From Deseret News archives:
Funding approved for polygamous 'Safety Net'
The House on Monday unanimously passed SB239, a funding package to create the Safety Net Initiative within the Utah Attorney General's Office.
"This is a population that is unique only to Utah and nobody has addressed making sure people within those communities are safe and they have access and they have the same rights and abilities as other citizens within the state," said Paul Murphy, the Utah Attorney General's Safety Net coordinator.
The bill's language was broadened to include providing services to people in "underserved" and "culturally isolated" communities in Utah and northern Arizona not exclusively polygamy.
"I think people look at this and don't see this is crime prevention and community building," Murphy said. "It fits with the goals of the attorney general's office. We want communities to be healthy and people to be safe and know that help is available."
Authorities have estimated that the Safety Net has helped as many as 1,300 people in polygamous communities. With much of the resources in southern Utah, the Fundamentalist LDS Church appears to have been the principal target of outreach efforts.
The Utah Attorney General's Safety Net committee came about after a 2003 town hall meeting in St. George about "the polygamy problem." Victim advocates, representatives from polygamous communities and bureaucrats have forged an alliance to provide services to those in need.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
Recent comments
It is the proper thing to do.
Michael | March 5, 2008 at 8:06 a.m.
Well, the difference is DUH?...polygamists are Americans, there is a...
RE: Here's a thought | March 4, 2008 at 7:43 p.m.
Against the law, but still a Doctrine.
Yahoo | March 4, 2008 at 4:07 p.m.
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