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Team coverageTexas cops and social workers went back to the YFZ ranch in Texas today, pursuing a report that more FLDS children may be hiding in the compound. FLDS officials did not let them in.
As you can imagine, this child custody crisis has rocked the capitol in Austin and sparked cries for reform, but first an update on the doings today at the ranch.
Child Protective Services workers went to the front gate, announcing they had information that more children may be living there. Six weeks ago, they thought they had them all. FLDS members refused to let them in because they didn't have a warrant. One FLDS spokesman told reporters he was unaware of any leftover kids. We don't know if state authorities plan any further action.
A Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) member stopped them at the gate. FLDS spokesman Rod Parker said, "They were asked if they had a search warrant. They said they didn't. They were told that they could not come in without a search warrant." At last word, they still had not been allowed back inside.
We're still waiting for word on what information prompted this new law enforcement action at the ranch. If it's true that more children are there, it will add more tension to an already bitter conflict between FLDS members and the State of Texas.
Meanwhile, we've learned more about the early weeks of this crisis, from the viewpoint of concerned insiders. When hundreds of FLDS children and mothers were moved to San Angelo, state mental health workers were put on the case. They worked with the kids for three weeks. They are legally forbidden to speak to reporters. But Comal County Commissioner Jack Dawson says they poured out their guts to a mental health board he sits on, in a three-hour meeting so emotional they forgot to have lunch. Dawson said, "We were wrapped up in this. And I would say that we had several boxes of Kleenex on both sides of the table."
Dawson says the mental health experts were disturbed by what they saw. "What they reported to us is they saw no evidence of any child abuse or behavior in the women or the children during their operation."
Child Protective Services also seemed unsympathetic to the emotional needs of the children, at least as mental health workers saw it. "They wanted the ladies to have a little more close contact with their children. Sometimes when the children needed to be rocked or hugged, they wouldn't let them do that," Dawson said.
They especially felt younger kids may pay a price. "They're afraid that at the early ages, some of the children may have emotional effects later in life," Dawson said.
The children have moved on now to foster shelters and youth ranches. A Texas State Bar spokesman says he's heard good reports. Guy Choate says, "I know there are some children that are taking these things harder than others. So it hasn't been universally good. But some of the places I've heard about have just been magnificent, and some of the children I've heard about are doing very, very well. And I'm sure others are probably taking it much harder."
The chairman of the mental health board has asked the Texas governor in Austin to personally meet with the mental health workers. Commissioner Dawson says this entire episode is one that will not be forgotten in the state of Texas for a long time.
The FLDS compound has become a tourist attraction. A point of interest for what some see as a historic mistake. Kathy Karpinksi, from Austin, Texas, said, "[The] rushing in, smashing doors, taking prisoners and asking questions later, which isn't really the way we're supposed to do things."
The YFZ ranch isn't deserted these days, but it is down to the bare bones. The moms and dads for the most part are out trying to find visitation opportunities with their children.
Annette, a mother and FLDS member, said, "I'm looking forward to a better future."
Moms come and go, and are allowed to visit one hour a week. Many are embroiled in seemingly endless court battles, an unaccustomed role for people taught to shun government.
Richelle Barlow, also a mother and FLDS member, said, "[I get] no sleep. [It's been] very emotional. [I've] been working really hard to do everything, trying to find answers that people don't want to give."
With shelters and courts scattered across a huge state, they're sleeping in their cars, at attorneys' homes, wherever. FLDS member Dan Jessop said, "I've been everywhere and nowhere. I've stayed in motels and with friends. I really don't know where to call home."
An end to the turmoil is foreseeable. Over the next three weeks, the courts will be reviewing so-called service plans, which are rules and conditions for reunions that may still be many months away. Texas State Bar spokesman Guy Choate said, "The family service plan is just the state's effort to get these families back together in what the state believes will be not an abusive situation."
If there are more children hidden at the ranch, the state could use the same legal theories to take them into custody. It might even strengthen their case. They could argue the kids are being brought up in an environment openly hostile to the law.
Meanwhile, the number of pregnant polygamist teens in Texas custody is dwindling, and that could be a sign of more trouble ahead for the state.
Texas has conceded four more of its teen moms are actually of age. One is 27, and there's a similar case waiting to come to court. Plus, one attorney says her 14-year-old client isn't really pregnant.
"I think what we're seeing is the beginnings of the unraveling," said civil rights attorney Brian Barnard.
Barnard says it looks like the broad case is falling apart, and there will be consequences. "My prediction is that there's going to be massive civil rights lawsuits," he said.
Texas' number of so-called "disputed minors" in custody has now been cut by roughly one-third.
CPS seized more than 460 children from the Yearning For Zion ranch last month, believing the children were being forced into underage marriage and sex.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
(The Associated Press contributed to this story. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
