Mother upset after son with autism unknowingly wanders from CPS summer school camp
A mother is furious after her 9-year-old son with autism manages to walk out of CPS summer school camp.
The boy didn't just leave the school, but he wandered for blocks before a CTA bus driver pulled over to help.
When the school bus dropped 9-year-old Josiah McClure off, it's unclear if he made it inside the building or not.
The child, who's nonverbal, managed to walk down the sidewalk, turn the corner and cross several busy intersections on State Street before a CTA bus driver spotted him and knew something wasn't right.
"For the most part, his verbal ... he's nonverbal sometimes with people he doesn't know, he has speech," said mother Janeen Boyce.
She enrolled him in a special summer school program for children with autism and other disabilities at National Teachers Academy. She said she wanted her son to get the extra support.
However, on July 8, Josiah managed to leave the school building and wander from Cermak nearly half a mile down State Street. He crossed expressway exit ramps all the while his mother says the CPS school leaders had no idea he wasn't on campus.
"All the imminent danger they put my child in, he could have been hit, taken by the wrong person. He could've been dead .... they wouldn't have known," Boyce said.
Except for the bus driver who spotted the kid and left the bus to help.
The driver called police and Josiah was taken to nearby Insight Hospital, where officers finally called his mother.
"For hours ... an hour, he was at the hospital as a John Doe. That gives me no hope in CPS," she said. "What is the protocol? If you have protocols and procedures, why aren't you guys using it?
Boyce has paperwork, which shows how she expected CPS to care for her son—outlining Josiah's special education classroom assistant, or SECA, is to meet him "upon bus arrival for a hand off between the bus aid..."
Turns out two weeks before this incident, his mother says Josiah went missing briefly at recess.
"So the back gate was open and he was able to get out so they were immediately able to get him," she said.
However, this incident raises serious questions and she says CPS hasn't said much.
"I care about my kids and for them to let me down, it's just unacceptable," Boyce said.
CBS Chicago reached out to CPS to see if there have been any disciplinary actions taken and what, if any, changes took place for other kids still in the program, but has not heard back.
Josiah's mother is extremely thankful to the CAT bus driver. She wants to unite with the helpful bus driver and offer a huge hug.
