Locked out of the kitchen of the home of their adoptive parents in Collingswood, New Jersey, forced to go hours — even days — with no real nourishment, subsisting on pancake batter, breakfast cereal, and water, they were starving.

In October 2003, the eldest of the boys sneaked out of the house to forage for food. A neighbor found the frail young man — just 45 pounds at the age of 19 — digging through garbage cans and called the authorities. The case made headlines nationwide.

But that was then. That was before Tre’Shawn (then known as Keith Jackson) and his two younger brothers were taken in by new parents who love them dearly and treat them right. Before their former adoptive mother was sentenced to seven years in prison for her role in their horrific neglect. (Their adoptive father died shortly before he was to be tried.) Before the boys began to thrive again, and grow, and go to school and play sports and do all the things that teenagers do.

In June, Tre’Shawn made the news again when he graduated high school with honors. And in July, he celebrated another milestone as his adoption by his new parents was made official.

Children’s Rights was there to celebrate with him. By the time Tre’Shawn and his brothers were found starving, we were deeply involved in a major effort to reform the New Jersey child welfare system from top to bottom — including the safeguards that should have prevented the boys from being left to suffer as they were. And we were involved (with Children’s Rights Board Member Richard Emery) in the lawsuit that successfully sought specific relief from the state of New Jersey for the injustices the boys endured — and established important children’s rights law for holding states accountable when children dependent on their child welfare systems suffer harm.

We sat down with Tre’Shawn for an interview about his life now and how far he and his brothers have come over the past six years — and premiered the resulting short film at our Fourth Annual Benefit in New York City on October 5. You can watch it below.

Meantime, we continue to celebrate with great pride both Tre’Shawn’s adoption and his many accomplishments of late. As Tre’Shawn said himself, “It’s the end of one chapter in my life and the beginning of a whole new one.” A much happier, healthier one. The kind every child should be able to claim.

The complaint, filed by the boys’ Guardian Ad Litem, Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children’s Rights, a national child advocacy organization, seeks damages from the State and named and unnamed individuals responsible for the safety and well-being of the children. The children spent eight years being systematically starved in a foster and adoptive home approved and monitored by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). None of the boys, ages 14, 10 and 10, along with their 19-year-old adoptive brother Bruce Jackson, weighed more than 45 lbs. when they were finally removed from the Jackson home by Collingswood police in October 2003. Reviewing the facts of the complaint, Judge Brotman notes that they “raise disconcerting questions about DYFS’ involvement in child placement cases in New Jersey.”

The Court’s opinion is the first to recognize the right of foster children to sue under New Jersey’s Child Placement Bill of Rights Act. The Court held that “the possibility of civil damages serves as the most effective enforcement mechanism for the Act’s goal to insure that the agencies responsible for the child’s welfare uphold the rights of the child.” It is “proper and necessary” to allow this remedy “when the State agencies and the placement system fail to carry out the State’s affirmative obligation to protect the fundamental rights of the children entrusted to its care.”

“[A]dequate food, shelter and medical care, and the right to a reasonably safe environment” were among the fundamental rights specifically enumerated as enforceable by the Court. The Court also held that the alleged official conduct by state actors was “sufficiently egregious” to support the boys’ federal Constitutional claims.

“These children, a symbol of the devastating impact of New Jersey’s foster care system, have now also blazed the trail for holding the state liable when it fails to protect vulnerable children.” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children’s Rights. “This cannot undo the harm that has been inflicted on these children but now the state will have to face up to its unconscionable conduct before a jury of New Jersey citizens.”

The children’s complaint for damages was filed on May 26, 2004, in New Jersey Superior Court (Camden County), and alleges the state failed to adequately monitor the children’s safety and well-being or provide for their basic needs and treatment while in their care, resulting in their maltreatment by the foster and adoptive parents the state had approved for them. After the state defendants removed the case to federal court, they also filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing that they are not legally responsible for the Jackson boys’ injuries. A court conference is scheduled for April 11, 2005.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys are Richard Emery, and Eric Hecker of the new York law firm of Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLP and Richard Bazelon and Steven Kudatzky, of the New Jersey law firm of Bazelon, Less & Feldman, PC.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Chris Iseli or Brooks Halliday // 212.683.2210