ACLU sues as Missouri is set to release young man with severe autism from foster care
One day before Missouri child welfare officials planned to release a young man with severe autism from foster care, essentially making him homeless, the American Civil Liberties Union sued to stop them.
Late Thursday afternoon, the ACLU of Missouri sought an injunction in federal court against top officials of three state agencies, saying that without intervention by the court the state will remove his care and services and “place him on the streets of Kansas City with no one to assist him.”
The young man, who turns 21 on Sunday and can’t feed or care for himself, is not named in court documents.
“John Doe’s life is in imminent danger,” the suit says. “Immediate relief is needed to maintain the status quo and avoid irreparable harm, which could include death to Doe.”
Named in the suit: Jennifer Tidball, acting director of the Missouri Department of Social Services; Mark Stringer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health; and Joan Rogers, the interim director of DSS’ Children’s Division.
Lori Ross, who is the founder of FosterAdopt Connect and has been advocating for the young man for several weeks, is named as the “next friend” for the young man and will represent him in court. A guardian ad litem also will be appointed.
She said she found out Thursday that DSS planned to release him from care on Friday, two days before his birthday.
“Gosh, what are they thinking?” said Ross, who to protect the young man’s privacy calls him “Leo.” “The thought they were going to end this case and drop him from services even earlier than Sunday, it created a panic ... trying to get this stopped.”
There are two issues in this young man’s case: he was not born in the U.S., and Missouri has not implemented a new federal law designed to keep kids from aging out of foster care during the pandemic. State custody ends when they turn 21.
That law, which went into effect in late December, instructs states not to release any child from foster care during the pandemic just because they’ve reached a certain age. A spokeswoman with DSS told The Star that the agency asked for additional guidance on the law and is waiting on that before it can go into effect in Missouri.
According to the lawsuit: “Doe will eventually receive a green card and be a lawful permanent resident of the United States; however, pandemic-related delays have slowed the process of obtaining this status for him.”
Ross and other child advocates can’t fathom why that federal law isn’t protecting kids.
“I’m disappointed that within the state government there seemed to be an inability or unwillingness to figure out a solution to this issue that would protect Leo and the other kids that are in his situation, despite a federal law requiring them to do that,” Ross said. “It seems crazy to me that the state can’t figure out how to follow a federal law.
“The kids involved are the most vulnerable kids in our state.”
The Star published a story about him Sunday, prompting hundreds of people to come forward wanting to help. People emailed asking who they could call and where they could send money for his care.
Ten to 15 people told Ross that they would help care for him, some even said they would adopt the young man. More than 150 people — some from far outside Kansas City — donated to a fund set up for him at FosterAdopt Connect. So far, $27,000 has been raised.
At some point, the young man’s mother lost custody of him after allegations of abuse or neglect. For the past four years, he’s been living in a group home in Independence, licensed by the Missouri Department of Mental Health, the suit says. His mother lives in a homeless shelter in Kansas City and is unable to care for him.
When a child with severe disabilities typically ages out of care, he or she then goes into the custody of the Department of Mental Health, which provides the services needed.
But, according to the lawsuit, DMH “is not providing these services to Doe because of his immigration status.”
The Star emailed Gov. Mike Parson’s office before the suit was filed late Thursday to see if there was anything he planned to do in the case. The communications office did not immediately respond.
Neither did the departments of social services or mental health when asked in emails about any progress in the case or if anything was being done to help provide services to the young man after he turned 21.
A week ago, when asked about his case and the concern of advocates that he could become homeless, a mental health department spokeswoman told The Star: “DMH is collaborating with DSS on available state resources.”
The young man has a family court hearing Friday afternoon, usually a standard procedure before the state releases a child from foster care.
Ross said she’s still unsure about what exactly will happen Friday but Missouri officials must do right by “Leo.”
“It’s so unfortunate that it takes this much press coverage, this much attention, this much effort, to do the right thing,” she said. “I can’t imagine that people with good hearts, doing things for the right reasons, would allow something like this to happen.
“It has been shocking to me.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 7:26 PM.
