SAN ANGELO, Texas — An anticipated media briefing set for this afternoon was canceled by state child welfare officials because they had hoped to have a child trauma expert on hand.

Meanwhile, Texas officials were bracing for an unusual day in court tomorrow.

Dr. Bruce D. Perry is the senior fellow of the ChildTrauma Academy, a non-profit organization based in Houston. Perry has been working with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and many of the 416 children removed from the YFZ Ranch earlier this month. Perry was praised Tuesday by state officials who described his work with children as "phenomenal."

It was anticipated that Perry would address the mental and emotional well-being of the children in state custody and speak to what counselors and child protective services workers are doing to ease the pain of separation from their families.

Attorneys within the legal division of the state agency have been meeting one-on-one with the children who are segregated into groups based on a number of factors, including age and gender.

For example, the agency on Monday shuttled 27 adolescent boys several hundred miles away to the Cal Farley Ranch near Amarillo, Texas. DFPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said the ranch is a licensed contract provider that the agency routinely uses. The ranch provides a number of settings for a variety of children from varying age groups.

In San Angelo, 100 children 4 years old and younger are being housed at the Wells Fargo pavilion. Mothers who originally came to the shelters with their children when the polygamous ranch was raided have been allowed to stay and care for those children. The older children are being held separately at the nearby San Angelo Coliseum and are being cared for by state workers.

After FLDS mothers of children over 4 were separated from their children, 51 of those women returned to their homes at the Yearning For Zion Ranch while six initially went to an area safe house to stay. Those six women have since returned to their homes.

San Angelo attorney Amy Hennington said she received a call from the women at the shelter Monday evening, asking her to take them back to the ranch.

"They had been told that they would get their children back quicker if they went to the shelter, but they soon found out that was not true," said Hennington, who is representing FLDS fathers in the custody case. "They were very glad to go home."