Eldorado, USA - The only FLDS child still in state custody could be moved to a relative's home if a Texas judge signs off on a recommendation filed by the state's child welfare agency -- but such a decision has been delayed until May.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has asked that the 14-year-old girl, who was returned to state custody last August, be allowed to live with Naomi Carlisle after a home study and evaluation found she would be an appropriate placement.
Attorneys for the girl's mother and the department asked that a hearing take place immediately to consider the move.
But Leslie Crane, a new ad litem appointed to represent the teen, asked 51st District Judge Barbara Walther to postpone a decision while she conducts her own investigation of the girl's situation.
Walther granted that request, and set a hearing for May 7.
In a separate action, the department filed a motion Thursday in San Angelo to drop the case of a 17-year-old who gave birth last summer -- but filed a new case against her in San Antonio. The new action asks a judge to order the young mother to cooperate in a CPS investigation to ensure the safety and welfare of her infant. It also wants mother and child to submit to DNA testing. The girl has refused to let authorities see her infant, thwarting efforts to collect DNA that might be used in a criminal prosecution.
San Antonio Judge Peter Sakai set a hearing on that motion for March 25.
That leaves just one case still pending from last April's massive raid on the Yearning For Zion Ranch. The teenager in the remaining case is the daughter of Barbara and Merril Jessop, who oversees the ranch, home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
She was among the 439 children removed from the ranch and then returned to their parents two months later. Officials found evidence at the ranch that the girl had been spiritually married to FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs when she was 12.
Walther returned the girl to custody last summer after her mother refused to answer questions in court and balked at co-operating with caseworkers.
The girl has been in two different foster homes since August. Carlisle, who moved to San Antonio from Utah to help families impacted by the raid, is an FLDS member and a distant relative of the girl.
"We're elated," said FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop. "We're very grateful. This puts [the teenager] in a home that is part of the culture and with people who understand her. It's what we've been hoping and praying for -- that there would be no child left behind -- for a year."