“The Amish are not exempt from an independent investigation, and yet as soon as the CCI gets involved, it is no longer an independent investigation.”

~ Fellow Pennsylvania Advocate

Recently there was a report about an Amish mother reclaiming her children in the York Daily Record after the children had been separated from her for four months. This story is a good example of how some of the leaders in Plain communities are willing to separate children from their mothers and use that separation as a way of pressuring the mother to submit to the demands put upon them. Lydia is one of the lucky ones — she at least was not taken against her will to an Amish or Mennonite run mental health facility and drugged into submission, which happens in many cases in which the Conservative Crises Intervention (CCI) gets involved.

There were details that were not published about Lydia’s story that I have permission to reveal. Her husband, Benuel, has admitted to several individuals that he had been recording Lydia’s phone conversations for more than two years by installing a recording device into the “black box” attached to their home phone. On the day that she was planning to reclaim her children, he called her and said that he knows what she’s planning and knows who she is with, and demanded that she return home right away. She did not comply.

Lydia found out that three of her children had been taken to counseling sessions at the Parochial Medical Center without her permission when her children were living with other families. She went to the Parochial Medical Center and asked Walt Stein, the counselor there, for the records of the sessions with her children. He refused to give them to her. He said he had to check with his supervisor. When she asked who his supervisor is, he said it was Allen Hoover.

Allen Hoover is an Old Order Mennonite man who founded the CCI. He is instrumental in establishing many of the Amish and Mennonite run mental health facilities. (I recently compiled a list of as many of these facilities as I could. So far 62 of them are on that list. This includes facilities in other states.) He is also the creator and benefactor of the Chore Boy Monopoly, self-appointed guru of sexual abuse issues in Plain communities, and co-author of For the Sake of a Child with Jeannette Harder.

But I digress. Lydia’s story is typical of what happens when the CCI gets involved. She found out after she left that the CCI and her church leadership had plans to have her and Benuel go to an Amish-run facility for couples with marital problems, but there is more than a year waiting period in that facility, and it takes eight or nine months to go through that program. Lydia said to this man, “So you were not planning to give back my children.” He said she was right.

Lydia’s case is a typical one. In the guise of helping a couple with marital problems, a “support group” is appointed to them. Oftentimes, these support groups are used to pressure and control the women in families to submit to the husband’s and/or the church’s demands. Women are afraid of the dreaded vanload of leaders, usually with one of the members of the CCI, to arrive at their door demanding that they pack their bags and get in the van. They are then transported to the facility the powerful leaders have chosen for them to go to, often one out of state. Once there, they are drugged and told if they want to see their children, they need to do as they are told. Where the administrators of these facilities are obtaining the drugs they are not licensed to distribute remains a mystery.

The obvious question for most of us is why these women don’t call the police to report these abuses, and it is a great question. The answer is because they know it won’t do any good. It doesn’t matter whether the abuse is reported to the Pennsylvania Childline, Children and Youth Services, or the local police, they loop back around to the CCI, who shows up when the police do. They usually have already removed the perpetrator to another home or to one of the Amish-run facilities and tell the police that it’s taken care of. No independent investigations are conducted.

Those in the mainstream culture who usually are involved in abuse cases — social workers, medical professionals, and law enforcement — have for a long time believed that the Plain People take care of their problems within their communities. The CCI reinforces this notion, which creates a system in which the laws that govern our country do not apply to the Plain communities. In fact, a police officer in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania told Lydia that she had to go through the CCI to get her children back.

What breaks my heart is thinking about what the victims are going through who are feeling trapped and alone in the cycle of violence. If they do reach out for help, they are treated in all the ways that modern psychology has found not to treat victims. If they dare to “tell,” they are pressured to recant their stories, to apologize to their perpetrator(s), and to “forgive and forget.” My heart aches for them because I have been there and I know what it feels like to feel alone, trapped, and forsaken.

What gives me hope is that there are more and more advocates emerging and banding together to help where we can and work towards exposing the widespread abuse and the massive coverup of these abuses. Every day/week I hear more stories of abuse, and every day/week I hear of other individuals who are aware of what is going on and want to help change the system. There are advocates inside the community who are standing up to their leaders and saying, “We don’t want to leave our community. We want you to be better shepherds.” To me that is powerful. They are finding ways to support one another in their determination to stand up against the injustices within their community in ways that I have never heard of. They are supported by just as many outside the community who are in this struggle with them. This is what gives me hope and a reason to face another day.

It is wonderful that Lydia has escaped and is supported. What worries me is that I hear this is making it harder for others to leave. This has scared the leaders involved in the coverup, so they are clamping down harder on those who are in similar situations to Lydia’s. Your thoughts and prayers for their safety and well-being are appreciated.

Lydia Stoltzfus reclaiming her children took so much courage. I am grateful she is supported in her efforts. However, there remains quite a struggle ahead of her. Her sister set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs of housing and legal fees she is facing. If you feel compelled to enter this struggle with us, and you are able to donate, I encourage you to do so generously. Lydia and her supporters, and all of us who are in this struggle are grateful for your support, thoughts, and prayers.