getting any further leverage. I know adoptions can be vacated, but seeing the mess this family has caused for everyone, they shouldn't be allowed to foster a goldfish, much less another child.
Ignoring for a second the lack of any human presence or empathy to a girl that was ripped away from a loving home in that she knew for 4 years out of her 6 year life (which for any 6 year old IS the only life they knew). This article seeks to demonize the family by stating how they are not following the laws of the land. Well guess what, the tribe didn't abide by the law either because they never interviewed the girl to ask what she wants to do per the law, so you're argument on who is considered "good" based on whether they abided by the letter of the law is moot.
ReplyDeleteFurther, not every laww on the books is "good" and should be followed. Otherwise we would still have Jim Crowe Laws. The law is being abused when a girl who is only 1.56% indian is considered part of her tribe and used to forcefully take her.
It doesn't matter how long they managed to hold onto her, the fact remains that they were well aware she was either going to go back to dad or the extended family. Not them. Can't say it enough - tying it up in court for years does not entitle them to keep her.
DeleteYou leave out the fact that Summer Page (Foster Mom) has Native-American blood, while the extended, non blood-related, family in Utah does not. Additionally, the family in Utah will NOT be raising Lexi on a Reservation.
ReplyDeleteI am part Native-American (Cherokee), AND I am adopted. Our foster care system is messed up. All this case is going to do is further discourage decent parents from taking in foster-care children for fear of this happening.
The family is considered kin because members of this family already have the child's older siblings. The foster woman's status is irrelevant because she's not fam. They can't ay ignorant to the law and rules. They knew from word go that she would go to dad or extended fam. They knew she would not be adoptable to THEM. They chose to tie it up. They chose to make this as difficult as possible.
DeleteIn addition the pages assisted and cooperated with visitation for the last few years with the adoptive family. Her Utah family made monthly visits...twice weekly Skype visits and the little girl had extended visits with them in utah. So the pages knew she was going to be adopted and cooperated. Then the publicly identified this child..had people parading and sleeping in front of their house... then allowed the transfer to take place with a screaming crowd...video taping her face...banging on the car door...hysterical foster mother and her children in the driveway. ..this is not good parenting this is showcasing and now the pages and/or their supporters are selling tshirts and other propaganda with this little girls name on the stuff...seriously! And a gofundme account with over $40 grand in the account. ..really!
DeleteSeeing how Summer Page is Native. What has she taught this child? Has she made regalia for this little girl? Has she taught her any traditional dancing? Any cultural teachings? Or would that be a direct conflict of interest with the pages religious views? Seriously! The pages should just leave this little girl alone and let her bond and grow with her biological sisters and extended family.
DeleteClearly, by your own response...it's not a Native American issue then.
ReplyDeleteIt is because ICWA ruled the case and where the child would go should reunification fail. But on that same note, it is a dependency case and when family is already lined up as permanent placement, temp caregivers do not hold the right to fight, tie it up in court and think they have a right to keep the child. They only fostered. They were temporary. I will not discount that they love her, but at some point they clearly forgot what their sole purpose was - to provide temporary stability during efforts to return her to dad or until she was placed with extended family.
DeleteICWA protects a few children from the trauma of bio/sibling separation.Isolating a child from natural family is traumatizing. It causes many social problems for them.
ReplyDeleteI would try not to confuse this case with Veronica Capobianco's. You don't want precedence from that SCOTUS case to apply here.
ReplyDeleteThis is a different story. The C's were not foster parenting, they were mid-adoption and birth parents had passed the deadline for changing their minds. An adoptive family was disrupted then, not a foster family where all parties knew the limits of the relationship.
Much as I hate how this case has unfolded for Lexi, I do agree the Pages don't have the same rights to claim parenthood as the C's did with Veronica. Bio dad did not lose rights, he always indicated his wish to stay in contact with her, AND she does have the right to be raised with her bio sisters. I wish for her sake the Pages had respected the boundaries from the get-go. God knows though, I would never want to foster a child with ICWA involved.
Dusten never consented and wanted to parent his daughter so there was no adoption to disrupt. And it is the same to some extent because it's all the same people involved with her kidnapping. The PR firm, the supporters, the lawyer, the anti-ICWA groups. All the same damned players. And they are oh so horrified at Lexis removal but cheered when Veronica was forced to go live with her kidnappers.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if foster parents respected the rules and laws, ICWA would be a non issue. You do t get to foster, get attached and then decide to try to keep them.
Yes let's punish lexi for her parents not wanting her and for the pages wanting her because that would make her life great. You have no regard for how precious ones life is. You may be older and wiser one day.I hope.
ReplyDeleteYes let's punish lexi for her parents not wanting her and for the pages wanting her because that would make her life great. You have no regard for how precious ones life is. You may be older and wiser one day.I hope.
ReplyDeletePct the pages are Not her parents. They were foster parents! They knew from the beginning she was not adoptable! They knew she had family waiting. They blocked her from going to her extended family and biological sisters using the court system 3 years ago. They subjected this little girl to a media circus. They put her identity out there knowing it was illegal to do so. They collected money 50 thousand dollars and are still selling stuff using her name. The last image she has of her former foster mother and her 3 children is that of them hysterically screaming in the driveway. People all over the car screaming at her. Her image showing her face is all over the net. Her family is Utah are keeping her out of the public eye so she can have a normal life and as het family they know that is in her best interests.
ReplyDelete