Polygamy Kids on the Move
Children moved from the coliseum to new homes; few parents take for DNA test.
April 22, 2008— -- By the end of the week, the 437 children taken into state custody from a polygamous community in West Texas will likely be placed into foster homes scattered across the state -- and into a social system they may not understand.
The state Child Protective Services said that about 100 children were taken from the San Angelo Coliseum Tuesday after Judge Barbara Walther signed an order saying they should be immediately placed in temporary foster homes.
Those children had completed court ordered DNA testing to help untangle the complicated family tree inside the sprawling polygamous compound. The remaining children will be moved after they complete the testing.
Walther's order said officials would attempt to place siblings together and said underage mothers will be placed with their children.
"Based on the specialized needs of this population, information has already been shared about their background and culture with the facilities where they have been placed," the order said.
But those children will face a dramatic adjustment in their new homes, in 10 cities from Amarillo to the Gulf Coast. "All of the staff are trained on how to be culturally sensitive and respectful of the children's needs and different beliefs," said Sherry Loyd of the St. PJ's Children's home.
The buses pulled out as attorneys for a group of the sect's mothers went to court for a temporary restraining order to prevent young children from being separated from their moms. Walther refused to rule on a similar motion Monday, calling the request "premature." A hearing on the motion is scheduled for today.
Many of the childrens' lawyers and advocates are outraged. "They are being treated like they are a heard of cattle, that each of them believes the same, that their families are the same and that their interests are identical and they are not," said Polly O'Tooley, one of the lawyers for the children.
Walther Friday ordered DNA tests for all 437 children and their parents after state child protection officials, and some lawyers, complained that the children often gave multiple names and may have lied about their ages.
Last week, about two dozen teenage boys were placed in temporary foster care at a boy's ranch about 400 miles away from their home. That ranch has been cited four times in the past year by the state department of Family and Protective Services for violations such as failing to report an injury in a timely manner, according to the department's Web site.
Child welfare officials have said that the children should remain in state custody because they would be at risk of physical or sexual abuse if they are returned to their parents at the Yearning for Zion Ranch.
State prosecutors have argued that the church encourages underage marriages and births, subjecting children to sexual abuse or the imminent risk of abuse, which church leaders deny.
A child protective services supervisor, Angie Voss, testified last week that children from the sect reported that no age was too young to get married and that they would get married whenever the church's "prophet" told them to.