The Yearning for Zion Ranch is a religious community located just outside of Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas.  It is owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  In March 2008, the YFZ Ranch received national attention when it was raided by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.  416 children were removed after state officials determined that they were actual or potential victims of child abuse.  In May 2008, the Third Court of Appeals in Texas overturned an order appointing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as temporary managing conservator of the children and ruled that there was insufficient evidence showing that the children were in any immediate danger.  The Texas Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the Third Court of Appeals and ordered that the children be returned home to the YFZ Ranch.

Rep. Harvey Hilderbran has filed legislation (HB 4255) during this 81st Texas Legislative session which would require courts to consider the actions of all adults in the household before determining whether the child or the alleged abuser should be the one removed from the home.

According to a press release issued by Rep. Hilderbran on March 18, 2009:

In the Eldorado incident last year, in my view we should have removed the suspected perpetrator, not the victim,” Hilderbran said. “But we have to know for sure that the remaining parent would really be protecting the child. If they are going to let the alleged abuser back in the home, then keeping the child there isn’t a viable option.”

The bill (HB 4255) follows last year’s raid on a polygamist compound in Eldorado, where over 400 children were removed from the camp amid sexual abuse allegations. The Texas Supreme Court later determined that Child Protective Services did not make all reasonable efforts to keep the children in their homes by considering an option to remove the alleged perpetrator rather than the children.

New Jersey police confirmed on Thursday that a 3-year-old boy named Adolf Hitler Campbell and his two younger sisters JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell were removed from their New Jersey home by the state’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). In an interview with Fox News:

Forensic psychologist N.G. Berrill said naming a boy Hitler could be considered child abuse. “Part of it is the infantile nature of the parents’ behavior,” Berrill said. “You can name your dog something weird, but they think they’re making some kind of bold statement with the children, not appreciating that the children will have separate lives and will be looked at in a negative light until they’re able to change their name. It is abuse.”

Is it abuse? Read the rest of this entry »

Texas Monthly,: Mimi Swartz, Children of the Storm

Texas Monthly leads with a heartbreaking story that weaves many of the issues facing children and parents in the aftermath of Katrina as well as a revealing look at the larger social dynamics.

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ABA Bar President H. Thomas Wells, Jr. and Judge Patricia A. Macías of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges penned an editorial with which we emphatically concur - Families in Crisis Need a Bailout:

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The Houston Chronicle reported that Texas child welfare workers are unable to meet their federally mandated number of visits with children and parents leading to difficulties with the federal government.

Texas already is appealing a $4 million fine for insufficient caseworker visits stemming from a 2002 review. Preliminary results released last month from a 2008 review again found the state deficient.

The federal standard calls for 95 percent of children in state care to be seen monthly by a caseworker.

In the fiscal year that ended last Aug. 31, only 75 percent of children were visited each month.

The latest Child and Family Services Review also faulted Texas for having too many children in long-term foster care and placing children on waiting lists for mental-health and substance-abuse services.

The state did not meet six of seven national standards designed to ensure that quality services are provided to the 30,000 children and their families in the child welfare system.

The state did meet targets for serving children’s educational needs.

“It’s obviously very alarming,” said state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio. “The system is bleeding itself if we don’t address this (staff turnover) issue and address it as a crisis.”

In June, conservatorship workers, who are supposed to check on the children every month, each were responsible for 34.4 children — twice as many as national experts suggest. That is an improvement from two years ago when each worker handled 44.6 cases.

The turnover rate for those workers in the three-month period that ended June 30 was 21 percent statewide. However, vacancies traditionally spike in late summer when some caseworkers leave for higher pay as schoolteachers.

Parent visits also low

Madeline McClure, executive director of the Texas Association for the Protection of Children, said teachers get paid 15 percent to 40 percent higher than state social workers.

A nationwide salary survey done by McClure’s group ranked Texas 48th among the states in 2005-2006. She said the average salary for a caseworker at the time was about $31,000 a year.

When the state boosted pay for workers who investigate child abuse by $5,000 a few years ago, many conservatorship workers switched jobs.

That has contributed to internal staffing instability, including supervisors with an average of two years’ experience, said Jodie Smith, public policy director of the nonprofit group Texans Care for Children.

The federal reviewers noted the lack of mentors for new caseworkers.

“The front-line caseworkers don’t have the type of supervisory support they need to do this incredibly stressful work,” Smith said.

Texas also fell short in caseworkers’ monthly visits with parents, an essential component for family reunification.

Irene Clements, who coordinates foster care for an agency that contracts with the state, said private providers would like more authority from the state to work with parents. She said it makes sense for foster families who are caring for children to have regular contact with the parents.

“In many other states, the child-placing agency and their foster parents work very closely with the child’s biological family,” Clements said.

Clements was interviewed by federal reviewers who came to Texas in March. She said the preliminary findings are “especially disconcerting, given the amount of resources, money and staff the Legislature has put” into the system.

System strained

Since 2005, the Department of Family and Protective Services has received $299 million in additional funding from the Legislature and 3,500 new Child Protective Services staff positions, which acted to stem child abuse deaths.

But while the money improved the ability of the agency to investigate and remove children who are in danger of abuse and neglect, it strained the state’s ability to serve those children.

At the same time, tougher licensing standards for foster homes drove some long-time foster parents away. As a result, the state has fewer net homes, particularly for children with higher needs and older children, the federal review found.

Since last year, dozens of children have spent nights in state offices because emergency placements could not be found for them.

Findings not surprising

The federal review process arose out of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act. No state met the standards during the initial review in 2002.

During the second round this year, federal officials looked at 65 cases in Harris, Dallas and El Paso counties.

Twenty-five cases involved families receiving in-home services, and 40 cases involved children in foster care. They also met with foster care providers as well as children and parents in the system.

The final report is expected in September, and the state will have 90 days to complete a plan for improvement. At the end of the process, Texas could face another fine.

Liz Hughes Kromrei, who coordinates the review process for Texas CPS, said the agency was not surprised by the federal findings because it had noted many of the issues in a self-assessment it was required to do.

Some of the case files reviewed date back to 2006, so the impact of legislative reforms wasn’t always evident, Kromrei said.

The agency says it has increased monthly visits with children from 21 percent in fiscal year 2005 to 75 percent in fiscal year 2007.

Kromrei said the agency is working to intervene early and keep children in their homes when it is safe to do so. The number of children removed from their homes decreased from 17,428 in fiscal year 2005 to 15,920 in fiscal year 2007.

In addition, more children are being placed with relatives and adoptions are up.

Funding problems

A task force formed by the Texas Supreme Court is working to improve the legal system for children.

The federal review said children, youth and foster parents are not routinely participating in judicial reviews and judges are granting the state permanent custody before there is a permanent home for the children.

For Smith, the problems boil down to money.

“The leadership is reluctant to ask aggressively for the resources needed to reduce caseloads, retain staff and really serve the needs of children in care,” she said.

Patrick Crimmins, a CPS spokesman, said that is a “ridiculous assertion if you look at what the agency has asked for and what the Legislature has appropriated for us.”

Sen. Uresti said the extra money that has been budgeted in the last four years doesn’t make up for a chronically underfunded system.

“It’s got to be a top priority until we finally fix the problem,” he said.