Starved as adopted boy, secluded now as adult

With much fanfare, New Jersey officials in 2005 announced the state would pay $5 million to Bruce Jackson for the years of neglect he endured in a Collingswood home filled with adopted and foster children.

But the landmark case is now also distinguished for the extraordinary secrecy that extends to almost every aspect of Jackson's life.

An unusual order to seal his court records has placed the 25-year-old in such a protective cocoon that almost nothing can be known about his care under state guardianship, monitored by the same department that failed him in the first place.

A wealthy man by most standards, Jackson has spent the last five years in a rural group home, supported by Medicaid and Social Security. Aside from dental work and some video games, there is no evidence that his fortune, swelled by good investments, has granted him any extra privileges or comfort.

Jackson's court-appointed lawyers argue that the veil of privacy is warranted because he has been declared incapable of caring for himself and because of the notoriety of his case. His starvation by his adoptive mother, Vanessa Jackson, who went to jail for four years, was a national scandal.

In April, an Inquirer report revealed that Jackson's three younger brothers, ages 16 to 20, had been unable to see him in four years.

They are grateful to Jackson and call him "our hero" for freeing them from the abusive household into which they'd separately been adopted.

After that story was published, an advocacy group stepped in.

The intervention appears to be the first time since Jackson's records were sealed in December 2003 that an independent watchdog has looked into his care.

Disability Rights New Jersey, a federally funded nonprofit charged with investigating abuse and neglect complaints, reviewed caseworkers' records on Jackson and interviewed Department of Human Services professional staff to see if he is receiving adequate services.

Executive director Joe Young said the review, which did not include a visit with Jackson, had found no red flags. But bound by privacy restrictions, Young could say little about Jackson's care.

Educational and vocational goals are "part of his long-term plan," said Young, who could not say whether Jackson is getting tutoring or job training to help move him toward more independence.

Young also could not say why Jackson had not seen his brothers, who were adopted by James and Amber Parrish of Millville, Cumberland County, after the abuse was discovered.