TRAVERSE CITY — After nearly a year of living with fear and anxiety, abandoned in Jamaica by his adoptive parents following a horrific ordeal at a boarding school, Michigan teenager Elijah Goldman got a glimpse of hope Wednesday: a foster parent came forward to take him in.
And his adoptive parents didn’t object.
Rather, Traverse City residents Mark and Spring Goldman on Wednesday consented to 17-year-old Elijah temporarily being placed in the custody of Child Protective Services, making the agency responsible for his well-being, which is just what the teen and his lawyers wanted now that he’s back home from a harrowing ordeal in Jamaica. Elijah’s adoptive parents sent him to a boarding school in Jamaica in September 2023 over behavior problems, but he and six other American boys were pulled from the school in February over widespread abuse claims, which led to the school being shut down.
Elijah’s adoptive parents, however, never went to get him, stranding him in Jamaican group homes for another seven months. He finally returned home to Traverse City last week, on Sept. 3, with the help of child welfare advocates who intervened on his behalf and spared him from having to move again.
Upon his return to Michigan, the Goldmans wanted to send him to live in Utah, but Elijah objected, saying he doesn’t know anyone in Utah. The teen’s lawyers also objected. On Wednesday, they successfully got Elijah placed in the custody of local CPS, with the Goldmans consenting to the deal. That paves the way for Elijah to move in with a foster parent — in this case, a retired schoolteacher in the Traverse City area who came forward this week and offered to take him in.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” the woman, identified only as “Teri,” said in a courtroom hallway Wednesday, where she hugged Elijah following a brief hearing involving his legal feud with his adoptive parents over his living arrangements.
Elijah wants to stay in Michigan, specifically the Traverse City area, which is the only place he has ever called home since being adopted from Haiti at the age of 10.
“I wish I could just take him home with me now,” ‘Teri,’ the soon-to-be foster mother, said, noting CPS still has to finish paperwork, approve her and visit her home, where she has three rescue dogs — two Doodles and a “shedder,” as she put it.
“There are dogs at my house … but the Doodles have no hair,” she told Elijah, who smiled as he sat on a courtroom bench across from his potential new caretaker.
He will call her “Auntie Teri.”
“That lady is so sweet … for anyone to step up, it’s amazing” said Traverse City parent Scott Lama, who showed up to court Wednesday to show support to Elijah, who went to school with his son. “He’s just a really good kid and I felt bad for him. His story sucks. His story is heartbreaking.”
Elijah’s plight was documented in a weekend Free Press investigation that highlighted the boy’s troublesome teenage years with his parents, the horrific experiences he endured at the boarding schools they sent him to, his fight to get home from Jamaica, and the failure of government agencies who let him fall through the cracks.
According to Elijah and his lawyers, the Goldmans don’t want their son living with them again. Child welfare advocates allege the Goldmans abandoned their son because they found him too problematic, and that his rebellious teenage behavior conflicted with their conservative Christian beliefs. Elijah watched porn, lied a lot and ran away, frequently — which landed him in numerous boarding schools.
The Free Press made numerous attempts to speak to Elijah’s parents. Multiple voicemails and text messages were left for both parents. The mom responded by text last week, stating: “If you would please send us your questions in writing we can consider responding.” The Free Press sent a list of questions last week, and left more voicemails and text messages. The couple has not responded.
Meanwhile, the Goldmans are now facing a formal complaint in family court, where Elijah’s lawyers are pursuing abandonment claims, which the couple will defend against in a future trial.
The Goldmans adopted Elijah and his younger sister from Haiti in 2018 — his sister still lives with the Goldmans — though Elijah would spend half of his new life in America in boarding schools. The last place he was sent was the Atlantic Leadership Academy in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, in September 2023.
That’s where Elijah and six other boys made numerous claims of abuse, including waterboarding, whippings, beatings and starvation. Four people were charged with child abuse and the Jamaican government closed the school down, then informed the parents of the school’s closure.
Six of the seven boys were rescued, some faster than others. Elijah was the last one there. No one ever came for him.
The Goldmans, who have made no public comments on this case, were expected to give their side of the story at a hearing in Grand Traverse Circuit Court on Wednesday morning, and explain why they believe Utah is the best place for him. But that never took place.
Instead, Family Court referee Steven Paciorka noted from the bench Wednesday that both sides had consented to placing Elijah in CPS. Mark Goldman sat in the courtroom with his arm around his wife. The couple did not speak to news media when they left the courthouse.
But Elijah, who was not allowed to talk to news media, seemed elated — given the smile on his face. So was one of his staunchest allies, New York City children’s rights attorney Dawn Post, who flew to Jamaica in April, met Elijah and has been advocating for him ever since.
“I’m feeling more comfortable about the care that he’s going to receive in Traverse City,” Post said, noting that one of the most troubling issues for Elijah has been that the Goldmans and others don’t believe that he was abused.
“After being told, ‘You’re lying. You’re manipulative. No one will ever believe you,’ … it’s incredibly validating for him that finally he’s being seen after so long,” Post said.
Elijah’s case has triggered an outpouring of support from many, including celebrity Paris Hilton, a survivor of institutional child abuse and a youth advocate who met Elijah in Jamaica in April and spent months advocating on his behalf, emailing Michigan government officials and pleading for them to intervene.
The teen’s plight also has touched many in the Traverse City community, including a group of parents and a former friend who showed up in court Wednesday for Elijah’s hearing.
“I played sports in middle school with him. We became friends and then he kind of like vanished,” said 17-year-old Cy Shoemaker, who greeted Elijah with a handshake and a pat on the back. “I just wanted to support him and just see him again.”
Shoemaker said he was amazed at Elijah’s positive attitude and perseverance, given “he went through all this hell … (yet) he’s still super nice, and he has a pure heart.”
Shoemaker’s mom agrees.
“I can’t even imagine the trauma he’s been through,” Tina Shoemaker said, adding that it was important to show up for Elijah. “He’s part of our community. … It’s really important to support the youth, especially in our own front yards.”
Jenn Marie Newton, of Hamtramck, shares that mindset — even though she had to travel more than four hours to be at Elijah’s court hearing. She said she’s a survivor of the troubled teen industry, having previously been in three programs in just over three years.
The 54-year-old woman said she felt it was important to let Elijah know that he is not alone.
“My entire goal in life,” Newton said, “is to reach younger survivors and help them heal sooner than I did.”
Elijah wants that, too — though he still has a lot of unresolved family issues to contend with.
Elijah and his lawyers maintain the teen’s adoptive parents abandoned him, and have a pending abuse and neglect case to resolve in court. A hearing in the abuse and neglect case has not yet been set.
But for now, Elijah can breathe freely again.
As he previously told the Free Press: “I’m staying strong, but it hurts … I have resources to become a successful man and take care of my family in Haiti — and one day make my own. … I am hopeful.”
Contact Tresa Baldas: [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan boy abandoned by adoptive parents in Jamaica finds new home
Source Agencies
