an
article on the "trauma" being experienced by social workers who are working with the flds families....
Quote:
Polygamist sect work takes toll on social workers
'It was wrenching to pull children away from their mothers.'
Terry Secrest lies awake at night, thinking about the women and children of Texas' now-famed polygamist sect.
The Austin social worker is working with mothers from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who have relocated to Central Texas. She says she listens to their worries and answers their questions, laughs at their jokes and respects their faith.
After 10 years in social work, Secrest usually leaves her work at the office. But this case "has touched me a lot more than I ever expected," said Secrest, 54.
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In most cases, social workers have a good handle on why they're taking children from their homes, said Vicki Hansen, executive director of the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. In the FLDS case, they didn't know the details of the investigation or what led up to the mass removals.
"These workers are used to going into homes where things are really bad and feeling good about moving children from risk and danger," Hansen said. "This situation is completely different. To look at the mothers and children, you would see love and affection and bonds, plus children who appear to be in good physical condition. It was wrenching to pull children away from their mothers."
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those poor little bureaucrats, I can only imagine the angst they must be feeling as they work with the mothers of the children they took.