The FLDS Ranch: The Untold Story of a CPS Agent - Part 1
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- Learn about what it was like for Shannon to be a CPS Agent sent to the YFZ Ranch in Texas.
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As a historian, it’s always important to take events from multiple prospectives. This is a great perspective
Fellow-former TX DFPS caseworker assistant during this case too and I’m glad this conversation was had!
Are you surprised by her lack of articulation? For being an educated woman who studied religious studies… I can’t help but think this whole time as she talks that I’m watching a seventh grade boy tell a story.
@@crawleyr4919 you’re right. I think she should use a British accent and speak in Olde English. Sounding “like a 7th grader” is part of their training & helps them better communicate with these scared and uncomfortable kids. Sorry she doesn’t sound proper to you.
@@crawleyr4919 What a rude comment. Wow.
@@crawleyr4919 I have a degree in computer science and my articulation and storytelling skills are similar. It's something about getting nervous/anxious when someone's attention is directly on me and not being used to telling personal stories. I can emphasize with her a lot, idk if it's the best way to gauge her intellect or education
@@crawleyr4919Oh, hush up.....bag!
I love all your interviews but this is my favorite by far, Shannon was so respectful when talking about what she encountered and you can tell how genuinely she wanted to help and do her job right.
This was incredibly interesting, I think you guys are always doing such a good job of getting everyone's perspective
Both my parents worked this case (CPS and to DPS) It was such a crazy time in our lives. There was so much grief all around.
Please tell your parents that there are a lot of people out here who are very grateful for them and the work they did to help keep kids safe. ❤️
I did a student internship with the DPS in TX many years ago. I did abuse and neglect investigations. This had to be so difficult for the investigators, the mom's and the kids. Thank you for providing this interview Melissa and Sam and for agreeing to be interviewed Shannon! I am anxious to hear the rest of the story!
This is AMAZING. I gasped when I saw the title. It really is important to know the mothers had the option of going with the children but chose to stay. That changes most everything.
I have so much respect for the work that cps does and goes through to keep kids safe. Do they get it right every time? No, of course not. But of course, it’s always super easy to say “they should have done….” AFTER we know all the facts and as we are sitting in the safety of our own homes. In the moment-those highly-charged moments full of emotion and physical danger, these decisions would be so difficult, and sometimes I’m betting there is just no way to make these removal decisions without causing some form of trauma (though it’s nothing compared to the trauma the kids would face with years in an abusive home).
They do the difficult work of saving kids from horrible situations-and in doing so, putting themselves through a lot, both from a safety and an emotional standpoint.
Fantastic interview, and I really want to thank this agent for putting herself out there despite the fact that some of it is difficult to talk about. To all three of you, stellar job, and thank you for the insight!
I remember watching as this unfolded on TV and I never considered the perspective of the caseworkers and how young, inexperienced, and unprepared some of them were! I do remember noticing that they were trying their best to understand FLDS culture and just kept not quite getting it right. At one point they called a nearby LDS bishop to help and of course there wasn't anything he could do.
What a fascinating interview. Thank you!
What a wonderful but intense video to watch. This is such a sad and complicated story but I am glad that people were able to get to a place that was better for them and that Shannon was able to help in that process! Shannon, you are amazing and I hope that you are taking care of yourself as well, that is such an intense job.
Thank you !
I watched the Netflix Keep Sweet special, and I’m so sorry to say that’s the first I’ve heard about the flds. Since then I’ve read and watched everything I can find. It’s terrible that so many people are still so brainwashed by one man. I’m glad to have found your channel.
ALL of religion is nothing but brainwashing.
I am ex FLDS and it is a breath of fresh air listening to Shannon, you are one of my heroes! thank you for sharing your experience!!
Thank you so much
I am glad you left I am lds however in the UK so I only know little bits about flds but it sure sounds hellish to grow up in
Congratulations on getting out. You're very strong and brave!
Wow! What a gripping story she’s telling. Can’t wait for the next one. Thanks for sharing
I worked for DFPS back in 2017. I was in region 2 as well, out of Abilene. I remember hearing about this event happening years prior and it didn’t make any sense until watching documentaries on it later on. I also worked at Bath and Body Works during grad school and there were a couple women dressed in FLDS garb who were shopping there. I had no clue what religion they were part of, but looking back, it makes much more sense.
Thank you for interviewing her, and thank you to Shannon for sharing your experience.
I think a lot of documentaries look at the bigger picture of Jeffs being an abuser and miss the abuse within individual families. Some of kids may have never encountered Jeffs but been abused in the family unit or seen abuse. Because it was wrapped up with Jeffs it made it look like these families were being punished for associating rather than crimes in the home. Then of course there were lots of kids there without their parents. Which is why a lot of those were taken till the parents showed up to claim them. Not all FLDS family units are abusive but the ones down at the ranch were the extreme of the extreme. So it might make sense that they would find a lot more abuse then in a random pool of families.
Very interesting thank you. Shannon has done a very good job in Part 1 of explaining things. The removal of children is always a very difficult issue in all situations and I do not envy the job of the social workers. I believe a lot of the women gave false names and some of the children were moved around and not the child of the mother claiming them in some cases which made it a very complicated unusual case too requiring, later, DNA to be taken. Most of the children were not abused even if their lives were weird and they were returned by the courts. Looking forward to Part 2.
Great interview. Removing children is so very hard and traumatic to both the family, children and the workers
This is going to be so interesting. A perspective I’ve considered and is rarely, if ever (until now) covered! I’ll have to watch a little later, can’t wait!
What a great video and an awesome and unique perspective of this we get to see. I can’t wait to see part 2.
Sending in people that knew nothing about the FLDS was such a wrong decision.
bewildering but not surprising
@@paulabirchbillingsley8422 Paula I'm not understanding why it's not surprising. Up front prejudism?
The raid was such a quick decision by sheriff Doran. The sheriff is the one who arranged the prank phone call that started it all.
@@vjs4539 i think it's more the idea that it's negligent to study social work and not study the religions of the area... you know a main portion of the society.
I hear you Camy but this was a VERY important " visit"...not the time to ask the barristas in their lobby coffee shop to come along and pretend the have a clue about the seriousness of child welfare and apprehension!!!
When I subscribed you only had 10k subs at most! Love that you've doubled and then some! You deserve them all. Your stories are so interesting, not only that but both of your commentary and the way you tell said stories is calming in a weird way. I can just put it on in the background. I know there's real tragedy in these stories, but it's so important to let people know, and speak up for others still trapped there. Thank you Sam for being so open, and thank you Melissa for everything you do to help make the channel whole!! ❤️❤️
Thank you so much Ashley!
Me too; I completely agree with you.
Intriguing interview. I find it even more interesting that this CPS worker has a degree in Religious Studies and hasn’t ever seen a Mormon temple or heard of the FLDS. The LDS faith has a large presence in that whole region including Texas so that surprised me that she FRG she was chosen bc of her religious degree and hadn’t heard of the FLDS or even seen a Mormon temple before (there are over 265 temples worldwide, but 80 of those are in the US.) Mormonism is a major world religion so I am curious how she could have such a limited knowledge of it if she has a degree in religious studies.
I think it very much depends on your location to such religions. Growing up I too had never heard or seen anything about Mormons until I moved west but also religious studies do not cover mormonism, it isn’t as large as you think comparative to others, as well as it falls under the Christianity dome with all the other major denomination where many are much much larger than the Mormon faith. Pre-internet rage there was not a lot of information either about the church if you did not come in direct contact with it. No description of it in Christian history books and the such either.
Her religious degree may have been focused in a particular area. It’s not always a broad based degree covering everything
I have a Master of Arts (MA) Humanities degree in Religious Studies from a state university and there is/was nothing in the course selection about FLDS specifically or even cults in general. Religious Studies is more about the philosophy of religion, not doctrine and dogma of any specific religion.
Thank you so much for this. Through watching all your informative videos, I really feel like I have a more balanced understanding of events. Shannon and her colleagues were demonised in the mainstream media, and it's so important to share this information. Xx
Thank you so much Susan! And thank you so much for all of your support as a member! =)
THIS IS AMAZING!
SHANNON IS FANTASTIC AND I LOVED HER WONDERFUL, FORTHRIGHT AND ACCEPTING CANDOR💜💚🧡
Thank you so much
My 19yo isn't an adult!!!! She calls me constantly for questions on life lol and she lives with her partner of 2 years. The other day she asked if she could put salsa in her chili.... I said honey it is your food you put whatever you want in there lol this are the questions I get asked, so no do not feel bad for taking a young adult into custody they still need help!
This was extremely interesting. Thank you for setting up this interview! I'll be waiting for Part 2
If people are allowed to believe what they want as long as it doesn’t harm others, then let’s get rid of every religion. Because every single religion harms others.
This one harms others because young girls are being raped?!?!?!?!?? Is that hard to comprehend?
This is so heartbreaking 💔
Imagine a cult that not only mentally injures its members but also people sent in to help!
I’m all for people being allowed to believe in whatever religion they choose but this cult type sh!t hurts whole communities 😢
They should of done their research on this group, so Shannon wasn’t going in blind, I feel it would of been easier on people that were going in to help if they had someone like Joanna to explain to them the dynamics of the group as a whole,
I loved hearing this perspective on the story, but please don’t use that closing music ever, ever again. There is no need to cover audio with music. The story is dramatic enough on its own. If it hadn’t been so close to the end, I would have stopped listening.
Wow, great interview with Shannon. It seems almost hard to believe that something like that was going on within the ranch. Looking forward to part II.
Did the town's population increase exponentially or what? Because she stated it was 300 people and it's closer to 3000. Not knowing about the religions of an are "who even are the Mormons" before practicing social work is alarming.
Wikipedia says the population was 1,951 in the 2010 census, two years after the raid. Judging from the population distribution in the 2020 census, about one third of that population was under 18 years old. Apparently Shannon was just guessing based on her memories of seeing how small the town was. And she was getting pretty traumatized while she was there working. I'm giving her a pass on this.
Eldorado is also the county seat & the only town in the county. However, it is only 45 miles from San Angelo population about 80000 at the time of the raid. Eldorado also has a grocery (small) & a couple of quick stop type stores. Most in Eldorado drive to San Angelo for groceries, etc. BUT that is not unusual for West Texas. Driving anywhere up to 1 1/2 hrs to shop is nothing out of the ordinary. There was a man in Eldorado who had his own plane & flew over the ranch regularly & even contributed photos for an article when they were building the facility. First thing done was to put up high chain link fence topped with razor wire & a road inside the fence with regular patrols run. In this area, most people knew what it was.
"Only 45 miles" That's Texas talk for sure!
thank you for sharing this valuable interview and first-hand information. wow!
I worked at a CpS facility ( Kidz Harbor) in Alvin, Texas when the children were taken away and I took care of one of Warren Jeff’s children
As a Texan who has worked and knows intimately of other organizations that work with CPS ie Teachers, Police, Nurses, Etc, and getting CPS to ACTUALLY verbally respond to a report is almost unheard of. I know many stories, that would send chills. No judgment ever for the CPS workers themselves, but it’s the lack of funding, training, support, and did I mention funding, that keeps people from staying there. It is truly a thankless, and almost very traumatic experience for people like this woman, and others, to do. But usually u will make a report to CPS and they send u a form letter back telling u to contact ur local police agency, and that happens even when u send in a report on actual POLICE LETTER HEAD! It’s insane. I hope this woman and all the others have gotten help for their trauma they experienced trying to help the kids of Texas. But, by all means, let’s make sure everyone can still have kids instead of taking care of the ones here. PAY FOR CPS Texas!!!
Love you guys. Honestly im a bit surprised by this worker’s difficulty w communitation. As a public health nurse, I have frequently gone out to homes with a CPS worker… This one seems rather immature. I’m not sure how much more I can take of her telling us how weird she thought things were and the way she tells a story is like she’s a seventh grader. Still good to know though!
There’s 3 sides to every story ( Yours, Mine, and the Truth)
This is a great interview! Can’t wait for part 2!!
I just finished reading “The Witness Wore Red”. Amazing story of strength and dedication. Sam, did you know her? She probably left before you were aware. Have you interviewed her already?
Thank you for allowing her to share her story. Y'all are like reporters of the news for the FLDS. The work you do to reveal the truth is important, yet challenging work. I salute and support you for doing it. Thank you Melissa & Sam.
Thank you so much!
This was soo interesting! Cant wait for part 2!
I knew and I lived in San Angelo.
The powers that be were saying FLDS we’re going to bringing so much prosperity to the area. I remember saying they have no idea. This is not going to end well.
Everything is remote around El Dorado, it’s all oil land and hunting ranches. My co worker had the ranch next door. We’d ride horses out there and we’d top a hill and look down on the temple. Where I worked was adjacent to the coliseum where they originally brought the women and children. My husband and I talked briefly about “fostering” before they figured out a place for them.
FYI: ranches out there are measured in sections, not acres, that’s how much land we’re talking.
I remember watching a documentary, filmed by German TV, about this. It was an eye opener for me. I looked into the FLDS & Warren Jeffs. It was shocking. I really applaud you for having Shannon as your guest. That is a ground breaking occurrence. I'm eagerly awaiting updates. Social Workers are often criticized, just for doing their job. In this instance, it was a good move. Your channel should grow. There is so much love from you both.
This is an amazing discussion! I really feel for Shannon, what a horrible situation she was in.
Texans DID know about this frim the minute they bought the land.!!!
I am shocked that a person has a degree in religious studies and is unfamiliar with LDS. Ok maaaaybe not the various fundamentalist groups but being in America and not knowing the LDS? I honestly don’t get that. I am just a random citizen that has lived in a few states. One place I worked had an adjacent apartment that was rented out for missionaries. I have had my door knocked on many times, wherever i live. Book of Mormon? All the commercials on television? My town does have a temple, but all of my references are from other places in life. So weird to me. Ok I lived on Smith rd in Central VT even, which is not usual but come on.
FLDS is like a Yale secret society. It was relatively new and of course written by men to serve men.
Sam and Melissa,
Yall did a fantastic job with this interview 👏🙌
Absolutely 💯 engaging and insightful questions and fantastic interview technique.
sending love,light and happiness
Thanks so much!!
This interview feels pretty icky to watch halfway through. It feels so lackadaisical about these people and their beliefs. She apparently doesn't care about anything eh? You can be true to yourself and have compassion beyond what your job asks of you. This feels like she's trying to get frat bros to think she's cool.
Bingo
It's HER job to KNOW the culture and to ABSOLUTELY care!!!!!....the arrogance made me crazy....( I work in SWin Canada) ...and learned about this stuff in first year of a BSW. .and the blankets given to Indiginous peoples wasn't CHICKEN POX ..IT was SMALL POX and caused literal genocide....up to 150,000 dead with their languages, culture and environmental answers. The Ignorance makes my blood boil.
I was uncomfortable with the ABSOLUTE lack of appropriate cultural knowledge this self described " senior" social worker had as she walked into these people's lives . In Canada social workers with our " cps" HAVE to have a Bach or masters in social work to be considered for such a powerful position. Shannon simply didn't have the basics any proper university would insist on having before handing them a degree. THEN THE BIGGEST INSULT SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE. ...She referred to the "blankets with chicken pox" given to the Aboriginal peoples in North America as she chuckled....it WASNT chicken pox....it was SMALL POX and it took out an estimated 150,000 Indiginous lives, wiping out full tribes, languages, environmental recipes, and parenting secrets we could have ALLLLLL used dearly.I love your show and you were very polite as this woman continued prideful announce she " knew nothing about these people and didn't care"...Thank God my country demands at LEAST some general education of those deemed strong enough to protect our children. If you don't know about a society you're about to infringe upon and terrify, I suggest you at LEAST google a couple of hours and refrain from " not caring." It's your JOB to care, Shannon. Shame on you.
No shame on Shannon. This is how Texass does stuff.
This is an amazing interview!!
Wow. What a powerful interview and perspective. Thank you!
What a shame there was no one to prepare these people for what they would be encountering. It would have been so much easier, on both sides. I can imagine the horror of these mothers thinking that their children were being taken by the devil's minions. At the same time, I can imagine the horror of going into that situation cold, with no knowledge of what to expect. It must have been terrible - especially for the kids.
I'm angry woman want to leave but CAN'T these shelters can be worse. You sleep in a room of stranger woman with problems and so much worse.
This excites me so much!! Just got back from vacation and an awesome interview from awesome people! Shannon I would be like what the frick too tbh! I swear I would be SHAKING
I’m an original subscriber and haven’t missed anything from you. You are truly doing great things and are such a strong couple with a wonderful family
Thank you so much!
The time of the release is great. I feel like a "lunch buddy".
Melissa -Yay! We love lunch buddies. =) Aww I love the emoji! It is the first time I have seen someone use it! Thank you so much for joining!!!
Yeah... Ruby ridge, Waco.. not surprised they kept their sights on the CPS lizard..
I just found your channel. Thank you to Shannon for being there and sharing honestly. It gives a very different perspective of what we saw.
Also so many people in general are suspicious of government and it feels in some situations there are CPS workers who actually are hungry to pull kids out of homes.
Shannon’s view was very insightful and I am sorry for the trauma she experienced in this, but what a hero as well. I pray she can have more peace all the time about things.
I watched both Parts 1 & 2 and you two were great hosts. Thank you.
Wow. It is amazing to hear this from her perspective.
I've Just binge watching about 12videos, and as soon as i finish my selection, this one pop up.
AMAZING
Snipers? All you had was paper? 😮 Now you know how scary it is when law enforcement tells you to testify against the man who promised to "love honor & charish" you & you promised to love honor & obey 😢 police (on a good day shows up to "domestic disturbance" call within 20 minutes 😲🤔
I had no idea about any of this and I’ve watched every documentary. Of course I don’t practice religion so I wasn’t very welcome living in Utah.
Still from a cps worker this is soooo eye opening!
Lived by the compound in the black hills of SD. Never knew it was even there until the news choppers started flying over
There is still a big Polygamous group barely North of Salt Lake City. From a member.
WOW! I’m so glad to hear Shannon’s story of what went down. And especially to know that the women had been given the option to leave with their children. Knowing they were already spiritually married for time and all eternity, I’m surprised the moms didn’t want to leave with their kids. This is so interesting! And at what point did Shannon begin to read up on the FLDS??
In the midst of a move and remodel and have gotten behind with my Sam and Melissa fix! Another great series! Thanks guys! And thank you Shannon!❤️
What an important interview. CPS investigators are heroes!
I live in Eldorado and yes it’s small. Glad she corrected herself about the story.
I loved this! Super super interesting to hear her perspective as an outsider, from an outsider of that makes sense! Lol
FLDS to mainstream Mormon is like Hasidic is to Jewish 😉
And Eldorado is 2000 people. Back then it was 1500
Great video. Great perspective. It's so concerning that CPS had no clue abt FLDS culture. I know they like to do their own thing and stay away from non-FLDS people, but this is why they were able to get away with so much.
Mind this was TEXAS CPS. Im betting UTAH CPS has a book on them that fills several rooms.
This was my biggest takeaway as well. It is definitely a failure on someone’s part that they were completely uninformed about the situation going in. There is almost no way this could have ended well.
…WOW. Great interview, admire the work these caseworkers did/do.
This is GOLD! So awesome to hear this perspective!! 👏👏👏
Thank you so very much for all your work.
Thank you for this most interesting perspective.
This was incredibly interesting, Can’t wait for part 2
Population is about 1800 as of 2010. Pretty tiny town.
Thomas Shirley Garcia Susan Davis Jeffrey
I am shocked and appalled how ill-prepared and uninformed this CPS agent was going into this. A little information would have got a long way.
They may have told
This is fascinating. Thank you for bringing in the other side of the story
Thank you for bringing us this interview and a huge thanks to her for doing it💟
You guys are killing it 💜💜
Have you guys heard that warren is begun marriages again?
As a foster parent for ten years, this is super enlightening
Lewis Edward Hernandez Thomas Hall Karen
Wow, this is amazing!!
I think this is great. Often, you only get the sense of what exactly happened from the books. I mean as far as they thought it was just a couple hundred people and a dozen maybe 2 dozen kids. They were NOT prepared for what they uncovered. Great coverage!!
What are the odds that they would pick that one wife to be screened and she is the one to spill the beans.
A bunch of them did. I’m saying the one I talked to was ready to talk. Not all were
The story of the perspective of ex FLDS members who were at the ranch like the young man Warren, Jeff’s, son, and this person, and any other people that you can get to tell their story is still so enlightening. I have to remember from the information that has been given to us that these kids were not necessarily the biological children of these chosen “mothers”. This whole story is surreal still.
This was fantastic. Hurry up with part 2!!!
This was soooo good! So amazing u got this interview!!
While marriages are solemnized in both LDS and FLDS temples, the three main differences are in LDS temples, 1) children are not given in "marriage" to adults, 2) "spiritual" marriages aren't a thing and 3) marriages are not consummated in the temple.
This is such a fascinating and heartbreaking interview.
I’m confused about why there are rules for official CPS workers such as gender and clothing and color… if they are investigating abuse and/or neglect why do the people being investigated get to dictate these things? It’s not a casual social setting this is a serious official business thing which means you are probably in trouble so….it’s a no for me.
For an investigation ctr., Shannon n the other couple talk as if either they are ignorant of groups they should know well. It's very annoying, that i want to hear her story, but it's not in order, too many tangents, n it just comes off as some spoiled California teens going on a hike in Africa. Can't listen anymore, aftrr 3 minutes.
Does this agent seem a little cold. These were kids they were dealing with who were traumatically taken away from their mamas (I'm sure some rightfully so) of course of course it needed to happen but I dunno I feel like a lot of extra damage was done to these kids because of these workers.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Hats off to all genuinely decent CPS workers hanging in there TRYING to fight the good and just fight.
Can't wait for part 2!