Hello all,

I come to you tonight with a heavy heart. We have been reaching out to the youth in our neighborhood as we plant a church in St. Louis. One of these youth has been showing signs of growth despite a poor home life. A couple weeks ago, he was kicked out (age 17). DFS wouldn't pick up the case cause he was too old to bother. His parents can't handle him any longer (communication styles really seems to be a major issue that leads to an impasse). We found a youth emergency home for him to stay in for a couple weeks while also helping him with a job search. His second night there, his parents were called in because he had been drinking and other behaviors. He refused to go with them, and requested that he be made a ward of the state. They agreed to sign the papers for him, then left. Whether it was the previous behavior or something more happened, he was arrested and spent the night in jail. He called me to come drop him off back in the city (he's in the suburbs in a part where young blacks are scared to go for fear of the racism). I went to get his parents, not knowing about the night before and they filled me in. Since he was a ward of the state, I called DFS for their advice and they basically told me that if he calls again, to have him contact them so they can get him, but because the police had already released him and couldn't reveal if he was actually still there or not, they wouldn't go get him. To me, he's better off sitting at the police station until he calls and lets me set him up with DFS (but I think he's trying to avoid their custody). Please pray for wisdom, his safety, and if you have any ideas, let me know.

God bless, Scott

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2002