Girls to learn their rights and more non suits!!!

FLDS girls to attend classes on underage marriage
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700265382,00.html

Excerpt

Girls from the Fundamentalist LDS Church are being required to attend classes in Texas that address sexual abuse, underage marriage and the law.

"These are sessions that deal with issues related to state laws on underage marriages and sexual abuse, along with ways to identify, protect, prevent and report sexual abuse," Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for Texas Child Protective Services, wrote in an e-mail to the Deseret News. "The goal of the sessions are to educate girls who are at risk or who have been sexual abuse victims and to deal with any emotional issues related to this topic."

Approximately 63 children, ages 10 and up, have been asked to attend the sessions provided by therapists in the San Angelo area. They run a total of four hours, either in one-hour or two-hour blocks. If providers have knowledge of sex abuse, it can be included as long as it is age appropriate and does not include sex education, Crimmins wrote.

"These are not formal classes, but sessions with a contracted provider and the information described above is to be addressed in the session in addition to other items that may be relevant for the individual child," he said.

The classes are part of requirements made by family service plans signed by the girls' parents in the ongoing custody case surrounding hundreds of children taken in the April raid on the Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado. The therapists are the same who are providing parenting classes, Crimmins said.




More cases against FLDS dismissed
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10732372

Excerpt

Texas officials dismissed child welfare cases involving 29 children from a polygamous sect on Wednesday, the largest number dropped in a single day from the state's massive investigation.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has steadily nonsuited cases since June, when 439 children were returned to their parents after two months in state custody.

The cases are closed after officials determine the children are safe or have turned 18, according to Patrick Crimmins, DFPS spokesman.

To date, the state has ended cases of 338 children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That leaves cases involving 101 children still pending. Among them: A 14-year-old girl who was returned to foster care in August after her mother failed to give a Texas judge assurances she would keep the girl safe.

***************************************************
***Anyone know if the 101 left are all part of the same group somehow? I can't help but feel like they are narrowing this issue down to a few families.