Advocacy

Background

As an attorney for children and a child welfare expert, I am aware of the predatory nature of the behavioral health industry targeting states with limited service and placement arrays when it comes to the placement of youth in expensive out-of-state institutions. In fact, I was the lead investigator and developed the facts leading to the class action complaints against the states of Oregon and West Virginia, including specific claims related to this practice with respect to foster youth. However, focus on this issue is generally on the so-called troubled teen industry.

 

One of the issues that I am best known for is that of broken adoptions and have written and spoken about the impact on youth extensively including the disturbing reality that the adoption subsidy continues to be paid even if the child is no longer in the adoptive parent’s home and even if the child is returned to foster care. The youth I have worked with who experienced a broken adoption are often homeless, back in foster care, couch hopping, or, as I have learned through my work in Jamaica, abandoned, after they were removed from an abusive American-owned facility connected to the so-called troubled teen industry, Atlantis Leadership Academy.

Past Advocacy

In February 2024, Jamaica’s Child Protection and Family Services Agency removed teens from ALA in February after they visited the facility and observed signs of abuse and neglect. The agency then placed the teens into foster care. Afterwards—whether due to misinformation they received from ALA, its administrators, or the program’s attorney, or simply because they didn’t want their teen home —some parents did not immediately respond to authorities or cooperate to plan for their child’s return to the United States. As a result, the boys languished. Against this backdrop, I arrived in Jamaica to advocate for them.  While give were returned to the U.S., three of the adopted teens were abandoned and placed in the “permanent custody” of Jamaica.  As of September 2024, the last abandoned adopted teen has been returned to the U.S. and we continue to advocate for all the boys’ needs in their placements.

Current ADVOCAcy

Alarmingly, there is another facility in Jamaica that has approximately 170 youth, the majority from the United States and adopted from foster care: Youth of Vision Academy (YOVA). The fact that there are so many adopted teens in Jamaica exposes several gaps in the system, including a lack of post-adoption support and services for those well-meaning parents searching for help to address their teen’s behavioral, emotional, and mental challenges. But for other parents, it is an easy place to warehouse their adopted teen until adulthood.

Three out of the five leaders at YOVA and at least one of the 501 officers allegedly have direct ties to a private school in West Virginia called Miracle Meadows that was forcibly closed for the sadistic torture of the children in their care. To understand the depravity of what occurred, consider the fact that lawsuits settled for over 100 million dollars.

When youth are transported out of the United States to countries like Jamaica or Mexico, parents typically do not fully appreciate that their children are then subject to the laws of that country—the embassy cannot simply drop in and rescue these kids, they must operate within the parameters of the jurisdiction’s legal system. Given that the facilities are generally unlicensed and unregulated, they generally act with impunity.

In addition to public awareness campaigns and education, we engage in legal services and advocacy to address broken adoptions, sibling visitation, and institutional child abuse and neglect in residential facilities for youth nationally and abroad.

New York Broken Adoptions Project

Status: Ongoing Monitoring
Year: 2024–Present
Group 1: New York City-Based Clients
Profile:

  • Youth and young adults in New York City who:
  • Have aged out of or exited institutional care settings such as foster care, residential treatment centers, or psychiatric facilities.
  • Were adopted and subsequently abandoned, displaced, or disconnected from permanent family arrangements.
  • Are currently involved with—or at risk of involvement with—Family Court, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), or the criminal legal system.
  • Frequently face barriers to legal representation, housing stability, supportive services, and consistent adult guidance.

Common Needs:

  • Legal representation in family, custody, guardianship, or immigration proceedings.
  • Connection to housing, benefits, and trauma-informed services.
  • Restoration of legal identity, including access to original birth records or adoption files.
  • Reentry support and legal emancipation planning.

Atlantis Leadership Academy Closure & Child Protection Advocacy

Status: Ongoing Monitoring
Year: 2024–Present

In 2024, Dawn J. Post responded to urgent reports involving eight boys removed by Jamaican child protective services from Atlantis Leadership Academy, an unlicensed facility where they had endured severe abuse and neglect. Recognizing the immediate need for legal advocacy and protection, Dawn mobilized federal, state, and international systems to coordinate safe repatriation plans for the boys.

When three of the boys, youth of color who had been adopted by U.S. families, were instead placed into the “permanent” care of Jamaica due to abandonment, Dawn continued to advocate tirelessly for their rights and return. She also launched efforts to hold accountable those responsible for their abandonment, including adoptive parents and the agencies that enabled or failed to prevent this harm.

Our Response:

  • Traveled to Jamaica to offer pro bono legal assistance, working closely with the Jamaican government and State Department to ensure the safety and return of these youths to the United States
  • Documented the legal status and histories of U.S. children placed at ALA, including those who had been adopted and later abandoned.
  • Worked collaboratively with international child protection agencies, federal, state, and county child welfare systems, as well as local attorneys and advocates, to secure emergency interventions and safe, stable placements for affected youth.
  • Provided legal support and advocacy for children returned to the U.S., including efforts to secure guardianship, legal standing, and trauma-informed care.
  • Exposed systemic failures, including gaps in adoption oversight, post-adoption services and support, and the misuse of private religious networks to evade regulation.

Impact:

  • Adoptees abandoned in Jamaica were returned to the U.S. albeit after significant delays.
  • The work catalyzed greater awareness of “offshore abandonment” and the need for federal and state oversight of disrupted adoptions.
  • Brought national attention to the plight of abandoned adoptees and the need for systemic reform.
    Shed light on the challenges faced by adoptees who are placed in dosmetic and foreign facilities without proper oversight.
  • Provided critical support to affected individuals and initiated broader conversations about adoption practices and youth welfare.

While the ALA facility is no longer operating, Themis continues to monitor the legal needs of the impacted youth, support litigation where needed, and advocate for long-term reforms to prevent this type of exploitation from recurring.

 

“Atlantis was not an isolated tragedy. It was the outcome of a broken system that lets families disappear children when adoption gets hard. We will not stop until that system is held accountable.”
— Dawn J. Post, Esq.