Latter-Day Taint
Who will rescue the children of Yearning for Zion Ranch from their
rescuers?
Jacob Sullum | April 30, 2008
http://www.reason.com/news/show/126240.html
I'm not quite as old-fa****oned as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), which hews to the early-marriage
customs of the 19th century and the polygamous practices of biblical
times. But I'm old-fa****oned enough to believe the government needs a
good reason to pull a crying, clinging child away from her mother and
hand her over to the care of strangers.
The possibility that the child might marry an older man 10 or 12 or 14
years from now does not cut it. Citing that long-term, speculative
danger to justify the certain, immediate damage it has done by forcibly
separating hundreds of children from their parents, the Texas Department
of Family and Protective Services has violated its duty to take such
extreme measures only when there's no other way to prevent imminent harm.
The department took custody of 463 minors who were living at the FLDS
church's Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch in Eldorado after an April 3 raid
that was based on an abuse re****t police believe was a hoax. On Monday
state officials said the children, who are now living in group homes or
shelters, include 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17, of whom 31 are
pregnant or have children.
I don't know whether to believe that. Texas officials have proven
unreliable even on such basic questions as the justification for the
raid, which was a re****t of physical abuse from a 16-year-old YFZ
resident who apparently does not exist, and the number of children
seized, a figure that was revised yet again this week. Just a few days
ago, the number of underage mothers was said to be 20.
It's not clear how the government determined the ages of these girls. It
says many who claimed to be adults were in fact minors, while FLDS
members say many of the girls the state describes as minors are in fact
adults.
Furthermore, the age of consent for *** in Texas is 17, while the
minimum age for marriage, with parental approval, is 16 (raised in 2005
from 14 with the FLDS in mind). Hence a pregnant 16- or 17-year-old is
not necessarily evidence that any laws have been broken.
Even by the government's account, 463 children were forcibly removed
from their homes because 7 percent of them may have been victims of
***ual abuse. Although there's no evidence that boys or prepubescent
girls were abused at YFZ, the minors in state custody include 213 boys
and about 130 children under the age of 5.
What is the state's rationale for taking girls who were not pregnant or
mothers along with those who were, for taking boys along with girls, and
for taking infants, toddlers, and preschoolers along with teenagers? In
an affidavit, it asserts "a pervasive pattern and practice of
indoctrinating and grooming minor female children to accept spiritual
marriages to adult male members of the YFZ Ranch resulting in them being
abused." As for the boys, "after they become adults, [they] are
spiritually married to minor female children and engage in ***ual
relation****ps with them resulting in them becoming ***ually [sic]
perpetrators."
In short, the whole FLDS culture is sick and corrupt, so anyone raised
in that environment is ipso facto a victim of abuse. This theory of
collective guilt, which was accepted by Judge Barbara Walther after a
chaotic and cursory mass hearing on April 17, is the antithesis of the
individualized risk *****sment that is supposed to justify taking a
child from his parents.
Some YFZ residents say they do not approve of marriage before the legal
age of consent, while others say they do not practice polygamy at all.
Yet all were tarred with the same broad brush, based on a principle that
church attorney Rod Parker aptly summed up this way: "If you're a member
of this religious group, then you're not allowed to have children."
© Copyright 2008 by Creators Syndicate Inc.
An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and
the Child Protection "INDUSTRY"
Child Protective Services Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of CPS.
every parent should read the free handbook from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Wa****ngton. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59
***ual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13
Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12
Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and ***ual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST
Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally
guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other
agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central
intelligence agency wiretaping programs…
THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia
http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/articles.php?filter=6
This is Child Protection?
By Gregory A. Hession, J.D.
http://www.jbs.org/node/4632
Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-callahan16oct16,0,5019944.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey
Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler
http://www.nccpr.org/re****ts/cfpanalysis.doc
HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN
http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html
Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness
DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore Massachusetts News
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
2% receive a college degree
50% were unemployed
Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children
not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems,
including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and
impaired social relation****ps. Some experts estimate that about 30% of
the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various
studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care
tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school
compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their
education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment
than the general population.
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Sup****t
80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.
The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn
of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child
psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should
just be blown up.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991
Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s
foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent
housing.
This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would
have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in
the first place.
Front-page story in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-02-foster-study_N.htm?csp=34#Close
Read the studies online.
Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Foster Care: Findings from the
Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study,"
www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/NorthwestAlumniStudy.htm
MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects
of Foster Care,"
www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf
Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" re****ts:
www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren
The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system
for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than
walking wreckage...
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY
GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER
AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS....
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLI****NG CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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