‘This child belonged to all of us.’ Kansas foster child who ran from care found dead

A 15-year-old Kansas foster child who ran away from a child welfare office was found dead days later in an empty lot in Kansas City, Kansas, The Star has confirmed.

The body of Ace Scott, who had been in state care since 2017, was found April 15, according to the Department for Children and Families. His cause of death has not been determined and KCK police said the incident is still under investigation.

News of the teen’s death wasn’t released until The Star inquired about him. DCF provided limited information this week, including the fact that Ace had a medical condition. The agency also released a statement from Secretary Laura Howard.

“I am so deeply saddened by the passing of Ace Scott, and a life cut so tragically short,” Howard told The Star in her statement. “My sincere condolences go out to all those who knew and loved Ace — family, friends, and all who had the chance to know and care about him. My hope is that memories of Ace provide comfort during this difficult time.

“Know too that DCF is taking all actions at our disposal to better understand the circumstances of this case and to identify the types of services or supports that might prevent a tragedy like this from happening in the future.”

Ace, a transgender male, had run away from a Cornerstones of Care office on April 11, the child welfare agency said. A Special Response Team for DCF had been looking for the teen in the days since he ran away. His body was found in an empty lot near 9th Street and Central Avenue in KCK four days later by a neighbor in the area, police said.

DCF and Cornerstones of Care employees worked with Ace’s family to organize a memorial service.

During Ace’s five years in the state system, his “permanency goal” was adoption, the state agency said.

“While in care, he experienced placement instability, including run episodes,” information released by DCF said. “He was on the run March 25 and 26, 2022.”

When located on March 26, Ace was admitted to the hospital for “concerns related to a known medical condition,” DCF said. “He was discharged from the hospital on April 11, 2022.”

On that day, while he was waiting for a new placement, Ace ran away from the office of Cornerstones of Care, which is one of four contractors that handle foster care services in Kansas.

Child advocates learning about the death of the teen while he was in state care said they hope DCF does a “deep dive” into his case so officials can truly understand what went wrong. And determine whether the teen was provided the care and security he needed while in state custody.

“Why did Ace run away as soon as they brought him back into care (from the hospital)?” asked Lori Burns-Bucklew, a Kansas City attorney and accredited child welfare law specialist who joined Kansas Appleseed, the National Center for Youth Law, and Children’s Rights in filing a class action lawsuit against the Kansas system in late 2018.

“How many times had he run? What was accounting for that?” she said. “This is a pretty hazardous world for transgender youth. It’s so hard for them to find supports. Vicious politicians are rejecting them. … I don’t know what supports were offered to Ace, and I don’t know what kind of supports were offered to the people caring for him.”

Burns-Bucklew’s voice broke as she talked about the teen she’d never met. She said his case and what happened to him last month made her nearly speechless.

“... I don’t know what he’s experienced. But what should a 15-year-old be doing? Going to games at school and playing video games and eating pizza and learning how to drive. And who knows what this kid went through.”

It also isn’t isn’t clear why authorities did not release any information about the teen’s death until contacted by The Star. Child advocates say the public should know when incidents like this happen to children in state care.

“How is there anybody that ends up dead … and it gets no coverage whatsoever?” said Lori Ross, founder of FosterAdopt Connect and a long-time child advocate in Kansas and Missouri. “If you believe in the value of the lives of children, what could be more relevant than the fact that this child belonged to all of us? This is a kid that belonged to all of us.

“He was a child who belonged to the state of Kansas and the state failed.”

Because the teen had a known medical condition, and had just been released from the hospital, advocates say authorities should have done more to ask for the public’s help to find him.

In the fall of 2017, the same year Ace came into care, Kansas’ child welfare system was under intense scrutiny by lawmakers in Topeka after they learned dozens of foster children had runaway and were missing from care.

When Howard and her administration took over DCF in January 2019, runaway foster children became a key focus, officials said. The state began reporting the daily number of kids missing from care on its website and soon began building a Special Response Team, which has grown from two people to 12 statewide.

“Every young person that is absent from placement, within 24 hours has an assigned or has a connection to a Special Response Team,” said Tanya Keys, DCF’s deputy secretary. “So they would have their case manager, they’ll have a law enforcement officer, but also then the agency has an additional special response person.”

The team continues to “make daily outreach contacts to a set of contacts, family, friends, schools, teachers, and other folks in the network,” Keys said. “They do that daily, for at least the first week.”

The average daily number of kids missing from care is roughly between 60 and 70 for the entire state. You can find the daily report here.

Once a child is back in care, the team and workers focus on the child’s emotional well being and try to make sure they feel connected.

“We know these young people are trying to solve a problem,” Keys said. “So we want to help them find other ways to help solve problems. Sometimes that might be thinking about how can we get them engaged with a relative who feels supported. Where do they want to live? Or what anchor do they want? Do they like a former school? … We have to customize it.”

It isn’t known what support Ace was given while he was in care or what workers did to help him feel connected and supported.

“I think what we’re learning, and we’re always learning more, on how to do better and how to engage young people,” Keys said. “But what we’re coming to understand is that safety is only temporary without healing. So we need to continue to have conversations with that young person and their network, their family, so that we can understand what is prompting this decision to solve a problem through running.

“If we’re unable to get to that root, we might not be able to really stop that choice of the behavior.”

For Ace, what’s important now is for people to know his story, said Grey Endres, an assistant professor of social work at Missouri Western State University, who supervises new social workers in both states working toward their clinical license.

“We, the state of Kansas, stepped in after investigating a hotline and removed this child from their home,” Endres said. “We (were) the champion with the responsibility to keep this youth safe and to protect them. And at the end of the day, the child died in the custody of the state of Kansas. So how did we do any better than the family that was investigated?

“That’s why we have to tell the story.”

Another reason, he said, is that as a part of a social worker’s code of ethics, “we value the dignity and worth of a person.”

“If this trans youth died for no reason and we don’t have the heart to have important conversations, then how are we respecting their dignity and worth as a person?”

©2022 The Kansas City Star. Visit kansascity.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.