Finding Tristan King top priority as officials pledge accountability

Editor’s note:Tristan King was found in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood on March 13. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and is under the care of the Maryland Department of Human Services.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called it “tragic.” Mayor Brandon Scott said the situation has him “pissed.” Baltimore Schools CEO Sonja Santelises is “heartbroken.”

Their reactions to the story of Tristan King, a 9-year-old from Baltimore’s Brooklyn neighborhood who has been missing longer than any other child his age in Maryland, is representative of public sentiment and notable because of their positions: Each oversees a government institution that has failed Tristan in the past year.

“This is a young man who pretty much every system that’s touched him has failed,” Moore said. “Throughout his whole life.”

The Banner detailed these failings and how they’ve impacted the search extensively in a report published Wednesday:

The school system unenrolled Tristan in May for missing 10 days or more of class, weeks after his grandmother and legal guardian had a debilitating stroke.

When the Department of Human Services took physical custody of Tristan, he jumped out of his caseworker’s car.

And Baltimore Police took months to interview people who might know where he is — at one point mistakenly closing his missing persons case.

Scott and Moore said they’ve ordered a review of the agencies they oversee to determine how Tristan fell through the cracks and to see what policies, if any, should be changed.

“Everyone knows I’m pissed,” Scott said. “Everyone could have done their jobs better.”

However, both men said the priority is to bring him to safety.

“We have to make sure that he can actually see a system that supports him and not a system that fails him,” Moore said.

Scott, who learned of Tristan’s case in January, said he is personally directing police to do “everything they can” to find Tristan. Moore said he’s ordered the state to use the resources needed to do the same.

They appealed to the public to call 911 if they have information about Tristan’s whereabouts; for the first time, police are offering a reward for information — $2,000.

Thursday evening, U.S. marshals were searching for Tristan in South Baltimore.

Part of the issue is that police and Department of Human Services policy prevents them from restraining a child Tristan’s age; he has to come willingly into their custody. However, authorities believe there are people helping Tristan hide.

“Some grown adult in our community not only knows where Tristan is, but they’re actually helping to not have him where they need to be,” Scott said.

“This case is just emblematic of the breakdown we’re seeing in systems,” said Vicky Kelly, a former director of Delaware’s Division of Family Services.

Although his caregivers and the government have failed Tristan, there are those who sought repeatedly to help him. Relatives went looking for him during the fall. Employees at his former school, Maree G. Farring Elementary/Middle, have spent months trying to get him help, both before and after he went missing.

“Despite our collective efforts as a school system, including the heartfelt and dedicated efforts of social worker Moshe Berry and school psychologist Lisa Austin, we have not yet been able to provide the level of support Tristan truly needs,” Santelises said.

How exactly to provide that level of support is debated. Shanta Trivedi, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law with expertise in child welfare, said Tristan’s case highlights societal shortcomings in addressing poverty. Tristan’s caregivers relied largely on government benefits for their income.

“The things folks don’t understand about people living in poverty is that life is chaos. They’re always one accident away from everything falling apart,” Trivedi said. “This story is a series of unfortunate events that, if you were wealthy, could have been dealt with.”

Reducing childhood poverty is a focus of the Moore administration.

“Stories like Tristan’s are the reason why I wanted to run for office,” said Moore, who ran a New York nonprofit focused on the issue before becoming governor.

Del. Robbyn Lewis, a Democrat, represents Tristan in the Maryland General Assembly. She said he has faced seemingly every obstacle a person can face and she feels a responsibility to protect him and all the children of her district.

“He’s one of my kids,” Lewis said. “And, when one is in danger, it hurts.”

Tristan’s case is extreme, but his experiences are not unusual for kids in Baltimore. Many children are exposed to environmental trauma such as addiction and violence, and many come from unstable homes. Scott, who is from the city’s Park Heights neighborhood, said he’s known kids in similar if not identical situations and that most people are unaware of how dire many young people’s realities are.

“We’re talking about helping the people that no one wants to help traditionally,” he said.

But novel programs — the mayor has instituted several — aimed at addressing poverty and its root causes are typically small in scale and slow-moving. Without federal backing, they are unlikely to expand.

Tristan needs help now. And fast.

His grandmother, Donna White, said Wednesday she had a message for him and asked for help spreading it. White’s stroke landed her in a nursing home, where she’s remained since her house burned down last year.

If anyone sees Tristan, White asked them to “tell him I love him.”

“I want him to come back. I want to see him. I miss him. Please stop running.”

Authorities ask anyone with information about Tristan King’s whereabouts to contact Baltimore Police at 410-361-9929 or U.S. Marshals Senior Inspector Al Maresca Jr. at 202-819-5058, or to dial 911.