More sect moms may join children

I am hoping this is a positive step in the right direction.
Some nursing mothers and children may stay together. I am hoping that everyone, particularly Judge Walther, is beginning to understand the importance of breast milk for these children. If officials thought Judge Walther's safety was in jeopardy, I wonder if they would deprive her of water? --Nicole

More sect moms may join children
Number of youngsters held rises

By Paul A. Anthony
San Angelo Standard-Times
Monday, April 21, 2008

SAN ANGELO -- A state district judge seemed to open the door Monday for adult women to be placed with their nursing children in foster situations, telling attorneys in the historic Schleicher County child-removal case to negotiate such provisions on a case-by-case basis.

Judge Barbara Walther declined to rule on a temporary restraining order sought by attorneys representing adult women and infants held at the San Angelo Coliseum since their removal from the YFZ Ranch northeast of Eldorado. Instead, the 51st District judge said the question was one for each mother's and each child's attorney to settle with the state's Child Protective Services agency.

"This is really one of the cases where y'all should be talking instead of running to the court every time," Walther said. "These most private matters should be handled in an individual manner."

CPS as a rule does not place adult women with their children, regardless of age or whether they are nursing, said spokeswoman Shari Pulliam, but that it has found placement for the at least five girls identified as juvenile mothers with their children.

Allowing adult women to be placed with their nursing children "would be something I would say is new," Pulliam said.

'We're going to keep these teenage girls with their children,' she said; however, 'None of our plans involve placing (adult) mothers with their children.'

Placement likely will begin by next week, Pulliam said.

Since Walther ruled Friday that all 400-plus children removed from the compound should remain in CPS custody, attorneys have filed dozens of motions and requested orders -- including 35 writs of habeas corpus.

Walther conducted a pair of hearings Monday in an effort to answer some of those questions, not least of which is how many children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

compound the state actually has in custody.

CPS began removing children April 3, a process that took nearly four days.

Attempts since then by attorneys ad litem and CPS caseworkers to solidify birth dates have led to an increase in the count to 437

from the previously reported 416 children in custody, Pulliam said. The number of adult women believed to be willingly staying with their young children also has risen, from 82 to 95.

It means a total of 519 people from the ranch are now housed at the San Angelo Fairgrounds.

The numbers have jumped for two principal reasons, Pulliam said:

• Some girls claiming to be adults have since been correctly classified as juveniles and the totals of both categories remain in flux as numbers are added and subtracted from each.

• The sheer numbers of children has made counting difficult, something CPS hopes will be eased by this week's DNA testing.

"We're just not getting a lot of factual information," Pulliam said. "It's just been really hard."

The state alleges all children at the ranch were at risk for physical or sexual abuse because of a 'pervasive pattern and practice' of underage marriage.

Walther, in her brusque style, entreated attorneys to work together to resolve other issues brought to her Monday -- such as the usage of eight telephone lines recently installed at the coliseum to allow women and older children to communicate with their attorneys and how to allow the devout detainees the private prayer and worship they've requested.

In the end, Walther, urging flexibility, suggested finding a monitor from the mainstream Mormon church whose presence may be more palatable to the FLDS members than a complete outsider.

"I'm not going to monitor what color napkins get handed out," she said, "and that's where this is leading."

Attorneys for the women and children used the hearings to more fully air concerns first broached during last week's initial custody hearing -- including allegations that CPS was unfairly restricting access to attorneys and being uncooperative in striking agreements on such issues as prayer time and foster placement for nursing children.

Andrea L. Sloan, an Austin-based attorney representing several mothers in the case, said she had met extensively with attorneys for both mothers and children in preparing the motion, which she filed with San Angelo attorneys Deborah Keenum and Terri Harris Motl.

Sloan and Keenum said they did not have any immediate comment.

While acknowledging that infants were best served by receiving breast milk from their mothers, Walther highlighted CPS' position that the mothers had placed their children at risk for abuse in the FLDS setting.

"The court has ruled the conditions those children were in were not safe for the children," she said. "I did not make the facts that got this case into the courts."

http://reporternews.com/news/2008/apr/21/more-sect-moms-may-join-children/

TV interview: Breast-feeding advocates rally around FLDS mothers

I was interviewed today by a Salt lake city news station. While in Utah, far from Tx I was pleased with the media coverage. I hope it spreads. Note that I am not the sole founder of the Tx breastfeeding coalition as the story implies. I'm one of the original members as it was being organized. I appreciate this coverage and the kind reporter.
Video HERE: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3141379

Breast-feeding advocates rally around FLDS mothers

April 22nd, 2008 @ 4:05pm

Courtney Orton reporting

Nursing babies are among the children that have been taken into state custody in Texas. Although still with their mothers, a judge has refused to protect them from separation in the future. She left it up to child welfare officials.

Advocates for breast-feeding in Utah and Texas are now rallying around the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints mothers.

Lactation consultants don't want to weigh in on the allegations of child abuse at the FLDS ranch. They just want Texas authorities to know how damaging abrupt weaning can be for infants.

"It's not my right to judge whether the children should be with their mothers, but I do feel it is our right to make sure they have the best care and the best nutrition," said Nicole Hoff, a certified lactation consultant.

Hoff, the founding member of the Texas Breast-Feeding Coalition, says the best care and the best nutrition is breast milk. She set up a Web site to organize support and make breast pumps available to nursing mothers if they are separated from their children.

"These children have been breast-fed and that is the only thing they've known. It's what their body, what their system, is used to. It's important for them that they continue to have that breast milk," Hoff said.

Hoff says that could be accomplished in a couple of different ways: either in supervised breast-feeding visits or allowing FLDS mothers to pump their breast milk.

The Utah Division of Child and Family Services says breast-feeding can come up in custodial cases. "When it comes to something like breast-feeding, we wouldn't want to be making the decision on our own. We would be a part of that team, but we would be looking to medical professionals, law enforcement and that kind of thing to help us make a decision," said Charri Brummer, deputy director of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.

Brummer says removing a child can be traumatic regardless of the circumstances. Breast-feeding advocates say taking breast-feeding away from the child can make it even more traumatic.

"To separate them only causes trauma. If these mothers have chosen to be with their babies, then their babies are used to being with them; and they are not only used to being with them, but the are programed to be with them," said Nicole Bernshaw, also a certified lactation consultant.

Texas judge Barber Walther responded to the FLDS women's plea by saying that women every day in this country go back to work after six weeks of maternity leave. Advocates for breast-feeding say the comment was insensitive to mothers who continue to breast-feed even after returning to work.

To view Hoff's Web site, click the related link.

E-mail: corton@ksl.com

Texas judge declines to rule on FLDS mothers' request to stay with their nursing babies

Texas judge declines to rule on FLDS mothers' request to stay with their nursing babies
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/21/2008 04:16:48 PM MDT


SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The Texas judge overseeing the polygamous FLDS sect's case today refused to make any ruling that would allow breast-feeding mothers to remain with their children in state custody.
Judge Barbara Walther did rule on requests that women and children currently being held in San Angelo be able to pray together privately. She told Texas Children Protective Services (CPS) to find a member of the mainstream Mormon church to supervise group prayer sessions with FLDS women and children. Those sessions would occur in the morning and evening.
Walther was addressing a request for temporary restraining orders filed by attorneys for four of the nursing mothers, but on behalf of all mothers there. The request asked the court to stop Texas child-welfare workers from separating mothers and children, to allow private prayer, and to give the women and children telephone access to their lawyers.
The judge said she would leave it up to CPS officials and the attorneys to work something out on the breast-feeding. The attorneys, however, replied that they have so far been unable to come up with a workable agreement.
CPS officials plan to separate 68 women with children under five from their kids once DNA samples are taken. The sampling began today.
A total of 416 children taken from the FLDS ranch more than two
weeks ago are being kept in a coliseum and pavilion in San Angelo.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9004942

FLDS mothers to Texas judge: Don't take away our nursing children

Motion also seeks prayer privacy, attorney access
FLDS mothers to Texas judge: Don't take away our nursing children
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/21/2008 03:51:51 PM MDT

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Mothers in the polygamous FLDS sect on Monday filed a motion for a temporary restraining order demanding access to attorneys, privacy in prayer and a halt to Texas child-welfare workers plans to separate them from their breast-feeding children.
Though filed specifically on behalf of four Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints mothers, the TRO is meant to include other mothers fighting to stop the state from taking their toddlers, who were taken from the sect's YFZ Ranch earlier this month.
Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) officials have repeatedly said they plan to separate all 416 children taken from the ranch -- including those under 2 who are currently breast-feeding -- once DNA testing determines maternity. That genetic screening began today. Texas Judge Barbara Walther set an afternoon hearing to further discuss the TRO motions.
The TRO also claims that since state officials have seized all cell phones from mothers and their children, they have no means to confer with attorneys. Further, despite CPS assurances that telephone access would be provided, that has yet to happen, the mothers argue.
State officials also have refused to provide mothers and children privacy to say their prayers, which the TRO argues is an unconstitutional intrusion on their right to practice their religion. "In one instance, it has
been reported that [CPS] workers . . . were vacuuming while the children attempted to pray. Without exception [the mothers] have reported that [CPS] will not let them pray without being monitored," the mothers claim.
The women insist they "have a right to pray without the watchful ears the department intruding" on a sacred religious rite. The TRO asks that the women be given 30 minutes of private prayer morning and night.
The judge also received 35 habeas corpus petitions representing the seized children "illegally restrained" by CPS. Those documents were filed on April 15, but were not available until Monday.
In yet another FLDS raid-related development, coordinating attorneys, legal aid attorneys and guardians ad litem announced an undisclosed number of 20-30 young women whose adult status had been debated had indeed been determined to be legally adults.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9002940

FLDS moms ask court to let them stay with nursing children

FLDS moms ask court to let them stay with nursing children
By Ben Winslow
Deseret News
Published: Monday, April 21, 2008 1:49 p.m. MDT


SAN ANGELO, Texas — A group of mothers from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch have filed court papers, demanding their rights to pray in private and stay with their nursing children.

The motion for a temporary restraining order was filed in 51st District Court today by attorneys for Charlotte Johnson, Suzanne Johnson, Sarah Johnson, Angela Harker and other mothers of children taken from the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado.

"Some of respondent mothers are currently parenting children under the age of 2 years of age and are still breastfeeding," the motion said.

The motion demands that the women and children be allowed to pray in private without having a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services worker overseeing them.

"Without exception, respondent mothers have reported that the department will not let them pray without being monitored by the department," attorney Andrea Sloan wrote, asking the judge to allow the women and children 30 minutes in the morning and again at night to pray in private.

Attorneys are also pushing to keep a group of nursing mothers from being separated from their children, pending the results of DNA testing under way in San Angelo.

The women's attorneys said that when cell phones were taken from the women, they lost the ability to communicate effectively with their clients. The cell phones were taken the day after members of the FLDS Church inside the Fort Concho shelter spoke out to the Deseret News, complaining of cramped conditions.

The women provided the Deseret News with photographs taken by a cell phone to show the conditions. Shortly afterward, they were all moved to the San Angelo Coliseum, where some of the children have remained. Many of the women have been sent back to the YFZ Ranch.

A hearing on the motion is scheduled to be heard this afternoon.

Authorities began collecting DNA samples Monday morning from children taken from the ranch, the Texas Attorney General's Office said.

The children were to be given a cheek swab, then photographed and fingerprinted. They have each been assigned a number to identify them and the sample they gave.

"We began the process this morning and anticipate working on this throughout the week," said Janece Rolfe, a spokeswoman for the Texas attorney general. "It will be about 30 days to receive results, maybe a little longer."

Judge Barbara Walther signed court papers this morning ordering the DNA samples.

"The Court finds that an unknown number of males of reproductive age reside, or have resided, at the ranch during the probable time of conception of one or more of the children the subject of this suit," her order says. "The court further finds that an unknown number of females of child bearing age reside, or have resided at the ranch and could be the mother of one or more children the subject of this suit."

The order lists the hundreds of names of parents and children that are known at the YFZ Ranch, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who it lists as being in "prison."

The parents on the YFZ Ranch are expected to show up at the Schleicher County Memorial Building in Eldorado on Tuesday to give a DNA sample. At the makeshift shelter at the San Angelo Coliseum and the Cal Farley Boy's Ranch, where the FLDS children have been staying since they were taken into state custody, children were giving samples.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said it is still having trouble identifying individual children and who their parents are.

"We're still not getting names," said child protective services spokesman Greg Cunningham. "We don't know who are siblings, mothers, fathers."

The raid on the YFZ Ranch was prompted by a phone call to a San Angelo family crisis center from a 16-year-old girl who claimed she was abused, pregnant and married to a 50-year-old man. Authorities have not been able to identify her, but said that when they went onto the ranch to investigate the complaint they found signs of other children being abused.

That led to the judge's order removing all 416 children from the ranch. Last week, Walther ordered that all children will remain in state custody.

Once the DNA samples are gathered, Cunningham said they will move forward with placing the children in foster care.

"We've got some of the placements lined up, but we're still waiting for some guidance from the court," he said.

Child protective services said the children will be kept in groups, including teenage mothers with their children and siblings grouped together. The children would likely not be going to a typical foster home, Cunningham said.

"It's a home-type setting. A majority of them would go to a residential facility," he said. "There are several different options out there."

Authorities refused to discuss how the children would be transitioned from the San Angelo Coliseum to foster care because of security reasons.

Outside the coliseum today, the police presence has been heavy. Texas state troopers, Tom Green County sheriff's deputies, San Angelo police and unmarked patrol cars have all been seen circling the large parking lot surrounding the building.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com, Original Article: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695272498,00.html