May 14, 2008
Inside the Yearning for Zion Ranch
UPDATE: Texas: Sect Mother Is Not a MinorBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 14, 2008Child welfare officials conceded to a judge that a newborn’s mother, held in foster care as a minor after being removed from a polygamous sect’s ranch, is an adult. The woman, who gave birth on April 29, had been held along with more than 400 children taken last month from a ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was one of two pregnant sect members who officials had said were minors. The other member, who gave birth on Monday, may also be an adult, state officials said. nytimes.com
Rat Says: Dear God, someone please explain to the Texas AG that the warrant was known to be a fraud THREE DAYS before the raid! What am I missing people? Who the hell is really behind this disaster? Judges, CPS, Sheriffs, para-militarized Police, Nancy Grace, State AGs and Governors can’t all be this gullible can they?
Caregivers blast Texas’ treatment of polygamous sect’s women, children
By Julia Lyon
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:05/13/2008 09:17:24 AM MDTChildren living in crowded quarters that led to upper respiratory illnesses. Youngsters plagued with diarrhea from unhealthy foods they usually did not eat. Distressed mothers enduring widespread rudeness - such as flashlights shined in their faces as they tried to sleep.
Mental health professionals who helped care for FLDS women and children in the weeks after an April raid on the YFZ Ranch describe conditions and treatment they perceived as harsh and unnecessary. “Never in all my life, and I am one of the older ladies, have I been so ashamed of being a Texan and seeing what and how our government agencies treat people,” wrote one employee of Hill Country Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center in an unsigned statement.
Texas contracts with Hill Country to provide mental health services during disasters. Staff members met with the center’s board of trustees last week, leaving them “spellbound.” The board has gathered nine written statements critical of Child Protective Services.
Chairman John Kight said he wants state legislators and the governor to hear the employees’ stories. “You have damaged these children for their lives,” he said. “This is an agency that looks like it’s gone out of control.” A Texas CPS spokesman acknowledged the allegations were “very serious” and said they are being investigated. But he noted the women and children were held at a historic fort and a convention center in San Angelo in an unusual emergency situation……
………But the statements focus on the Hill Country staffers’ dismay at uncaring behavior they say they witnessed by CPS employees. A boy estimated at age 3 walked along a row of cots asking for someone to rock him after he was separated from his mother, one employee wrote. Two CPS worker trailed the youngster taking notes but not helping him. His brother, age 8, eventually took the child into his arms and sat with him in a rocking chair.
“That little boy will always be in my mind,” the employee wrote. “How can a beautiful, healthy child be taken from a healthy, loving home and forced into a situation like that, right here in America, right here in Texas?” Mothers who initially were allowed to stay with their children were later required to leave if their child was older than 12 months. Describing that day, one employee wrote, “the floor was literally slick with tears in places.”
After the separation, a baby was allegedly left in a stroller with no food and water for 24 hours and ended up in a hospital, according to another statement. “We don’t believe that’s the case, but we’re checking into that,” Crimmins said…….” Full Article and Links of Mental Health Professionals’ Letters of Criticism of Texas CPS: The Salt Lake Tribune
Dateline: Inside the Yearning for Zion Ranch
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Dateline: Inside the Yearning for Zion Ranch Part 2
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Dateline: Inside the Yearning for Zion Ranch Part 3
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