Idaho Mom Fails to Regain Standoff Kids
ABCNEWS.com : Standoff Kids to Remain in Foster Care
 JoAnn McGuckin, who was arrested in May on child endangerment charges, failed to regain custody of her children. (ABCNEWS.com) | Indefinite Foster Care Idaho Mom Fails to Regain Standoff Kids  July 13 The six children who held off Idaho authorities in a five-day standoff after their mother was arrested on child endangerment charges will remain in foster care indefinitely, a judge ruled today. |
In an hourlong closed hearing, Bonner County Magistrate Judge Debra Heise decided not to allow JoAnn McGuckin to regain custody of her children. A gag order prevented lawyers from both sides from discussing the specifics of the hearing.
Prosecutor Phil Robinson said he was pleased with the outcome of the hearing and said there was no timeline for reuniting the McGuckins. An automatic review of the children’s custody status will be held in 60 days.
Mysterious Illness Provided Roadblock
Today’s hearing was originally scheduled for June 29, but McGuckin asked for the delay so she could undergo physical and psychiatric exams.
Bryce Powell, McGuckin’s lawyer, admitted Monday that his client has had a problem with alcohol, but said her drinking could be considered “self-medication” for an illness that was diagnosed in a recent medical examination.
“JoAnn drinks alcohol,” Powell said Monday on ABCNEWS’ Good Morning America. “One thing we’ve recently found is that JoAnn is physically ill. She has some health problems of her own and perhaps she used alcohol for self-medication. That’s something that’s been done for hundreds of years.”
But Powell said that as a result of the exam, McGuckin is receiving treatment for the undisclosed illness.
“There’s a lot of love there and there’s a lot of beautiful things between this mother and her children,” he said.
Deplorable, But Not a Felony
Robinson was unable to convince Heise in a June 28 preliminary hearing that McGuckin should face felony child endangerment charges for the filth and squalor she made her children live in. The judge reduced the charges to misdemeanors and released McGuckin without bail. McGuckin, however, was not granted unsupervised meetings with her children.
One of the obstacles for McGuckin faced in today’s hearing was the family’s lack of a home. The 40 acres and house where the McGuckins lived had been seized for unpaid taxes in 1999, and was sold for $53,000 in September 2000.
The New Jersey couple who bought the property reportedly have asked that McGuckin not be allowed back on the land.
Powell has said, however, that a “Florida gentleman” has offered money for the family to buy a new home, and said others in Utah and around the country have donated.
To Show Change Will Come
Edgar Steele, an attorney who briefly represented McGuckin, said that more than $24,000 has been sent to a fund for the McGuckins that he started when he became involved in the case during the standoff.
Powell said McGuckin has seen her children only once since her arrest on May 29, and that visit was supervised by a state health-care worker.
McGuckin’s supporters have argued she is being persecuted for her poverty and for the difficulties she faced caring for her husband, who died of complications from multiple sclerosis on May 12, after battling the disease for years.
County officials counter that every effort was made to offer assistance to the family, but that McGuckin repeatedly refused attempts to help her, instead allowing her children to grow up in a filthy home, often without enough to eat.
McGuckin could face a maximum of six months in jail and a $300 fine if she is found guilty of the misdemeanor charge. 
ABC affiliate KXLY in Spokane, Wash., contributed to this report.