Eldorado Information
Statement on Supreme Court Ruling
On 5/29/08, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision on the YFZ child custody case. The decision can be found on the Texas Supreme Court web site.
We are disappointed, but we understand and respect the court's decision and will take immediate steps to comply. Child Protective Services has one purpose in this case - to protect the children. Our goal is to reunite families whenever we can do so and make sure the children will be safe. We will continue to prepare for the prompt and orderly reunification of these children with their families. We also will work with the district court to ensure the safety of the children and that all of our actions conform with the decision of the Texas Supreme Court.
Child Protective Services has one duty ― to protect children. When we see evidence that children have been sexually abused and remain at risk of further abuse, we will act.
The Department of Family and Protective Services removed children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado after finding a pervasive pattern of sexual abuse that puts every child at the ranch at risk.
Read more: Statement on Third Court of Appeals Ruling
On the morning of May 19, the first status hearings began in five courtrooms in the Tom Green County courthouse in San Angelo regarding the children removed from the YFZ Ranch outside of Eldorado, Texas. The status hearing is held within 60 days after the court renders a temporary order that places a child in the care of Child Protective Services (CPS). The hearing must be held to review the child’s service plan for reasonableness, accuracy, and compliance with requirements of court orders. Hearings for all the children in CPS’ care are scheduled between today and June 5.
Plans of service for children address the goals for the child as well as changes needed to reduce the level of risk, tasks the family must complete in order to make the changes in the plan, specific skills or knowledge that parents are required to learn or behavioral changes the parents must make, and services CPS must provide to help the family complete those tasks and improve the conditions in the parents’ home to ease the child’s return to a safe home. Plans of service for the family are the documents used to guide CPS’ work with the families in support of these goals.
Read more: Status Hearings Begin in San Angelo
CPS Reports Second Birth in YFZ Case
On Monday, May 12 at about 11:15 a.m., one of the former residents of the YFZ Ranch in the care of Child Protective Services (CPS) delivered a baby boy in Austin. The boy is healthy and the mother is doing well. The child will be placed with his mother in foster care and is in the temporary custody of CPS. The number of children now in the care of CPS is 465. The mother and 26 others are in the "disputed minors" category, which applies to YFZ Ranch residents who CPS believes are minors, or who have provided different ages and other conflicting information to CPS at different times. Since the children were moved from temporary shelters in San Angelo into foster care on April 24 and 25, CPS has been gathering and reviewing information about the persons in the disputed minors category. If CPS determines that any are adults, appropriate action will be taken.
On April 29, a child was born to another former resident of the YFZ Ranch.
Child Protective Services (CPS) is working with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to provide the educational needs of the children brought into CPS care from the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado.
Each child will have a Plan of Service which will include an Educational Assessment. CPS will use Educational Specialists in each region to work with the children, their foster placements, and schools to ensure each child has an individual educational plan.
Read More: CPS Working with TEA to Meet Educational Needs of Eldorado Children
The Department of Family and Protective Services provided the Senate Health and Human Services Committee with an update Wednesday, April 30, 2008 on the children removed from an Eldorado ranch. The update included information about some of the key challenges for investigators, the findings to date, and the care of the children.
Thank you for your interest in helping the children. This situation has created an outpouring of concern from the general public and we greatly appreciate the support.
A Texas court has announced that all children taken from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) compound in Texas are being returned to their parents. Beginning today, parents have been allowed to collect their children, all of whom were in state custody before the announcement.

The more than 460 allegedly abused children were taken into state custody last month after officials say they received a call from a distressed 16-year old girl. The children were found in a 1700-acre compound belonging to the FLDS. It is now believed that the original phone call was actually a hoax.

YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, Texas, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The decision follows an appeals court ruling that Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) should not have taken the children from the FLDS.

Recently the CPS in Texas filed papers on this issue, saying that the families may choose to flee Texas if they are reunited per the appeals courts ruling. If the families were to do that, they would then be outside the court's jurisdiction, putting the children at risk of abuse.

The CPS in Texas released a statement regarding the court ruling: "We are disappointed, but we understand and respect the court's decision and will take immediate steps to comply. Child Protective Services has one purpose in this case - to protect the children. Our goal is to reunite families whenever we can do so and make sure the children will be safe. We will continue to prepare for the prompt and orderly reunification of these children with their families. We also will work with the district court to ensure the safety of the children and that all of our actions conform with the decision of the Texas Supreme Court."