Controversy is brewing as social workers in California removed a six-year-old girl from the home of her foster parents on Monday to place her with extended family due to the child’s Native American heritage. The Department of Children and Family Services removed the girl, named Lexi, from the home of Rusty and Summer Page a day after originally planned as protesters gathered outside of the home on Sunday to speak against her seizure, praying and singing hymns.
Lexi has lived with the Page’s for four years, and the family has attempted to adopt her, but were not permitted to do so. They have been entrenched in a court battle to keep the girl in the home, and state that Lexi considers the couple as being their parents. The issue is that Lexi is 1.5 percent Choctaw Indian, which means that her case must apply under the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law that was passed in 1978 to “protect the best interests of Native American children.” READ MORE
