Wambli Hayes was 16 years old.
He was registered, Oglala Sioux.
He was African-American.
He was REMOVED in 2009.
He was ignored.
He was denied the right to have a safe place to live.
He was denied the right to have a relationship with his mother and his father.
He was denied the right to have a relationship with any family members.
He was denied the right to have kinship care.
He was denied the right to know his culture.
He was denied the right to appropriate medical care.
He was denied the right to be secure.
He was denied the right not to be abandoned.
He was denied the right not to be abused emotionally and physically.
He was denied the right not to be neglected.
He was denied the right not to be starved.
He was denied the right not to be beaten.
He was denied the right not to be threatened with a gun.
He was denied the right to have access to the bathroom.
He was denied the right not to be separated from his siblings, who shared the same experience.
He was denied the right to recommended mental health care.
He was denied the right to adequate substance abuse treatment.
He was denied the right to be placed in a home that was aware of his medical history.

He was a ward of the state of South Dakota.
He was in the South Dakota Department of Social Services Foster Care System from  December 21, 2009, until his death on November 17, 2019.

In his own words:

"During the forensic interview, Wambli reported he resided with his foster mother and described her as "mean."  He explained that she called him "filthy" and told him he looked like "a wet dog." Wambli indicated he felt unsafe in his foster home and told his [case worker] about what had been going on in the home.  Wambli disclosed he got hurt by his [foster mother] and she hit him and scratched his neck. Wambli provided history that his [foster mother] had threatened to shoot him and his sisters if they got out of bed at night. -Forensic interview summary 9/7/13

"Wambli brought up wanting to go back to his father and mother.  Wambli started saying that their dad did not abuse them and that it was DSS's fault." 04/04/14 RFS ID Q000000265462

After the abusive foster home experience, Wambli Hayes would hold his youngest sister who is still in care and tell her:"It's ok, one day we'll be free".

Wambli Hayes was a hero and saved his sisters from the abusive foster/adoptive care placement. He sacrificed himself to save them over and over again.

There is an inequity in the South Dakota Rapid City Department of Social Services Child Protection/Foster Care and Adoptive Care system. Native American children are taken into the foster/adoptive care system at a disproportionate rate than white children in South Dakota.  Wambli Hayes was taken into care and was neglected, abandoned, and emotionally abused by South Dakota's inadequately trained Child Protection Services supervisors and caseworkers who were supposed to protect him.  He died in the home of his foster care providers because they were not aware of his medical history.

The judicial system, along with the poorly trained social service workers, allowed Wambli Hayes to be abused and mistreated.  Wambli Hayes was placed over 21 times in 10 years. Wambli Hayes was an ICWA child.  If the ICWA were appropriately applied, Wambli Hayes would not have been in STRANGERCARE for ten years to be abused, humiliated, and ultimately die in the home of strangers who knew nothing about him or his life. Wambli Hayes' SUICIDE was preventable.

The DSS supervisor told Wambli Hayes' older brother that she did not feel she needed to tell the foster care parents caring for him at the time of his death about his 10-year medical history.  This behavior from the leadership in South Dakota's DSS Child protection system was negligent and neglectful.

An attempt to change this 'good old boy' system was not successful.  Please help us restart the fight to ensure the civil rights of all native children are protected.  Native children in the South Dakota Child Protection System deserve to receive equal protection under the law.

Wambli Hayes' life was taken from him when he was taken from his family unjustly. He was deprived of the freedom's other children have.  He was deprived of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Demand Justice for Wambli Hayes.  He can no longer speak for himself.  We must speak for him.  Don't allow the state of South Dakota to add Wambli Hayes to the list of unnecessarily REMOVED children who die in care and just move on with their life. 

Help us change the long history of Native American children taken into the care of the Rapid City South Dakota DSS without applying the Indian Child Welfare Act to ICWA children.  Wambli Hayes' life mattered. We want his death to be thoroughly investigated by an independent investigator.  We asked and were ignored.  We want licensed clinical DSS workers with advanced degrees in social work in the Rapid City South Dakota DSS office to assess, monitor, and place children with family first. 

We want the South Dakota judicial system to hold the Rapid City South Dakota's DSS leadership accountable when children are abused, neglected, and die in the care of those who are supposed to protect them.  We want Rapid City DSS workers to provide medical history to foster care resource parents. 

We want the DSS leadership to be transparent with the number of children who have died of suicide in DSS care. We want every CPS case in the Rapid City DSS between 2009 until the present to be audited by an independent auditor from another state or federal entity who is ICWA knowledgeable. 

We want the Indian Child Welfare Act to be honored in the South Dakota judicial system.  We want kinship care to be the first means of placement for any child trapped by the South Dakota DSS foster care/adoptive care system.  We want Native families and children to be treated with the same care and respect of white families and children. 

The death of children in care is not just a state of South Dakota issue.  The death of children in care is a human rights issue.  The death of children in care is a social justice issue. The death of children in care is a public health issue.  The death of children in care is a societal loss.

We want equality in the South Dakota Department of Social Services.

Please sign this petition to let Governor Kristi Noem know that the Indian Child Welfare Act should be applied to every ICWA child.  Please let Kristi Noem know  that if ICWA was applied Wambli would still be alive.

#Sayhisname   #WambliHayes

Thank you,

Hayes/Poor Bear Family