The Salt Lake Tribune carried a couple of retrospectives on the Texas FLDS community (hat tip: M&A, which posts additional links and comments). The first story suggests the FLDS community in Texas has largely returned to pre-raid rhythms. It also notes that the anonymous tip received by Texas authorities is now believed to have been a hoax. Here are the relevant statistics:

Just one child remains in state custody. Twelve men face criminal charges related to underage marriages; the first trial is set for October. A new legislative committee is set to explore “lessons learned” from the raid, which has cost upward of $15 million.

A second article relates emotional interviews with several Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) workers who assisted some of the children removed from the FLDS compound. The article is not completely clear in its terminology: CASA workers are social workers and volunteers who may be asked to speak to the judge in court, but are not attorneys (or guardians ad litem) who legally represent the children or their best interests in court. They work in conjunction with, but independent of, Child Protective Services, the state agency that removed the children. The funniest quote in this sad story:

“How do you file this stuff?” Brown said. “The Jessops and Jeffs are in three cabinets. Everyone else is in one.”

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