Children removed from a polygamist ranch in west Texas are settling into new surroundings around the state and caretakers are getting cultural pointers on how to deal with them — such as no TV, no movies, no radio and nothing red.
“The color red is not acceptable for clothing,” said a memo that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services sent to caretakers at shelters and group homes for the 462 children seized this month from the Yearning for Zion ranch after a tip about possible abuse.
The ranch was established by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and sect members believe red is reserved for Jesus Christ, officials in Utah said.
So workers at the children’s shelter in San Antonio spent part of the week taking anything red off the walls and floors.
Another memo from state officials to caretakers describes the children’s dietary and clothing needs.
Some officials said they were sensitive to potential culture shock among the children, who led a sheltered life on the ranch near Eldorado.
“Help them with self-esteem, guilty feelings, shame, confusion about mainstream culture and learning basic decision making skills,” another memo to caretakers said.
As the children began settling into foster homes on Saturday, sect leader Willie Jessop sent a letter asking Texas Governor Rick Perry to “block the separation of our 437 children from their mothers,” the Houston Chronicle reported.
“The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services have demonstrated, in a most blatant way, their inability to properly care for, or even account for our children. Many have been left in critical medical conditions, resulting in permanent mental damage through threats, intimidation and ultimately separating them from their parents,” Jessop wrote.
An attorney who represents two mothers from the polygamist retreat alleges child welfare authorities cannot account for two boys.
The boys, a 16-month-old and 11 year-old, are not on any of the state’s placement lists, said attorney Rebecca Flanigan, with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid in Corpus Christi.
Child welfare officials told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that no children had been lost, but that parent-child relationships have been difficult to determine. Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said he was not aware of children being unaccounted for at this point.
The letter by Jessop accuses Child Protective Services of misrepresenting conditions and making false allegations against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
It called removal of the children from the sect’s compound “some of the most horrific violations of human rights that have ever been allowed on American soil.”
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