{"id":23318,"date":"2016-03-22T00:58:03","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T00:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/advokids.wpengine.com\/?p=23318"},"modified":"2016-10-08T21:33:23","modified_gmt":"2016-10-08T21:33:23","slug":"lexi-trauma-ace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adevine.io\/advokids-backup\/lexi-trauma-ace\/","title":{"rendered":"Lexi, ICWA and A Failing Child Welfare System"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is not often that we see California dependency cases playing out in the press but this past weekend local Southern California T.V. stations reported on Lexi, a six year old L.A. County foster child and her imminent move to Utah to be placed with extended family members. The reporting spotlights the complex Indian Child Welfare Act and the devastating effects the Act\u2019s placement mandates can have on foster children in this country. Lexi\u00a0was moved yesterday\u00a0after living with her foster parents in Los Angeles for the past 4 years. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe primary purpose of juvenile law is the protection of the child, and dependency proceedings, being civil in nature, are designed to protect the child rather than to prosecute the parent. [Citations.]\u201d (<\/span>In re Kerry O.<\/span><\/i> (1989) 210 Cal.App.3d 326, 333; emphasis added.)<\/span> \u201c<\/span>The fundamental premise of dependency law is to serve the best interests of the dependent child<\/span><\/i>. The law provides the juvenile courts with the necessary tools and guidelines, as well as broad discretion, to make appropriate orders regarding dependent children consistent with this foundational principle. The juvenile court has broad discretion to determine what would best serve and protect the child's interest and to fashion a dispositional order in accordance with this discretion.\u201d (<\/span>In re A.J.<\/span><\/i> (2013) 214 Cal.App.4th 525, 536; internal citations and quotation marks omitted; emphasis added.) <\/span><\/p>\n

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The Legislature has decreed that \u201cnotwithstanding any other provision of law, the purpose of the provisions of [the Juvenile Court Law] relating to dependent children is to provide maximum safety and protection for children who are currently being physically, sexually, or emotionally abused, being neglected or being exploited, and to ensure the safety, protection, and physical <\/span>and emotional well-being<\/span><\/i> of children who are at risk of that harm.\u201d (Welf. & Inst. Code \u00a7300.2; emphasis added.) <\/span><\/p>\n

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Welfare and Institutions Code section 317, subdivision (c)(1) emphasizes that it is the primary duty of the child\u2019s attorney to \u201cadvocate for the protection, safety, and physical and <\/span>emotional well-being<\/span><\/i> of the child.\u201d (Emphasis added.) Welfare and Institutions Code section 317, subdivision (e)(7) requires the juvenile court to \u201ctake whatever appropriate action is necessary to fully protect the interests of the child.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

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Section 352, subdivision (a) specifically recognizes that the child\u2019s interests include a \u201cneed for a prompt resolution of his or her custody status,\u201d to be provided \u201cwith a stable environment,\u201d and protection from the \u201cdamage to a minor of prolonged temporary placements.\u201d All of these threats to Lexi\u2019s emotional well-being are implicated by the juvenile court\u2019s decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

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When the juvenile court removes a child from parental custody, there has already been a finding that the child has abused or neglected in one of the ways specified in Welfare and Institutions Code section 300. In most cases, this means that the child has already suffered some form of trauma before he or she enters the child welfare system. Being removed from his or her own home is often traumatic for a child and every placement change thereafter increases the child\u2019s sense of impermanence, of not belonging. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A ground-breaking longitudinal study conducted by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente showed that there is a direct correlation between the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) a child experiences during childhood and that child\u2019s risk for experiencing a number of serious physical illnesses as well as psychological and behavioral difficulties as an adult. (American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), <\/span>Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Consequences of Trauma<\/span><\/i> (2014), p. 1 (<\/span>Adverse Childhood Experiences<\/span><\/i>) <<\/span>https:\/\/www.aap.org\/en-us\/Documents\/ttb_aces_consequences.pdf<\/span><\/a>> [as of 11\/9\/15); Felitti, et al., <\/span>Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults<\/span><\/i>. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, 14 Am. J. of Prev. Med. (Issue 4, May 1998) at pp. 245-258; <<\/span>http:\/\/www.ajpmonline.org\/article\/S0749-3797(98)00017-8\/abstract<\/span><\/a>> [as of 11\/9\/15]) <\/span><\/p>\n

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Adverse Childhood Experiences include physical and emotional abuse, emotional and physical neglect, household substance abuse, household mental illness and loss of a parent. (<\/span>Adverse Childhood Experiences<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>supra,<\/span><\/i> at p. 2 <<\/span>https:\/\/www.aap.org\/ en-us\/Documents\/ttb_aces_consequences.pdf<\/span><\/a>> [as of 11\/9\/15.) Early childhood trauma (0-6) puts young children at particular risk because their brain development is adversely affected by trauma. Early trauma has been associated with reduced size of the brain cortex. Young children depend exclusively on parents\/caregivers for survival and protection. When the child loses the support of a trusted adult to help the child regulate his or her emotions, the child may experience overwhelming stress, with little ability to communicate what the child feels or needs. (National Child Trauma Stress Network, <\/span>How Is Early Childhood Stress Unique? \u00a0<\/span><\/i><<\/span>http:\/\/www.nctsn.org\/ content\/how-early-childhood-trauma-unique<\/span><\/a>> [as of 11\/9\/15].) A child\u2019s reaction to trauma can be buffered by a relationship with a protective, supportive adult and a healthy attachment relationship with an adult caregiver can help counterbalance the adverse experiences. (<\/span>Adverse Childhood Experiences<\/span><\/i> supra, at pp. 2, 4,<\/span>\u00a0[as of 11\/9\/15)<\/span><\/p>\n

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It is only recently that the child welfare system has begun to recognize the need to develop trauma-informed practices that take into account not only the traumatic experiences caused by abuse or neglect but also the additional chronic stressors that can occur once the child enters foster care. (See, e.g., National Child Trauma Stress Network, <\/span>Using Trauma-Informed Child Welfare Practice to Improve Placement Stability: Breakthrough Service Collaborative<\/span><\/i>, at p. 1 <<\/span>http:\/\/www. nctsn.org\/sites\/default\/files\/ assets\/pdfs\/using_ticw_bsc_ final.pdf<\/span><\/a>> \u00a0[as of 11\/9\/15].) <\/span><\/p>\n

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Even the juvenile court acknowledged that it is likely that Lexi would\u00a0suffer trauma if she was\u00a0moved. Lexi has already suffered a lot of trauma in her young life. She spent the first 17 months of her life with substance abusing parents who neglected her; she has already had four placement changes, including the removal from her parents; and she was physically abused in her first foster care placement. (<\/span>In re Lexi P.<\/span><\/i> (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 1322, 1330.) This latest move\u00a0will most assuredly cause her to suffer serious emotional harm.\u00a0What will it take to stop the continuing\u00a0systemic abuse of vulnerable children?<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is not often that we see California dependency cases playing out in the press but this past weekend local Southern California T.V. stations reported on Lexi, a six year old L.A. County foster child and her imminent move to Utah to be placed with extended family members. The reporting spotlights the complex Indian Child…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-child-welfare"],"yoast_head":"\nLexi, ICWA and A Failing Child Welfare System - Advokids: A Legal Resource for California Foster Children and Their Advocates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lexi, ICWA and A Failing Child Welfare System - Advokids: A Legal Resource for California Foster Children and Their Advocates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/adevine.io\/advokids-backup\/lexi-trauma-ace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lexi, ICWA and A Failing Child Welfare System - 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