A question of religious rights

David Kihara

Thursday, April 6, 2006 | 6:49 a.m.

Tiffany Pugh was not a good mother, and she's the first one to admit it.

A former methamphetamine user, she gave a baby boy up for adoption after he tested positive for the drug. After that, in July 2004, her 3-year-old daughter was taken from her by the Clark County Family Services Department.

She continued to test positive for drugs and was jailed for several weeks for writing bad checks at the Gold Coast casino.

"We all know I've done a lot of bad things," the 29-year-old mother said recently.

But clean for the last six months and working to get her daughter back, Pugh was angered to learn that the girl is being taken care of by a strict Mormon family that refuses to let the girl have candy.

The foster mother, known to the Pugh family only as "Heidi," wants to adopt the girl and has taken her to a Latter-day Saints church and has allegedly taught the girl about the religion.

"This is not my religion," Pugh said.

While the mother's identity is confidential, workers in the foster care system confirmed that the foster mother wants to adopt the girl and has taken her to church services.

Under Nevada state law, birth parents have the right to choose a child's religious affiliation even when the child is taken from their custody.

Family Services officials say the department always tries to respect the religious beliefs of the birth family or foster child. If a child has a connection to a certain church, for example, the foster family is required to take that child there, said Michael Kahn, department spokesman.

The county wouldn't necessarily object if nonreligious children are taken to their foster parents' church, but the foster parents are instructed not to try to convert foster children to their religion.

"The foster family is told not to indoctrinate the children and to respect their beliefs," Kahn said.

So far, foster care officials have yet to see proof of any sense of indoctrination in this case.

But Judy Zachodni, a senior counselor at the Community Counseling Center who is working on Pugh's case, questioned whether the child would be influenced by any religion at such a young age.

"The child is only 3," Zachodni said. "If she were a little older it would probably be an issue."

Still, Pugh and her partner, Tony Pagan, say while they'll continue to work toward getting the girl back, they're concerned by this.

"We don't believe in the Book of Mormon," Pagan said. "So we do not want the views of the book instilled in our child.

"We feel like we will have to deprogram her."