Child casualty count so far in Texas: 2 lost; 3 hospitalized

And, since the parents don't have legal custody if the children, it is doubtful any of them will be able to learn what is happening to their hospitalized children.

FLDS children in Texas custody reportedly hospitalized
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated:04/27/2008 12:22:59 PM MDT

Posted: 12:24 PM- At least three children taken from a
polygamous sect's ranch are in the hospital and
attorneys for their mothers say they have received
little or no information about their conditions.

Attorneys for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) are
working to identify the children, the hospitals, and
to arrange for their mothers to visit the children.

"We can't seem to get anyone on the phone with
authority to make that happen and the mothers don't
even know the seriousness of the situation," said
Amanda Chisholm, a TRLA attorney.

The legal aid society, which represents 48
mothers, said one 2-year-old child lost a severe
amount of weight while staying at the San Angelo
Coliseum.

TRLA said the organization was told two days ago
that the child was in shock and lethargic, but has
received no new information since then about where the
child is or regarding her current health situation.

The mother is not being allowed to be with this
child or her other nursing children, Chisholm said.

"We don't seem to be able to get in touch with
anyone who can tell us," she said.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective
Services said Friday that one child had been
hospitalized because of dehydration. Attempts today to
contact CPS authorities were unsuccessful.

Texas authorities removed the children from the
YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, owned by the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more than
three weeks ago because of allegations of sexual and
physical abuse of young girls.

The sect made another appeal to Texas Gov. Rick
Perry this weekend for help.

In a letter to the governor, FLDS member Willie
Jessop said that many children "have been left in
critical medical conditions, resulting in permanent
damage through threats, intimidation and ultimately
separating them from their parents."

Jessop writes that even the state's expert witness
advised against separating the youngest children from
their mothers. He asks for an emergency meeting with
Perry.

So far, Perry has declined to meet with the FLDS
and has praised the Department of Family and
Protective Services actions.

The agency moved 462 children out of the San
Angelo Coliseum last week, sending them to group and
foster homes across Texas.

Chisholm said a master list of placements is
missing names of two children taken from the ranch and
TRLA has so far been unable to determine their
location.

She also said mothers who were nursing children
older than 12 months were told their toddlers would be
kept close by so they could continue to nurse or
provide breast milk for them.

But some of those toddlers have been moved
hundreds of miles away and Texas Child Protective
Services has not yet given permission for the mothers
to visit them.

"I've been scrambling for the past two days to
find out the name of the person I need to call to get
permission for my client to enter that facility to
nurse her children," said Chisholm, who represents
four mothers. "All we've been told is to wait until
Monday when they assign caseworkers to individual
families."

Some mothers have been unable to confirm where
their children have gone and others have learned their
children have been split up and sent to different
locations. TRLA learned this morning that a child
thought to be in a group home was actually in a
hospital.

Some mothers, Chisholm said, "are trying to,
sadly, figure out which child needs them more, a child
in the hospital or a nursing baby," she said.
brooke@sltrib.com