BRUCE JACKSON has nowhere to go.
The 19-year-old who weighed 45 pounds when cops found him scavenging through the trash for food has gained 30 pounds and is ready to be released from the hospital. But no one knows where he should go.
He was taken from his foster parents because they allegedly starved him in a case that sparked national outrage. He won’t be sent back to his biological parents, Bruce Roy and Joanne Principal, because he was taken away from them at age 7 by New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS).
At 19, he’s too old for foster care. He’s been treated for malnutrition since Oct. 10 at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, N.J., and has been cleared for release from the hospital.
His three adoptive brothers, who were also allegedly starved, and his two adoptive sisters have all been placed in other homes.
The five kids visit Bruce at the hospital weekly, according to law guardian Deborah Klein Davis, who represents Keith, 14, Tyrone, 10, Michael, 9, and girls Keziah, 12, and Jacee, 5.
Nothing special was planned for Bruce on Christmas. He spent the holiday all but isolated, surrounded only by doctors, nurses and other patients on the small, quiet ward of the hospital that’s become his home.
Even so, his time at the hospital has been good. His weight has shot up to 75 pounds, he’s grown 3 inches and has come to trust the staff that’s nursing him back to health.
He wears casual clothes like any teen might, but his shirts and pants – sized to fit an average fourth-grader – still droop from his skinny frame. A bright yellow basketball tank top hangs past his waist and blue sweatpants bunch around his ankles.
Those who have seen him for the first time have pegged him for about an 8-year-old, not a full-fledged adult old enough to vote, drive and serve in the Army.
Where he’ll ultimately end up is “being sorted out now,” said an official close to the case.
The state, after firing 10 DYFS workers involved in the case, is doing what it can to protect Bruce. Its Division of Developmental Disabilities has moved to become Jackson’s legal guardian, so that DYFS can continue to treat him and oversee his care.
ONE possible place for Bruce would be in a state-run group home, where “clients” get specialized care for as long as they need.
Bruce’s assigned attorney, Michael Critchley, a high-profile lawyer who has represented mobsters and has deep ties to the Camden County Democratic Party, refuses to answer any questions about his client.
Meanwhile, the emaciated teen continues to improve, though he bears scars of his years with foster parents Raymond and Vanessa Jackson.
He still has the bloated belly common among famine victims, and is painfully shy around strangers – looking at the ground when spoken to and afraid to say more than a few words to anyone he doesn’t know.
He has not been to a dentist since 1996, and has a mouthful of rotted teeth, all of which will eventually have to be pulled, officials said. But he has bonded with his hospital caretakers, and they say they’ve fallen for him, too.
“He’s a good kid,” said one nurse, smiling. “And he’s doing really well.”
They say you can hear him coming, as he shuffles around the ward hallway in oversized moccasin slippers – looking for conversation and a chance to play.
He loves chatting and constantly seeks out staffers’ attention.
Bruce, who now stands 4-foot-3, bounces a big rubber ball and takes on the nurses at checkers, hospital workers say.
Still, he clings to their sides and doesn’t stray far from sight.
On a recent night, a group of nurses decided to order snacks from the local Wawa convenience store. One of them asked Bruce if he wanted anything, then suggested a corn muffin.
“What’s a corn muffin?” he asked. “You don’t know what a corn muffin is?” asked the nurse incredulously.
STAFF members say Jackson gets bored easily – a sure sign that he needs intellectual challenges, according to experts. He has been known to climb into a wheelchair and take a spin around the ward.
Bruce hasn’t been to school in at least eight years – he and adopted brothers Keith, Tyrone and Michael were all taught at home, according to the Jacksons – yet he can read and write, say officials at the state Child Advocate’s Office.
But he’s lacking in basic social skills. Asked how he feels, Jackson often lowers his head and turns away. Bruce spends most of his day in his room. As of last week, there were two children, both young girls, in his area of the ward, and a small playroom has been set up for them to gather, hospital sources said.
Bruce enjoys the regular visits he gets from his siblings, but the foster parents have shunned him, officials said.
Raymond and Vanessa Jackson went to see the other three boys when all four kids were being treated at the hospital, but they refused to check in on Bruce.
“They believe he’s evil – that he hasn’t found Jesus,” a source said of the Jacksons, who are devout members of the Come Alive New Testament Church in Medford, N.J. Raymond Jackson’s lawyer, Richard Josselson, denied that charge.
“They love him,” said Josselson. “They want to visit him, too.”
Doctors have performed a battery of tests on Bruce and are cautiously optimistic about his chances of further recovery, state officials said.
He’s received weekly doctor visits, said prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi, and has undergone psychological counseling, according to Klein Davis.
BRUCE’S BROTHERS
Keith Jackson
Age: 14
Weight gain: 40 to 66 lbs.
Height gain: 4′ to 4’1½”
Last check-up: Sept. 10, ’96
Last dental visit: Sept. 6, ’96
Status: living with new foster family.
Tyrone Jackson
Age: 10
Weight gain: 28 to 42½ lbs.
Height gain: 3’3″ to 3’4″
Last check-up: Nov. 19, ’96
Last dental visit: Aug. 12, ’96
Status: living with new foster family.
Michael Jackson
Age: 9
Weight gain: 22.8 lbs. to 40 lbs.
Height gain: 3’1½” to 3’2½”
Last check-up: Nov. 2, ’95
Last dental visit: none
Status: living with new foster family.