![\"{p}Alexandra\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/12c11012-b36e-47b9-aa03-54201d617dc5-Screenshot20260518182529.png\"\/)
<\/p>\nBAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Questions about Kern County\u2019s child welfare system are continuing as an out-of-state family with Choctaw heritage fights for custody of a 3-year-old relative who has spent months in foster care.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alexandra\u2019s family tells Eyewitness News they have been fighting for months to bring her home.<\/p>\n
Photo Courtesy of: Deborah Moffett<\/p>\n
Three-year-old Alexandra has been in the Kern County foster care system for months. <\/p>\n
For the past seven months, members of her extended family have been seeking placement or custody, according to Deborah Moffett, a relative who lives in Nevada. <\/p>\n
Moffett said the family is concerned Alexandra could be adopted rather than placed with biological family members.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought it would happen to us, but it could happen to anyone,\u201d said Shuntalle Willford, one of Alexandra’s relatives.<\/p>\n
Moffett said the family believes Alexandra\u2019s Native heritage may not have been fully considered under the Indian Child Welfare Act, known as ICWA. <\/p>\n
A 2024 Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office report found Native American children in California enter foster care at higher rates than other children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Indian heritage that our family bloodline comes from, they checked the paperwork and said no, that she’s not a part of that lineage, which she is. But they did not do their research to find out,\u201d Moffett said.<\/p>\n
![\"{p}Coming](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/85bfe8b9-d642-472c-b1ba-1f0f24908f95-Screenshot20260519223055.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Coming from a long line of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ancestry, Deborah Moffett says she is fighting to keep her family\u2019s heritage together as she seeks custody of her three-year-old relative in Kern County.<\/p>\n
KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n
Moffett said her great-grandfather was listed as half Choctaw in the 1910 federal Indian census, and the family believes that information warranted further ICWA review.<\/p>\n
Christina Albrite, a senior paralegal with Kern County Child Protective Services, said ICWA was created to address the historic overrepresentation of Native American children in foster care. <\/p>\n
Albrite said that in some cases, when a parent is already enrolled in a tribe, the county can help facilitate enrollment for a child.<\/p>\n
Moffett also claimed family members were not informed before the mother\u2019s parental rights were terminated. <\/p>\n
With Alexandra\u2019s father deceased, Moffett said the family was later told the child would remain with her current foster family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s not even a question if she has family. She has family,\u201d Moffett said.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ab76230d-52a1-4c70-ad9f-2de5c609adf8-large16x9_KernCountyDepartmentofHumanServices.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
The Kern County Department of Human Services building is seen in Bakersfield, Calif. Investigators identified 1,685 local welfare cases with evidence of fraud in the first six months of 2016.(KBAK\/KBFX photo)<\/p>\n
In April, Kern County Department of Human Services declined to comment on the specific case, citing state and federal privacy laws. <\/p>\n
The department said social workers are required to search for relatives when a child enters foster care. <\/p>\n
DHS also said relatives seeking placement must complete the Resource Family Approval process, and out-of-state relatives may only begin that process after certain court hearings or orders.<\/p>\n
Moffett said the family\u2019s concerns also include Alexandra\u2019s connection to her relatives and her identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing that she has left of her father to even know who he is, is her brother, her grandmother, her aunts and uncles, and her cousins. So if we remove that, what identity does she have?\u201d Moffett said.<\/p>\n
After a hearing earlier in May, Moffett said the court appeared to lean toward keeping the child with the current foster family. <\/p>\n
She said the judge acknowledged the family\u2019s concerns but stated the court must rely on the documentation and recommendations presented under state law.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could see if there was any kind of neglect in Nevada, or if Kern County found something, but they didn’t find that at all,\u201d Moffett said.<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s concerns come as Kern County DHS continues to face public scrutiny, prompting an independent review that is expected to release findings this summer.<\/p>\n
![\"Protest](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c718bf25-4ede-475c-be0d-48877ca605a5-Image3.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Protest for CPS to be investigated after 8-year-old found dead in a hotel. Protesters rally outside of Kern County Human Services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re looking at kids as a case number, but they’re not actually looking at these kids as if they need a future,\u201d Moffett said.<\/p>\n
Moffett said she has started a GoFundMe to help with legal representation and efforts to bring Alexandra back to her family. <\/p>\n