Last of kids separated: All FLDS children in Texas now off to foster care

Escorted by police cars and ambulances, more than a dozen charter buses rolled out of the San Angelo Coliseum grounds Friday, carrying the remaining 260 children toward foster homes.

Small children waved as they went by. Some appeared to be very young; one child was seen holding a bottle.

"It's a good day for them because they're out of this shelter environment and getting to more stable places," said Chris Van Deusen with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. "They're still temporary homes, but it's more conducive to child care."

The departure from the coliseum, which has served as a massive shelter for 462 children and dozens of their mothers in recent weeks, was still emotional. On Thursday, many FLDS mothers were separated from their children.

The children will be heading to foster care facilities and homes scattered across Texas. Mothers are being allowed to stay with tbabies under 12 months of age; the others have been separated.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the FLDS Church threatened lawsuits against the numerous government agencies involved.

Foster care

Once they are placed in foster care, the children will have to acclimate to life in a different world than the one behind the gates of the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado. Child protective services workers have said they would segregate some of the children in foster care facilities, ensuring they have the ability to practice their religion and continue to wear clothing unique to the FLDS lifestyle.

In court, a judge will consider each of the 462 cases and whether the children should be reunited with their parents, remain in foster care or be placed with other family members.

"All that's going to happen in a courtroom," Van Deusen said. "The judge makes those decisions. We will make recommendations. The children's parents will have input. A judge has to consider all that and decide what's best for the children."

While child protective services has said it is trying to keep siblings together, some FLDS parents and attorneys for the children claim that is not happening.

"I spoke to one family who have a total of 13 children," said Rod Parker, a Salt Lake attorney acting as a spokesman for the FLDS. "Those children have been sent to five different locations. They're all split up. There's one child who's by himself. There's one child who is unaccounted for."

Parker also challenged child protective services' headcount of children, noting that 25 claim to be adults, but the state has declared them children.

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