Editor's Note: Today a former member of a polygamist group has taken the stand in the sexual assault trial of the first group member tried since Texas authorities raided the group's ranch last year.

The former member testified that jailed leader Warren Jeffs kept detailed notes on his interactions with church members because he believed God would hold him accountable. Jeffs' notes could become part of the prosecution's case against 38-year-old Raymond Jessop. He is charged with sexual assault of a child, stemming from his alleged marriage to an underage girl. We have been following this case ever since authorities arrested Jessop. Below, read a blog from one of our producers about meeting Carolyn Jessop - Raymond Jessop's fourth wife. She recounts her experiences in a book about her life on the FLDS ranch. Watch David Mattingly's report on the Jessop trial tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Betty Jessop at the FLDS compound.

Carolyn Jessop at 22, feeding daughter Betty.

Carolyn Jessop's book on her experience.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

It was the moment Carolyn Jessop had been waiting for. The mother of eight and the fourth wife of a powerful FLDS man wanted out of the only life she knew. It was a rare moment. All of Jessop’s eight children were home and her husband was not. She only had a few hours to gather her kids and leave the polygamist life where she was born and raised. She says she was desperately seeking a new life on the outside. She wanted to escape.

Carolyn Jessop broke free from a life of arranged marriage, polygamy and a male dominated and controlled society. She says she wanted more for her and her children. Jessop began a new life with her children outside the FLDS. Her kids attended public school and no longer practiced the religion with which they were raised.

After four years, when Carolyn’s daughter Betty turned 18, she told her mother this new life was not for her. Betty wanted to return to her former life. She was the only of the eight children who desired to go back. Carolyn Jessop was shocked, but her daughter was now an adult and could make her own decisions. She says she had no choice but to let her return.

Learn more about Carolyn's experience here.

Jenny Hoff
KXAN.com

Just over a year after the government raid on the FLDS ranch in West Texas, lawmakers in Austin look at what went wrong. Members from the FLDS sect and representatives with CPS are among the invited testimony on the state's actions.

"Are there things we would have done differently today? Of course," said CPS commissioner Anne Heilingenstein. "I wish we would have had the information we have today." Heilingenstein told the Human Services committee that CPS faced a dilemma on the YFZ ranch that they had never faced before. "If we could have only removed the children facing the worst abuse, we would have," she said. "But, we were facing organized deception."

However, Heilingenstein said if the situation were to happen again, she would still have the agency remove all the children. The only difference she would make is prohibit any mothers from accompanying the children into state custody. However, she said after parenting classes and counseling sessions with the families, she believes the children are now safe with their parents. "The FLDS have acknowledged our concerns and the children are now safe in their homes." Heilingenstein said CPS has instructed the children on what is abuse and the FLDS children know they can call for help.

Read More...

Chuck Johnston
CNN National Desk

Grand Jury recesses in Eldorado, will reconvene in July, no indictments yet.

A Texas grand jury recessed last night after hearing allegations of sexual abuse in the polygamist FLDS sect.

The grand jury is considering criminal charges arising from the raid on the sect's Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch in April. FLDS members have denied abuse allegations.

The grand jury reviewed evidence for eight hours, and recessed without issuing indictments. It won't resume until late next month.

The state of Texas removed over 450 children from the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado that an underage girl was being forced to marry and have sex. The children were placed in foster homes around the state.

But the Texas Supreme Court later ruled the evidence of abuse was insufficient, and children must be returned to their parents while the investigation continues.

Chuck Johnston
Assignment Editor, CNN National Desk

The gates outside the Yearning For Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas, are usually locked. But they were open late Tuesday, as families returned to the sprawling ranch with children being returned from foster homes around the state.

“We just traveled day and night. Texas is a beautiful state, I had no idea I would see that much of it,” Zavenda Young said, holding her youngest daughter while her husband Edson Jessop embraced their sons.

“We are sure grateful to be home,” she added. “We’ve traveled 11,000 miles covering visits to the children, visits with attorneys, and all.”

Young told reporters the family had been temporarily living in the Houston area as they shuttled in between their four children and their caseworkers.

“The people that have been taking care of the children were doing such a wonderful job. They literally cried when we took them away,” Young said of the foster parents who cared for the children after they were removed from the ranch by state officials in April, citing evidence of underage marriages and statutory rape.

Young said the children had been hit hard by the removal to foster homes around the state. "They are dazed," she said. "They are not the same. We hope they pull out of it.”

Some reporters asked returning children how it felt to be back with their parents on the ranch. Clearly still shaken by the experience, children clung to their parents and shied away from the cameras.

Jessop said the raid had created misconceptions of the FLDS members of the polygamist ranch:

“We feel that everybody has been fed a whole bunch of garbage about us. I think when most people come to know us they come to learn that we are different than they suppose, but it’s really hard to change the spots on a leopard-we are what we are. I am the same kind of man that my father and grandfather was. I don’t know why the world wants to change me.”

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

So how does the state give the kids back?

This morning Judge Barbara Walther asked for all the players to join in court today. A 2pm "conference" to decide how the court will abide by the Texas Supreme Court's decision to essentially give the FLDS kids back to their families.

The court was packed this afternoon as attorneys, FLDS mothers, and media filled the seats. All waiting to hear how this would all be resolved.

The state drafted up some language on how to return the children, with guidelines. Some of those proposals:

•Child Protective Services (CPS) must be allowed on and off the YFZ ranch for unannounced visits.
•Parents must take parenting classes.
•Children are not allowed to leave the state.
•Specific definitions of what the word "home" is..to avoid prior confusion about dwellings on the ranch.
•Kids are supposed to be picked up by their parents starting Monday morning.

All the details of these and other stipulations are being worked out as many of the attorneys are stating concerns and questions like: What about those children whose parents have yet to be identified?

The proceedings continue...

A family waits at a San Antonio, Texas, courthouse last week for a reunion with a seized child

Members of a polygamist sect whose children were removed by Texas authorities could flee the state if a lower court ruling stands, according to lawyers for the state.

If sect members were to flee, they also would leave the courts' jurisdiction, attorneys for the state Child Protection Services said in court filings Tuesday to the Texas Supreme Court.

The case involves 38 mothers from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon offshoot that practices polygamy, and their 124 children.

In a ruling last week, the Texas 3rd District Court of Appeals said the state had no right to remove those children in April from the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas. Although that ruling applied only to those 124 children, attorneys said the reasoning could apply to all the youths removed during the raid - about 460. (Up to 20 of those later were found in court to be adults.)

Read full story...

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints mothers smile as they leave the Tom Green County courthouse after hearing news of a court ruling in their favor.

Jeffrey Toobin
CNN Sr. Legal Analyst

The Third District Court of Appeals, in Austin, today ruled that the children seized last month at the FLDS ranch must be returned to their mothers. The decision made a lot of sense to me. The nine-page opinion is very much worth reading here.

To me, the key passage in the opinion is this one:

"Removing children from their homes and parents on an emergency basis before fully litigating the issue of whether the parents should continue to have custody of the children is an extreme measure. It is, unfortunately, sometimes necessary for the protection of the children involved. However, it is a step that the legislature has provided may be taken only when the circumstances indicate a danger to the physical health and welfare of the children and the need for protection of the children is so urgent that immediate removal of the children from the home is necessary."

The question is whether the Texas authorities put forth enough evidence to justify the 'extreme' step of taking the children away from their mothers. The court focused a great deal on the claim by Texas that the 'pervasive belief system' of the FLDS put the children in danger­ that males were raised to be perpetrators of sexual abuse and females were trained to be victims.

But the point of the Court's decision was that a "belief system," even a dangerous one, was not enough to justify the removal of children from their homes. The government had to do more than prove that FLDS members had bad thoughts; they had to prove bad actions. And that's where the proof was lacking. The government could not prove specific dangers to specific children.

I, for one, have a great deal of sympathy for the Texas authorities who had to investigate this case. It was difficult to find out what was going on inside that compounds, and there were certainly ample grounds for suspicion. But it¹s a good thing that the courts insist on a very high bar for the decision to remove children from their parents. My sense, as well as the appeals' court's, was that the government couldn't and didn't­ make its case.

You can read the court's ruling on the legality of removing of 400+ children from a polygamist compound here.

David M. Reisner
360° Digital Producer

This is just crossing the wires:

An Appeals court has ruled that the state of Texas should not have removed the more than 400 children it took from a polygamist sect's ranch

In its ruling, the Texas 3rd District Court of Appeals decided in favor of 38 women who had appealed the removals, as well as a decision last month by a district judge that the children will remain in state custody.

The ruling stated:

"The legislature has required that there be evidence to support a finding that there is a danger to the physical health or safety of the children in question and that the need for protection is urgent and warrants immediate removal,"

"Evidence that children raised in this particular environment may someday have their physical health and safety threatened is not evidence that the danger is imminent enough to warrant invoking the extreme easure of immediate removal prior to full litigation of the issue."

The children were removed last month from the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon offshoot that practices polygamy.

From our Ed Lavandera:

"This ruling out of Austin goes on to say the family and protective services division (the agency in charge of removing the children from the compound) did not prove the children were in danger and they needed to be removed from their homes."

"You can imagine what the reaction is going to be in the coming ours from those involved with the sect and those who live in the compound... "

"State officials are also saying they still need more time to investigate and they are still in that process. "

Watch 360° for in-depth coverage and share your thoughts here:

Editor's Note: The following is a dispatch from CNN's Senior producer Tracy Sabo inside the FLDS courtroom hearings.

Note: The next case was going to be postponed to take place at the same time as all the other 11 children in state custody… but the guardian for this child had dialed in by phone/”Court call” at the personal cost of $55, and the Judge could not guarantee reimbursement… so they proceeded in hearing this one case of the 10.)

Mother: Rebecca
Father: Marion Steed

Child: Angela, age 11

Highlights:

• Some confusion over the case plan which was filed here for the wrong Angela (one from the earlier hearing), but that was eventually sorted out by the Court.
• The father was first shown with the service plan as he walked into the courtroom, so he needed an extra 15 minutes to look it over. He filed an objection as to its “generality” but said that he would sign it and work the plan.
• Mother atty filed objections to the plan arguing that the summary at the beginning of the document included incorrect ages for all the children and was full of errors and therefore she was arguing that the 14-day hearing was unlawful). The argument was overruled by the court, but attached to the case file.
• The couple says they are legally married to each other and lived on the ranch in a single family dwelling with all their children.
• DNA testing was done for both parents and children.
• The caseworker spoke with mother Rebecca about the plan and about visitation plans thus far.
• Cross-examination from the father’s attorney, J. Roxane Blount, focused on working to get the children moved closer together due to some spots being opened at some of the shelters. She said the children are now in Amarillo, Waxahachie and San Antonio. The youngest child is now with the mother in custody at the San Antonio Children’s Shelter.
• Caseworker Kilpatrick says she does not yet have a date as to when the children can begin home school studies. She said family picture books are allowed at the shelters as long as they know who is shown in the pictures or can be told.
• The father’s attorney asked the caseworker if the father could visit more than one hour per week or make calls to all his children. The caseworker said, right now, only one hour a week was being allowed due to scheduling issues (case workers have to supervise all the visits).
• Regarding the possibility that another family member could petition for guardianship of the children in the meantime, the caseworker was asked by the father’s atty,” “Would a family member who has custody be able to live at the YFZ ranch or has that not been determined yet?” The caseworker responded, “The department has not made a determination on that?”
• The caseworker said she had not yet received birth records or social security #’s for the children or a marriage license for the parents.
• Under cross-examination by the mother’s atty., the caseworker asked if the mother had asked any questions about the case plan and signing it. The caseworker said, “She asked ‘is signing it admitting that I am guilt?’” The caseworker said she told the mother she was not.
• Angela is not placed with any of her other siblings as of now, and the mother is requesting she be moved to be with them as soon as possible. The caseworker assured the parents that she would call and check on any new openings “this afternoon after court.”
• Asked by the mother’s atty. whether CPS would hold it against he if she received financial support from her husband, the caseworker said, “It is based on family income. That would not be a problem as long as he is complying with the plan.” She was further asked, “Would you hold it against her if she received money from the FLDS church?” The caseworker said that would be okay, “as long as it was not her only form of income since the State wanted to show she had stability.
• The mother’s attorney asked if the State was discussing anything like adoption for these FLDS children, and the caseworker responded, “Not as far as I know.”
• Asked by the mother’s atty. if the children were being allowed to keep any items of religious significance and teaching, the caseworker said the children were allowed to have the Book of Mormon and several other items from their religious teachings.
• Angela’s parent reminded the court that Angela’s own wishes were to “return home” and be with her other siblings according to the atty’s recent meeting with her.

Judge Comments/Decision: Judge Gossett responded to the guardian’s last comment on record saying, “I feel for her, and I feel for the parents.” He said such wishes were “normal.” He asked the parents if they read and understood the plan, and both parents responded simply “yes” to all questions.

Editor's Note: The following is a dispatch from CNN's Senior producer Tracy Sabo inside the FLDS courtroom hearings

Courtroom B, Case #1
Mother: Louanna Jessop
Father: Leroy J. Jessop (not present)

Note: This mother/father have 7 children.

1. Angela, age 2
2. Virginia, age 4
3. Harmony, age 10
4. Zane, age 5
5. Shem, age 1
6. Leanna, age 7
7. Miranda, age 8

Highlights

• Caseworker has not had any contact with father, Leroy J. Steed, and has not been able to locate him thru calling the ranch, etc. Will continue trying to reach him thru the attorney name/number (court-appointed?) provided today by the mother (she does not know where he is, per her atty).
• Louanna has done DNA testing. None done on the father, as far as anyone in court is aware.
• Mother has signed the plan and added some comments and a home schooling curriculum as well as a complaint that it lacked specificity.
• When the caseworker was asked by the mother’s attorney, Charles Grimm, “Did you have anything to do with creating this plan?” Martinez answered, “I did not have anything to do with this plan. It was already created.” Martinez went on to say, “It was tailor-made for the FLDS parents.” He clarified by saying it was a fairly standard CPS plan “is very close to what we use all the time… This is a starting point… We will individualize it.”
• There was talk of consolidating the children. Angela and Shem are in Corpus and there is a request to move them move to San Antonio where Virginia is located. 4 of the other children are in Waco. The caseworker said there had been no effort to consolidate them all together before requests were made today.
• ”The children are all fine, medically,” Martinez testified.
• Asked by the mother’s attorney if he had found any evidence of abuse or neglect of the 7 children, he responded, “During visitation, there has been no evidence of that.” Pressed further whether he has seen any medical records indicating abuse or neglect, Martinez responded, “not that I am aware of.” The attorney asked the caseworker, “Does CPS normally take children from families where there is no evidence of abuse or neglect?” Before Martinez could answer, Judge Gossett tersely asking the atty, “Were you at the 14-day hearing?” And then followed up by asking “Are you confused about the findings in the 14-day hearing?” That line of questioning ended there.
• Cross-examination from the adlitem for Angela focused on a referral she asked for that would move Angela to San Antonio.
• Cross-examination from the adlitem for Shem was similar asking the Case Worker to consider his referral to move Shem to be with his older sister Angela.
• Cross-examination from the adlitem for Harmony (via phone) focused on the service plan and how it was drafted. The caseworker told Menduni that the service plan “Was formulated by Supervisors and staff with prior knowledge or information from people all over the country with information about the FLDS population.” He reminded the attorney that it was a starting point. The adlitem asked, “Is it possible that none of this plan may be applicable to this family?” Martinez answered, “Yes, that is a possibility.”
• Adlitem Medici also asked the case worker if he was aware that the mother of alleged father, Leroy Steed, was at Methodist in Waco last week and he could have asked her about her son’s whereabouts then. He said he was not aware of that.
• Court Conference off-the-record took place about the fact that the mother now wants the two kids in Corpus moved to San Antonio.
• Judge’s Comments/Decision: Judge Gossett addressed mother Louanna Jessop, commenting on the fact all the children are currently separated by the State, saying, “It is my strong, strong desire that these children get together and the only reason I have not ordered that is because we’d have chaos more than what we have now.”
• The Judge also said “The Court has no problem with the home schooling that is being suggested.”
• Judge Gossett signed the plan when he asked the mother if she read it, she responded, “I have read through it.” Asked if she understood the plan, she said, “I understand the basics, but I don’t understand how it applied to my kids.”

NOTE: THE JUDGE MENTIONED TO THE COURT THAT THE COURT STAFF HAS “BLOCKED OFF 5 WEEKS IN SEPTEMBER FOR PERMANANCY HEARINGS,” but gave no further details.

From a pool reporter inside the courtroom
Update from Courtroom A

Case #1
1 year old boy
Mother: 17 ½ years old

Attorneys asked for a continuance because the mother, who is a minor, has not been able to meet with her attorneys because she is 8 months pregnant and located in a shelter in San Antonio. The judge granted the continuance and the hearing will now be held 6/3. Attorneys expressed concern that they are not able to have private conversations, that social workers are taking notes on phone conversations.

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Case #2
9 ½ year old child

Father: Warren Steed Jeffs (incarcerated)

Highlights: The attorney asked which version of the Book of Mormon the children were given (new version of Book of Mormon condems polygamy). CPS worker Irene Schwaninger "Polygamy is not the issue, underage marriage is the issue here." Mother has signed CPS plan.

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Case #3
6 year old boy – only name listed on docket

Combined with siblings:
8 year old boy
Girl, missed age

Father: Warren Steed Jeffs (incarcerated)

Highlights: Mother has filed to expedite moving children to live with her mother. The children’s grandmother left the FLDS in 1983 and has recently relocated to San Antonio from Nevada. Judge ordered to expedite homesteading, said it could happen between 10-30 days.
There was a long line of questioning from the mother’s attorney about whether it is a detrimental to the child if the mother is part of FLDS.

CPS specialist "The only things we are concerned about in FLDS are those in the service plan, that girls were being groomed for marriage at a young age…This does not have to do with religion, we are not asking them to leave their faith."
Mother’s lawyer: "Would living with an FLDS member be considered adverse to the child's welfare?"
CPS specialist: "Not as long as they don't have a criminal history, a CPS history, or are a sexual perpetrator."

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Case #4
5 year old girl
7 ½ year old child

The father was not present, he was not served and is currently living in Arizona. He drove to Eldorado for the DNA test and would like to participate in the hearings.
The daughter recently had 3 stitches and a tetanus shot after injuring herself on a swing set. The ad litum and mother were not notified until nearly two weeks after the event. They were also not notified that the children were given bone scans.
Attorney asked if it would be possible to move the children to live with relatives in Utah or Arizona. CPS said it is a lengthy process and will be easier to get the two children in the same location (currently separate).
When asked if the children could go back and live on the ranch, the CPS worker replied "With the investigation still ongoing, people are very leery about any decisions regarding the YFZ ranch."

From a pool reporter inside the courtroom

2 cases so far:

Case #1
2 ½ year old girl

Janet Jeffs, the mother, was not in the courtroom, but she and her attorney spoke via speakerphone from Austin, TX. Janet and her child are living together at a shelter in Austin. There were questions about whether Janet was a minor, but at this morning's hearing the state agreed to accept the fact the she was over 18. The mother's court-appointed attorney had to withdraw from the case because she was assigned to represent Janet as a minor. The judge has given Janet a week to find an attorney who will represent her as an adult. Janet says she last saw the father, Raymond Jessop, about a year ago at the ranch. No one knows where he is now.

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Case #2
15 year old boy

The father in this case is believed to be in charge of YFZ ranch while Warren Jeffs was in jail.

Father was not present in the courtroom. His where-abouts are also unknown. Mother and father also have 4 other children. The major issue raised by the mother's attorney is that the siblings are not all together, but split between 3 homes. The mother's attorney pointed out that it will be difficult to comply with the terms of the CPS plan. One requirement is that the mom have a job in order to provide for the kids – difficult if she has to run around all over the state to visit with her children. The CPS case worker testified that efforts are being made to bring the 3 girls together in one place and keep the boys together.

Also at issue, the child's access to religious material. The CPS case worker confirmed that FLDS ministers are not being allowed to visit the Cal Farley Home, while children of other religions at the home can have ministerial visits. Another issue involves access to the Book of Mormon. The CPS case worker stated the department would have no problem allowing the Book, "as long as it doesn't have Warren Jeffs picture." The mother's attorney asked whether the "safe living environment" outline in the CPS plan meant "away from the ranch." He replied, "Yes, away from the ranch."

Ismael Estrada
360° Producer

Afternoon session in San Angelo, Texas. Judge Thomas Gossett presiding.

Kathleen Steed, mother of 12, possibly 13 (one child is being disputed): Father, LeRoy Steed, is not present, state has not been able to locate him. Hearing focused on only one of their children, an 8-year-old girl.

Paige Hawkins, Texas Dept. of Family and Protective Services, on the stand... She says the state formulated a "family service plan" for the family based on risks that officials felt the child faced when they removed her from the FLDS ranch.

They haven't had any contact with the father, nor was he included in forming the plan.

The 8-year-child is placed in Waco, Texas. The state is also aware that the mother has children spread out throughout the state and has been having to travel long distances to see them.

Re education: The state has received a home-school curriculum from the mother. Officials say they are being sensitive to the religion, and a book of Mormon has been passed to the children if it is provided by the parent.

Attorneys for the mother also asked if they could provide a book of sermons written in part by FLDS "prophet" Warren Jeffs.

The state says that due to Jeffs' conviction on chargees that he was an accomplice to rape after arranging a marriage to an underaged girls, requests like this are usually denied, but they'd like to see the book before passing judgment.

The Judge said the goal of this hearing is reunification of the family. He felt the service plan was appropriate, and made 2 observations:

"I am not a big fan of home schooling," he said. "I understand your concerns with public school, but I am also aware that unlike many other families who have put their kids in home schooling, you are actually schooling your children. " He said the children should be tested to see where they would best fit in the school system.

He also noted the absence of yet another father: "Mr. LeRoy Steed is not here, he needs to get involved with the process."

To the mother, the judge continued, "If you work the plan, the kids would be returned to you. However if the father does not work the plan, the kids would go only to you..If you decide to go live with the father and he has not completed the program, your kids can be taken away."

David Mattingly
360° Correspondent

Conversation with adults from the FLDS sect in west Texas are usually very polite and very short. Few have been willing to share more than a friendly "hello" with me and even fewer have been willing to discuss any details of this mammoth child abuse investigation.

But today, 32-year-old father James Jessop tells me he and his wife are weary. The couple has 5 children in four different foster care facilities.

State child protection officials say they've tried to keep family groups together. But that is not the case with the Jessops.

The kids are spread from Houston to Abileen. The Jessops figure that a single visit to each child is an 18-hundred mile journey.

James Jessop also has two other children by two other wives. He plans to be back in court when each of those cases are scheduled.

Jessop firmly believes the state has attacked the sect for its religious beliefs. But he is among parents who now say they will do anything the state requires to get his children back.

Ismael Estrada
360° Producer

Hearing's underway in courtroom B in San Angelo, Texas.  The purpose is to review the state's "family service plans" outlining what parents need to do to get their families back, and to make sure the parents understand what the state is requiring.  The state says the plans are tools to help family reunification.

Judge Thomas Gosset presided over one mother, Nora Jeffs, the mother of 8 minor children.  All the cases were grouped into one, as they had the same mother.

Child Protective Services (CPS) child case worker Irene Schweneger (SP?) takes the stand.

One problem, the caseworker says, that the state is looking to remedy is that all 8 of her children have been placed in different parts of the state.  Ms. Jeffs has been driving all over Texas to visit them.

CPS says it is aware that some health issues have popped up while the children have been in CPS care.  The youngest child, a 1- 1/2 year old boy, has had various illnesses including minor ear infections, but the child required hospitalization.  Unsure why.

While in the coliseum here, some children were rumored to have chicken pox, strep throat etc.  But CPS says they are all in good health now.  They have been given immunizations and other medications including benedryl for what appeared to be an allergic reaction.

The family plan requires parenting training, family counseling and psychological testing of parents.  It was prepared by CPS, working with child care professionals from Texas and the Arizona and Utah attorneys general.

"We do intend this to be a starting block...geared toward family reunification," the caseworker testified.

CPS establised these plans without meeting the parents.  The caseworker says the traveling schedule of the mother driving all over the state to see her kids made such a meeting difficult, but she plans to meet with the mother and amendments to the plan can be made.  She says the father is nowhere to be found and no one can answer to where he is.  His name is Allen Keate.

CHILDREN'S ATTORNEYS' CONCERNS ABOUT THE PLAN:
- Kids need to be educated with a familiar curriculum
- Mother has had to do a lot of traveling because of the separation
- There is no timetable for the reunification
- No meeting with individual parents to structure a plan

CPS says the plan was implemented on basis of the temporary order and original investigation findings, but says today is the first day CPS has even had a face to face meeting with Ms. Jeffs.

MOTHER'S RESPONSE TO THE PLAN:
 "I agree to follow all recommendations so long as they don't conflict with my religious beliefs."

JUDGE'S CONCERNS WITH THE PLAN:
"We all know why we are here. You have a right to religious freedom up until the point where it breaks the law"
He agreed that CPS should work to place the children as close to each other and to the mother as possible.

David Mattingly
360° Correspondent

Why did the state have to take all of the kids when it raided the polygamous sect's ranch in West Texas?  Come Monday, the state of Texas will have to start explaining itself one child at a time as these 400-plus custody cases go before judges in San Angelo.  Frustrations abound in this case.  Families say many of the girls in custody who are pregnant or have already given birth are actually adults.  State investigators say they continue to get conflicting information when they ask about ages and try to match kids to their biological parents.  Attorneys representing the kids say the state won't give them the information they need.  No one is happy and no one has any idea how all this will end.  Judges start to try and make sense of it all on Monday when each mother and father begin to find out what the state says they will have to do if they want to get their children back.

Six months. It’s the amount of time the state of Texas has to determine if the children of FLDS stay in foster care or go back to their parents, again each on an individual basis. Here’s some of what has to happen in that time…

Child Protection Services are calling the need to place the children from FLDS who are in the coliseum “urgent.”

As for the much discussed DNA testing…

DNA collection has been underway in Eldorado Tuesday through Thursday, testing 15 to 20 of the 54 parents who showed up. The Texas Attorney General's office says they have wrapped up taking DNA samples from the children and mothers at the coliseum.

What about the parents whose children are taken away? They’re making arrangements for parents who may be located in other parts of the country, but it will take time. A tricky question came up…what to do with children older than 1 who are still nursing? They’re supposed to be placed in the same city as their mothers.

Today's updates on the FLDS sitation keep pouring in...

New tasks for Child Protection Services to tell you about. They have to put together a “service plan” tracking information like where children are being moved. They will also have to hold “status conferences” as soon as possible, updating on their conditions and talking to the mothers in a setting similar to a hearing.

I'll sign off on a definitive note...

Judge Walthers put his foot down on an aspect of the FLDS case that he thought was getting out of control saying, “I don't want any more emergency filings people. I have 4 to 5 feet high pile of filings in my office now...it's hard to go thru a 5 ft pile of filings if I must keep having hearings. I am not going to address any more emergency filings!”

Cheryl Getty, Barclay Palmer and Anna Pycior
CNN

Big decisions today for the 437 children removed from the Texas ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).  Here's a quick rundown:

How will the children be cared for?  Judge Barbara Walther says she wants to care for them as individuals, on a case by case basis. Texas Child Protection Services says that will be possible once DNA tests are in. "I feel a personal responsibility to what happens to every child, and I want to be kept updated about that with the children," Walther said.

Are there really pregnant teenagers? Gary Banks, attorney for Texas Child Protection Services (CPS), reported there are some minors with infants and some who are pregnant, though it's not yet clear how many.

How will they take care of infants? To help address each child’s needs, the children will be handled in three groups. Infants up to a year old will not be separated from their mothers if the mothers are adults. Children who are 1 to 2 years old will be separated from their mothers, but the mothers will have visitation rights. If the children are 2-5 years old, though, they’ll be sent to foster home settings.

How will they care for older children? Those who are 5-18 were already placed in facilities yesterday and will stay in the assigned shelter if it can comply with state regulations that define "long term shelter."

What next for the children? CPS insisted that it wasn't separating more mothers and children today, that those who have been moved were already separated from their mothers, most staying at the coliseum.

Where will they live? CPS says it is working to keep kids as close as possible to parents and allow visitation, so the children most likely will stay in Texas.

The children's health? All the children have received medical exams but not immunizations, which they should be receiving soon. They will see counselors and have at least one or two psychiatric sessions.

The children’s daily lives? The CPS is being careful to allow the children to wear and eat what they’re used to, even things sent from the compound. They’ll most likely be home schooled, too.

How will they coordinate everyone?  A phone system in being set up to let the attorneys, parents and children communicate through CPS. And a secure Intranet database will allow attorneys and parents to log on and find updates on their children, whether they're being placed, and where.

Cheryl Getty
CNN Producer

I just spoke with a representative with the Department of Health snd Family Services, and Child Protective Services (CPS) is a part of this unit.

In regards to the increase in the numbers of children, they tell me that the 416 number was a rushed count, and they have counted again and now have 437.  The new number comes because children were moved to differnet locations snd some have similar names.  So the original count has been updated.

Note: this tells me not to be surprised if this number changes again.  They are discovering some females at the coliseum may have not been forthcoming about their original age and now are being counted as minors.

So at the moment, 437 is the best count they have NOW.

Cheryl Getty
CNN Producer

Headlines

• Today Judge Walthers held a hearing regarding a temporary restraining order to provide immediate access for attorneys, respect the right to privacy in prayer, and to prevent separation of breast feeding mothers from their children.
• Andi Sloan, an attorney and executive director for Texas Advocacy Project, spearheaded the hearing for the women and children and Deborah Keenum, a local attorney for young children, assisted.

Communication

• First complaint was that attorneys had to wait in line for hours just to get to see their clients and their clients had no way to get in touch with them and vice versa.
• The state said they just installed today, Monday, 8 telephone lines for use by women and children. 
• Sloan said eight phones not enough for 400 plus children and 50 mothers. 
• The judge ruled that her responsibility is to the children.  The mothers are their voluntarily and can leave anytime.
• The judge ruled that 6 of the telephone lines will be reserved for children between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. Any child younger than that, the attorneys agreed, just wouldn't understand enough.  2 telephone lines will be made available for mothers and each mother has a time limit of one hour per phone call.  The children no limit.  Phones are available for teenagers and mothers 24 hours.   If abused they will reevaluate. Calls, whether attorneys calling in or teenagers or mothers calling out, will be verified that they are speaking to attorneys only.
• The judge said they think they have approx 100 teenagers and that 6 phones plenty. 

Regarding Privacy to Prayer

• The mothers and children have requested that they have a private place to pray twice a day at 6:30am and 7pm daily.  Currently the mothers are being discouraged from gathering in groups. 
• The judge ruled they have right to pray and ordered attorneys and state to get together. San Angelo has a Morman community. It was proposed to reach out to them ask for volunteers to come into the coliseum twice daily to be present inside the group prayers. If anything other than prayer occurs they can alert state.  The state agreed this was a fair compromise and so did Sloan.

Regarding Separation of breast feeding mothers

• The judge first said she recognizes that breast feeding has unique health and immune benefits in addition to special mother child bonding.
• But the judge reminded the court that every day in America mothers leave their infant Children after only 6 weeks of maternity leave.
• That said, Judge Walthers said each child under the age of 2 will have their individual case evaluated.  Waltherstold the court and Sloan that the state has yet to present a proposal on how, where and to whom they will assign these young children. Sloan's objection is premature and work with the state please. Walthersreminded the court she does not give advisory opinion and wait to see what choices the state presents and then she will deal with it on a case by case basis. 

A REPEAT OF DNA TESTING INFO

• DNA Testing is occurring at three locations in Texas:

1. Coliseum in San Angelo
2. Schleicher Co. Memorial Building in Eldorado begins April 22 at 10am CT
3. Cal Farley's Boys Ranch in Boys Town, TX. begins April 25th at 10am

• Testing done by Laboratory Corporation of America: Jerry Strickland with the TX AG's office says each test is costing $95 per person including swab and analysis and parentage results.