COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Looking around Elizabeth Montoya's home in Colorado Springs, there's no missing the memories of her son, Timothy.
“Timmy was just a great kid. He was cute and funny, and growing up he was autistic. So he did have a little trouble with speech," Elizabeth told Denver7. “He was just, he was my baby.”
The youngest of her children, Timothy grew up fast. By the age of 10 he was asking his mother questions no child should have to ask.
"Mom, what does it mean to be depressed? And we have depression in our family, so I kind of explained it to him. I signed him up for a therapist," Elizabeth remembered.
Elizabeth said her son began self-harming, and made his first suicide attempt right before fifth grade started. Timothy was hospitalized for 19 days, missing his first couple weeks of school that year. Elizabeth said after three times in the hospital, Colorado Community Health Alliance (CCHA) recommended her son go to residential treatment.
She said Timothy was successful in the treatment program for around seven months, and was discharged in July 2019. When he was home, Elizabeth said they started home therapy.
“Timmy went 79 days over Christmas of 2019 without going back to the hospital or to any kind of place, you know, other than his therapy. He would escalate but we were able to talk him down," said Elizabeth. “In January, when they decided it was time for them to step down their therapy, he just started spiraling again. And he would do things like try to launch himself out the bedroom window.”
In total, Elizabeth estimates Timothy was hospitalized more than 15 times. She learned he had a problem with running away.
The last facility Timothy went to was the Tennyson Center for Children. Elizabeth said he ran from there five times in three days, eventually ending up on a frontage road near Interstate 70, where he was hit and killed by a car in June 2020.
“He was missing for 26 hours. We didn't know where he was because the accident was in Wheat Ridge," Elizabeth said. “There's no words to describe losing a child... It was really even harder when they ruled his death a suicide. But I have accepted that it may have been and he may have just gotten tired and laid down in the road. You know? He had the history of it. I don't know, it's just overwhelming.”
More than two years later, the pain of losing her child is still present in Elizabeth. However, she hopes her son's story sparks change on the legislative level in Colorado.
“What we've learned is that residential treatment facilities and any kind of out-of-home placement provider, their laws restrict them from putting their hands on our child and bringing them back to the to their property, once they pass them," said Elizabeth. “But with Timmy, he was voluntarily placed there, you know, because of his behavior. And I really think that he was running. He was looking for someone to set a boundary for him... Set that boundary and say, no, you're safe here. This is where we're going to keep you. This is where you need to be. We're not allowing you to run away. I think he would have settled down.”
The Timothy Montoya Task Force was created this past legislative session. The goal is to understand why youth run from out-of-home placements, such as foster care or residential child care facilities. Colorado's Child Protection Ombudsman, Stephanie Villafuerte, said the task force asks questions that have never been asked before in Colorado.
“What the task force aims to do is really find out, why are these kids running? And what is it we could be doing as a system to prevent them?” Villafuerte explained. “Our office investigated his [Timothy's] case. And what we learned is Colorado has insufficient laws, structures and practices to make sure that our runaway youth are safe, or so they don't run away to begin with.”
Villafuerte said there is confusion in Colorado's laws about whether facilities can stop children from running away.
“The laws surrounding securing runaway youth is really complicated. And that is part of what the task force needs to clarify. It isn't entirely clear what actions can or cannot be taken," said Villafuerte.
The task force is comprised of a number of different people, including law enforcement, human services departments, and young people who have run from facilities. The task force will meet six times a year for the next two years, and they are required to produce a report at the end of the first year to the state legislature with their preliminary thoughts about solutions.
At the end of the second year, the task force will send a public report to the General Assembly and governor's office.
“Our year and a half of research on this issue has shown us that there is no data that helps us understand these questions. And so, the task force is really critically important. It's a one-of-its-kind, really, in the country," Villafuerte said. “What makes this task force unique is that we are really getting input from young people who have lived in these systems and asking them, why do kids run? And how do we keep you safe?”
Elizabeth hopes the Timothy Montoya Task Force helps other children. She said that is exactly what her son would have wanted.
“Hopefully, the task force will be able to put together some really viable ideas and we can change the policies and procedures here. Because kids deserve to be kept safe," Elizabeth said.
If Elizabeth could let her son know anything about the impact he has had, she would tell him "buddy, we're going to keep the kids safe. Your experience is going to matter. It's going to matter. It's going to count for something.”