VERONICA: ONE OF MANY MULTI-HERITAGE CHILDREN HURT BY ICWA

TAHLEQUAH, Okla, September 23, 2013 –

The adoption of 4-yr-old Veronica Rose by Matt and Melanie Capobianco has been upheld in Oklahoma Supreme Court. The Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare is delighted that visitations in the last month between the Capobiancos and Veronica went very well. Veronica remembered, was glad to see, and felt comfortable with the Capobiancos. The transfer of custody, reported by Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree to have been a “peaceful transfer,” was completed by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office by 7:30 pm with the family leaving for South Carolina soon after.

The claim that Veronica was an ‘Indian Child’ as a result of 3/128 Cherokee Heritage was alienating to many Americans. Even more so was the claim that removing Veronica from Indian Country constituted genocide akin to the Trail of Tears. This was particularly offensive to parents of tribal heritage who have personally chosen to remove their children from Indian Country.

This case has opened eyes to the horror the Indian Child Welfare Act has been inflicting on children across the United States.

Veronica’s situation resolved, CAICW will be spending time in Washington DC this fall, educating legislators about the harm caused by ICWA to multi-racial families across the nation, many more of whom have contacted CAICW after watching the long drawn out ordeal of the Capobianco family.

While one feels for a father losing custody his daughter, the 2013 rulings of U.S. Supreme Court and South Carolina courts overruled initial orders and found that the Capobiancos had stepped in to take care of Veronica in good faith after Mr. Brown advised birth mother, Chrissi Maldonado, that he was not willing to pay child support and chose instead to avoid any interaction with his child, thus losing his parental rights.