OGDEN — Decades of raids and prosecution of polygamists by government officials have sparked deep-seated mistrust — prompting the families to often live in secrecy that can shroud abuse or neglect.
Urging abuse investigators to recognize the inherently unique culture associated with the practice of plural marriage, representatives from Principle Voices of Polygamy told those attending the 2004 Child Welfare Institute of Ogden Tuesday to remain open-minded.
"As little children separated from their dads and even their moms, they grow into adults paranoid that the same thing will happen again," said Anne Wilde, a Brigham Young University graduate who has spent 33 years as a second wife.
After Utah made polygamy a felony in 1935, Wilde said the government conducted numerous raids in the '30s, '40s and '50s, removing children from their homes and putting the men in prison.
One such child was Linda Kelsch, who at 9 saw her father sentenced to the Utah State Prison.
While attending school as a young girl, Kelsch said she found irony in her studies.
"I felt betrayed every time we would study American history, how it was founded on religious freedom, yet my father was in prison for his religious beliefs. He had harmed no one."
Kelsch would go on to have her own children, but she said the fear of what government could do to her did not abate.
"For me, the state Division of Child and Family Services was the monster under the bed that might separate me from my family."
She has since served two years on the state's Foster Care Review Board and said she has learned that DCFS is taking strides to improve its cultural responsiveness to polygamist families.
Members of the advocacy group have been working with the Attorney General's Office in attempt to forge a more "harmonious" relationship with prosecutors and want to lobby Utah lawmakers to decriminalize polygamy.
"My passion is that my children and grandchildren no longer have to live in fear of their families being broken up," Kelsch said.
Jayne Wolfe, who served 17 years as executive director of the Family Support Center, said social workers can help polygamist families who may be in abuse or neglect situations by throwing out assumptions.
While director of the center, Wolfe said she had two employees who had experienced plural marriage. Because of their background, they were able act as a conduit between the polygamist community and the parental services the center offers.
"We know child abuse thrives in secret. In plural families, they have this extra reason to make sure kids don't tell. I don't like that. We need to open up the dialogue and sweep away the cobwebs."
E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com