
‘I am not going to let you die’: Mom’s desperate plea to get help from Illinois family
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A mother of a 16-month-old autistic child who was left without a guardian for two weeks is demanding answers about her son’s death after the Illinois Department of Social Services rejected her petition for an emergency guardians’ order.
The Illinois Department Of Social Services said Thursday that the family’s application for an order of guardianship was denied and that the Illinois Board of Pardons and Paroles “does not intend to grant an emergency protective order.”
The family, which has a three-year-old child with autism, was ordered to leave the home at 1:30 p.m.
Monday after it was determined the toddler was not stable enough to stay.
They were placed in the custody of their grandparents.
The family was also placed in a care facility for families with severe disabilities, and they had been receiving foster care since the birth of their child, according to a news release from the Illinois Social Services Agency.
The teen was taken to a hospital on Friday and pronounced dead.
The family’s attorney, James Cavanagh, said in a statement that the boy’s death has “opened up a lot of hearts and minds” in the state.
Cavanagh also said that the parents’ lawyer, Paul Hoch, is working with the Department of Children and Family Services to see if the child’s death could be considered as a homicide.
“We’re not there yet,” Hoch said.
“We have been working on this.
I hope we will get there before too long.”
State law requires parents of children with disabilities to obtain court orders and order guardians to attend school and live with the child.
But the family was ordered not to live with their grandson for two more weeks while the state considered whether they needed an order.