Group helps teens who leave polygamous communities

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group that acts as a liaison between polygamous communities and social service agencies is preparing to adopt guidelines that will determine how it helps youth who leave their families.

The Utah Safety Net will vote on its proposed "youth protocol" at a Thursday meeting in Salt Lake City.

The guidelines are aimed at helping children who leave polygamous communities while also recognizing their parents' right to be informed about what's happening.

"We want different fundamentalist groups we work with to know this is how we will do this," said Safety Net Director Pat Merkley.

Merkley said a perception that parents' rights and concerns are often ignored when a child leaves a community has been a "big source of contention."

Some teens leave because of family discord, not wanting to comply with religious standards or because they expect to be pressured to marry, said Safety Net case manager Chelsea Gambles, who is based in southern Utah.

In the past year, Gambles has helped about 15 teens, mostly boys, between the ages of 15 and 18 who have left polygamous communities near the Utah-Arizona state line.

Guidelines are needed, Gambles said, because there is "a lot of gray area in how you help these youth" with things like housing, food, jobs and schooling.

The proposed protocol would require Safety Net members to determine whether a minor who wants help has experienced any abuse or neglect and then, if safety is not an issue, contact either the parents directly or through law enforcement or youth agencies.

The child may be encouraged to return home or stay with a relative or they may be referred to legal services if they ask about emancipation procedures, though that is not an option Safety Net will push. Staff also will help youth establish a plan for self-sufficiency, involving the child's parents if possible.

"We want to do it the right way, respecting the rights of parents and getting to the bottom of why they left," Merkley said.

Utah Safety Net was created in 2003 by the Utah and Arizona attorneys general offices. The staff of the Utah attorney general's office and the Division of Child and Family Services have vetted the youth protocol.