Posted on 05/08/2008 5:54:21 AM PDT by MizSterious
"It's the plan that has to address the permanency," said Mary Walker, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. "Whether or not children will be unified with their parents or whether or not they will remain in foster care."
Children and parents are being interviewed this week, and Texas Child Protective Services will make recommendations. A judge would ultimately sign off on the plans. Court hearings addressing the children's status in foster care are scheduled to begin May 19 in San Angelo, Texas.
"Some of our moms are working on plans of their own that they can propose to CPS," said Cynthia Martinez with the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Society, which represents some of the FLDS mothers.
The April raid was prompted by a phone call from someone claiming to be a 16-year-old "Sarah," who was pregnant and in an abusive relationship. When Texas CPS and law enforcement responded to the YFZ Ranch, they claim they found evidence of other abuse, including teenage mothers. That prompted a judge to order the removal of all the children at the FLDS compound.
The children have since been placed in foster care facilities across Texas. In contrast to the massive hearing Judge Barbara Walther held that placed the children in state custody, individual hearings will determine what happens to the children now.
In a typical service plan, there are recommendations and requirements that may need to be completed before a parent is reunited with their child.
"If, for example, we have a parent who has some substance abuse issues, the plan may be that the parent go into rehab," Walker said. "If you've got issues with neglect, making sure the child is properly cared for, we'd look at parenting classes, homemaking classes. The plan has to address whatever changes are necessary to reduce the level of risk."
Walker said she did not know what the service plans would address or recommend with the FLDS children and their parents. Texas CPS workers have claimed that the polygamist sect has a culture that lends itself to abuse, with girls being raised to become child brides.
The Texas child welfare system gives authorities up to a year to work with a family. If necessary, a judge can grant an extension. With 464 children in state protective custody, authorities concede that this case is not typical.
CPS said it is working with the Texas Education Agency to deal with the educational needs of the FLDS children.
Educational assessments will be conducted on each child and sent to the school district where the children have been placed. Texas' educational authority will recommend the assessment be used on all FLDS children.
"It is anticipated that the children will continue their education on the campus of their foster placement," CPS said in a statement. "There are no plans at this time for the children to attend classes on any public school campus."
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has released new numbers on the children.
According to the May 2 census, there are 102 infants up to 2 years old. An estimated 99 children are ages 3 to 5; 131 children are 6 to 9 years old; 62 children are 10 to 13; and 42 are 14 to 17.
Texas authorities said there are 26 young women who the FLDS claim are adults, but the state believes are children. Two young men turned 18 while in foster care but have elected to stay with family members at a shelter, CPS said.
Some of the foster care facilities the FLDS children are staying in have racked up violations.
The Deseret News conducted an online check of the inspection records and reports for the facilities the judge ordered the children to stay in. They are publicly accessible on the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services' Web site.
"Foster children are being spanked with a belt as a form of discipline," said one 2007 report for the Presbyterian Children's Homes & Services in Waxahachie, Texas.
"Foster child was made to stand on one foot in a closed closet as a form of discipline," said another report on the facility.
For most of the facilities, most of the 2007 violations were for mundane issues such as record keeping. The Kidz Harbor Home in Liverpool, Texas, was written up in February for two residents having sex at the facility. The Cal Farley's Boys Ranch in Amarillo was written up in February for not reporting a child's critical injury in a timely enough manner. It was also written up that same month for having a staff member becoming aware of a child's bruises, but failing to report it.
"You must report and document suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to child abuse hotline and the designated employee/administrator as soon as you become aware of it," the report said.
Online records show several facilities underwent a new round of assessments and inspections just before the FLDS children were placed in foster care.
However, I have learned much about the LDS faith these past few weeks, and I cannot in any way shape or form glance away from such a heretical belief system that takes the name of my savior. I know a few LDS folk, they are good people, and I am sad to say I don't think they are even aware of the deepest parts of their faiths doctrines and such.
Heresy is heresy, no matter how nice the followers, lovely the buildings and good the intentions.
The silence from the LDS about what is happening in the FLDS speak volumes, and while they are feigning a bit of disdain, if they were truly opposed to it, they would be leading the charge against these folks who have supposedly so misused the “prophets” teachings and would not be hamstringing the Utah government in their efforts to end these abuses there.
Sadly they can't do this, for in so doing they would be hypocritical. If what the FLDS is doing is wrong, so was Joesph Smith, and if he was wrong, then...
Sorry, I wasn’t yelling at you.
It was just a general rant. :)
The gap between what the FLDS practices and the "Modern" LDS is very small, indeed if it was not for the desire of not getting in trouble with the government many years ago, except possibly for dress and mannerism one would be hard pressed to see much of a difference.
The FLDS are following the teaching of Joesph Smith to the letter basically, and the very basis of the Mormon faith are the doctrines and teachings of their “prophet”. To openly and adamantly rebuke the FLDS would be denying their own history and in turn the core of their faith...
Of course the FLDS and the LDS have noting to do with each other and Mitt would be ‘appalled” at the FLDS activity...
My guess is that lying in order to get the mothers in a separate room from the children was in the interest of safety. Remember, they had a huge crowd of women and children of all ages milling about in a common area. Making an announcement to the women about their imminent departure in that setting, or letting them go back to the area where the children were after the announcement, could easily have set off a stampede-like situation with smaller children getting hurt, as some mothers reacted by running over to try to grab their children (or somebody’s children).
I think there was also concern that due the extreme religious ideology, there might be some mothers who felt it was well worth risking serious injury to a child, to try to prevent it from falling into the hands of the evil heathens who will lead it into sin. Most of these people seriously believe that failure to follow all of the “prophet’s” directives to the letter (e.g. not wearing red), will result in being consigned to an eternity of hellfire. If you really believe this, and are told that your impressionable child is about to be separated from your righteous supervision, and turned over to people who will allow the child to “sin”, then you wouldn’t really worry if the child got a broken leg or serious head injury in a grab-and-dash attempt. And crowd behavior can be very unpredictable, once disorder starts.
I think CPS and police made the right call, even though at first glance it’s seems underhanded and wrong. I would have hated to be in their position, but I think I would have done it the same way after thinking it through.
No, they're following the teaching of Warren Jeffs to the letter, because they think he's "the prophet". LDS do not regard Jeffs as any sort of prophet. They regard Thomas Monson as their current prophet, and he bears no similarity to Jeffs beyond being a white male.
The LDS most certainly do "openly and adamantly rebuke the FLDS", to the extent that any LDS member who expresses any theological sympathy with the FLDS or any other polygamist group, is promptly excommunicated. LDS members have to go through an annual interview with their local bishops in order to renew their temple recommends and be allowed inside the LDS temples. The interview includes a standardized list of questions, one of which relates to having any dealings with or theological agreement with polygamist groups. Answer yes, and there won't be any temple recommend.
Really the only similarity between the LDS and FLDS is their belief that there is always one, and only one, living prophet, who is serving in accordance with the will of God, and that this prophet receives "continuing revelation" which is every bit as valid as scripture, including when it makes changes to practices prescribed by earlier scripture and/or earlier prophets.
I don’t believe a word that comes out of any of these cultists’ mouths.
They have lied at every turn.
The argument that the first case was done ‘en masse’ , still holds, but no one had a better solution.
Their only solutions involved doing exactly what the Judge is doing now.
Of course they didn't have a better solution; The CPS and the judge are the ones who caused the judicial stampede in the first place.
FAMILY COURT - TEXAS STYLE
Cordially,
Where I think the silence speaks volumes is in the complete lack of support shown by the official LDS church for the women and children from the FLDS compound.
We often see posts lauding the charitbale works of the LDS church posted here, with FReeper mormons high-fiving each other over their generosity.
Even IF the General Authority leaders in Salt Lake City refuse to use even a small part of the huge assets of the church, I would expect individual mormons to be offering some kind of aid to these victims of the FLDS cult. If they are doing so, there has been no mention of it that I have seen.
Of all the churches in America, those members of the LDS church would have an understanding of the beliefs of the FLDS victims that would aid in bringing them into the mainstream of everyday life.
“charitbale”=charitable
The ‘stampede’ wasn’t created by the judge and DPS at all. It was created by perverted men and brainwashed women united in child trafficking and sexual abuse of children.
I’m sick and tired of Romney theorists surmising that this bust was orchestrated to prevent his bid for VP. Again, LDS and fLDS are different entities.
BTW? The facility here that has some of the children is spotless and well-staffed. They are doing just fine and are very possibly happier than they’ve ever been.
“It was just a general rant. :)”
Sorry? a Rant? Not even close.
If you want to see what a real rant is, go here.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2012360/posts?page=32#32
(who would you put in the to: list?)
And I guess it was coincidence that the mormon faith ‘left’ polygamy as a practice about the same time the Federal Government was looking into shutting them down. Those Visions sure are timely...
I also guess the fact that the State of Utah, home of the mormon faith, has been reluctant to pursue these groups, as has just been demonstrated by their AG, is also coencidenctial..
BTW you may want to let the LDS folk around here in on the whole ‘excommunication” bit, they sure seem to be apologizing for and defending the FLDS...
After all according to those beautiful family centric LDS PR pieces commercials and such children and the family are very important...
“I would have hated to be in their position, but I think I would have done it the same way after thinking it through.”
And if I was so ‘smart’, and could have come up with a better way, I would already have spelled it out.
(words you will never hear)
Funny, I keep hearing that as well, then see many of the same names that supported the Mittster crying out about how unfair the "big bad government" has been to these poor kids...
Funny huh...
Yes. Very odd. Regardless of his religious affiliation, I don’t see him and McCain getting along well enough to be running mates. Thompson, maybe. Hunter, maybe. Huckabee, I pray not.
“The CPS and the judge are the ones who caused the judicial stampede in the first place.”
A community of men, women, and children, all owned by one man, JEFFS, who had declared himself the messenger of GOD.
The PROPHET.
And who erringly, and repeatedly, forecast the end of the world, to get the cooperation of his slaves.
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