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Subject: Idaho Kids Update Author: Anthony [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 09:28:11 06/08/01 Fri In reply to: Anthony 's message, "Speaking of kids and guns..." on 06:46:59 05/31/01 Thu More fuel for the discussion? Some news updates for the above post can be found below: Idaho Kids Heading to Foster Family By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press Writer SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) - A suitable foster family has been found for six children who remain hospitalized after holing up in their home in a five-day standoff with police, officials said Wednesday. The family has met with the children and agreed to take all six, said Michelle Britton of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. It wasn't immediately known when the children would be released from the hospital. Earlier reports that the state had found friends of the family who could immediately house the children proved premature, Britton said. About a dozen families had initially volunteered to take the children, but most were found not to have enough space and experience for such an undertaking. The arrest of their mother last week prompted the children to hole up in their ramshackle rural home, keeping officials at bay with the help of their 27 dogs. The children surrendered to sheriff's deputies Saturday and were hospitalized in good condition. JoAnn McGuckin, 46, was arrested on a felony child neglect charge. On Monday Judge Barbara Buchanan said she would release her if McGuckin agreed to not violate custodial orders involving the six children and not contact them without authorization. McGuckin's lawyer, Bryce Powell, told the judge Monday that his client would not accept the conditions. The mother remains in the Bonner County Jail. At a hearing on Monday, a judge will decide where the children will live for the next 30 days. The judge could return the children to their mother, retain state or foster custody, or send them to live with their mother under state scrutiny. A decision on where the children will live for the next year will follow the 30-day period. The children are Kathryn, 16; Benjamin, 15; Mary, 13; James, 11; Frederick, 9; and Jane, 8. Their father, Michael McGuckin, died May 12 at age 61. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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[> Subject: Another update Author: Anthony [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:29:54 06/08/01 Fri Another update: Idaho Standoff Kids Get New Home By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press Writer SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) - Six siblings who holed up in their rural home for five days after their mother's arrest moved in with a foster family who agreed to take all of them. The McGuckin children left a hospital Wednesday night after they agreed to the temporary arrangement with a family they already knew. The foster family's identity was withheld. The siblings' widowed mother, JoAnn McGuckin, remains in jail. She is free to leave but refuses to unless she is granted custody of the six: Kathryn, 16; Benjamin, 15; Mary, 13; James, 11; Frederick, 9; and Jane, 8. A judge will decide Monday where the children will live for the next 30 days. They could remain in state custody or be returned to their mother, who then would be placed under state scrutiny or not. Another hearing will determine their home for the next year. Their father, Michael McGuckin, died May 12. Seventeen days later, deputies arrested his wife on charges of child neglect and tried to take the children into custody, believing they were malnourished and cold. Using their pack of semi-wild dogs, the children kept officials at bay for five days. They agreed to surrender Saturday after they were assured their mother was OK, they would be allowed to stay together and their dogs would not be harmed. Sheriff Phil Jarvis said ``all but a couple'' of the family's dogs - which had attacked deputies, neighbors and livestock - have been captured and taken to a county shelter. About a dozen families volunteered to take in the children, but most did not have enough space and experience, state welfare worker Michelle Britton said. The complication delayed the children's release from a hospital. ``We've placed them with a family in north Idaho that has children of their own,'' Britton said. ``We see their effort as very generous and very loving and we greatly appreciate their help.'' Britton said the department will help the foster family meet the children's' basic needs, such as purchases of food and clothing and transportation assistance. The children are physically fine, and not malnourished as previously believed, prosecutor Phil Robinson said. Officials had previously retracted statements that the family home did not have electricity. Sheriff's deputies who searched the house near Garfield Bay found five guns and ammunition. Officials said the home was filthy with dog feces, human waste and rotting food. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]