Shawntelle Fisher walked out of prison for the last time on her birthday.
It was Nov. 3, 2011. After a youthful existence caught up in multiple felony charges, most for forgery or bad checks, Fisher was ready to turn things around.
鈥淢y case manager asked me a question,鈥 Fisher remembers. 鈥淲hat do you want to do with your life? It was the first time anybody asked me that question.鈥
Fisher had become a mother at 15, a convicted felon at 17. By the time she was 19, she was in prison for the first time. Her new task, she decided, was to help women like her by teaching their children. Within six months of leaving prison, she had founded , a nonprofit that helps educate children whose parents are, or have been, incarcerated.
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As she built her nonprofit, Fisher sought her own education, getting an education and social work degree from the University of Missouri-St. 不良研究所导航网址, graduate degrees from Washington University and Eden Theological Seminary. She became a licensed clinical social worker and a drug and alcohol abuse counselor.
In the decade of its existence, The Soulfisher Ministries has started an after-school program for children of the Riverview Gardens School District, offered programs for women at the state鈥檚 Vandalia and Chillicothe prisons, after-school tutoring, and housing assistance for women leaving prison.
鈥淥ur program is making a difference in the lives of the kids that we serve,鈥 Fisher tells me.
Not long ago, Fisher decided she wanted to help kids in a different way, a more personal way. She鈥檚 53 now. Her daughter is grown. She has a nice house in Lake Saint 不良研究所导航网址. She educates children for a living, and decided she wanted to do the same thing but in her home, as a foster parent. Fisher knew it would be an uphill climb. Her felony record, even after three expungements, is long. But her list of community supporters is even longer.
鈥淪he exudes hope and confidence making even the most difficult challenges seem possible,鈥 says Bob Fox, a longtime civic leader in St. 不良研究所导航网址. He met Fisher in 2015 when his wife, Build-a-Bear founder Maxine Clark, was the commencement speaker at Fisher鈥檚 graduation from UMSL. 鈥淪t. 不良研究所导航网址 is blessed to have this extraordinary woman committed to positive change in our region and we are proud to call her our friend.鈥
When Fisher applied to be a foster parent, she knew the drill. As a convicted felon, she鈥檚 previously needed state approval from the Department of Health and Senior Services and the Department of Mental Health to work with children and to counsel people with drug and alcohol addiction issues. She also had been appointed guardian of her intellectually disabled brother.
Fisher was fully transparent with the state, submitting to fingerprinting and sharing her full record in all of her applications. She knew that being a felon was a reason the state could 鈥 but wasn鈥檛 required to 鈥 disqualify her.
Unlike the other two agencies that approved Fisher to work with the very sorts of children she now was trying to offer a foster home to, the Children鈥檚 Division of the Department of Social Services said no. Her record was too long, they said. She was denied. The denial relied in part on a 1995 conviction that shouldn鈥檛 even show up on her record because she received a suspended imposition of sentence.
It broke her heart. Fisher knew the state had a need for foster parents, particularly post pandemic. Her record aside 鈥 her last conviction was more than 15 years ago 鈥 she can鈥檛 imagine anybody whose professional training has made them more well suited for the task of guiding children who have been removed from their homes.
鈥淕od just placed it on my heart to open my home and be a foster parent,鈥 Fisher says. 鈥淭he facts of the whole record show that I鈥檓 an amazing candidate to be a foster parent. If the state of Missouri could just communicate inter-agency, that would be great.鈥
Fisher appealed the state鈥檚 decision to a judge in St. Charles County. She represented herself in court. In April, Circuit Judge Christopher McDonough sided with the state. It wasn鈥檛 an entirely unexpected decision. The Children鈥檚 Division under state regulations had wide latitude to deny Fisher鈥檚 application.
But the key question Fisher has is one that her nonprofit clients deal with every day when it comes to employment and housing:
鈥淗ow long does a person have to continue to pay, especially for something that鈥檚 not even supposed to be on their record anymore?鈥 Fisher asks.
The answer in one state government department appears to be different than in two others. It鈥檚 an answer that haunts people leaving prison every day, wondering who will give them a second chance. Who will ask them, what do you want to do with your life?
Fisher knows her answer. She鈥檒l keep helping children, just not the ones sitting on a backlogged Children鈥檚 Division list, needing a loving foster home, from a mom who has more love to give.
Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com