Local News in Brief : Ecclesia Children All in Foster Homes

The last of 53 children from the Los Angeles-based Ecclesia Athletic Assn. were placed in foster homes in Oregon on Thursday, more than three months after authorities took them into protective custody.

Eight of the children, who had been living at state schools for juveniles, moved in with foster families in three counties, according to Alice Galloway, spokeswoman for the Oregon Children’s Services Division.

The other 45 Ecclesia children, many of whom also stayed for a time at state schools for juveniles, have been placed with families over the last few months. Forty-three are in foster care, one is living with relatives in Oregon and an 18-month-old boy has been placed with relatives in California.

Oregon officials took the children into custody Oct. 14 after 8-year-old Dayna Broussard, the daughter of Ecclesia founder Eldridge Broussard Jr., was beaten to death at the group’s farmhouse in rural Sandy near Portland. Four adult Ecclesia members await trial on manslaughter charges in the death.