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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Autistic Girl Left Wandering Chicago Streets After School CPS Transit Drop-Off

An 11-year-old girl with autism was roaming the streets of Chicago’s South Side by herself.
original report by Audrina Bigos for CBS2 News Chicago | Sept. 20, 2016


That’s what happened when her Chicago Public Schools transportation dropped her off–with no supervision, CBS 2’s Audrina Bigos shares in this Original Report.

A normal day for 11-year-old Kymera is filled with smiles, but Monday was much different.

“She was sweating profusely and her nerves were all over the place,” her mother, Kalaveeta Mitchell said.

That’s because the driver of the special needs van dropped her off at home with no supervision. The company is SCR*, a vendor of Chicago Public Schools.

“When the van or the bus pulls up they are supposed to release the child to an adult, not just let them out,” Mitchell said.

Kymera, who has autism and PTSD, was roaming the streets for almost a half hour–alone.

The young girl said she felt “scared and confused.”

And her mom was furious. “Easy pickings for someone to pick her up and take her away and we would never know.”

Mitchell wants CPS to be held accountable as well as the company operating the van.

“They didn’t contact the school, they didn’t call DCFS, they didn’t call Chicago Police,” she said. “This ended well but it could’ve ended in tragedy.”

CPS sent CBS a statement saying, “The District’s protocols were not followed, and we are working with our vendors to ensure this does not happen again.”
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/09/20/child-with-autism-left-wandering-streets-after-cps-transit-drop-off/

# As we attempt to wait a few days before republish of news articles, when a important issues arrises we will post on the same day of original report. We Acknowledge CBS2 Chicago as orignal report.

* SCR also is a vender of Chicago Paratransit Service as provided thru Pace Suburban Bus Services.

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