Dosha ‘DJay’ Joi spent his life helping youth from foster system
Dosha “DJay” Joi was like a son to Congresswoman Gwen Moore.
The two first met last year, when he shadowed her at the U.S. Capitol as part of a program for foster youth. Back home in Milwaukee, they became close, with Joi spending Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations with Moore’s family.
When Moore’s disabled brother needed help setting up a new smartphone and tablet, Joi went with her to her brother’s assisted living facility.
After Joi set up the technology, he noticed the state of the bathroom. He complained to the custodian, then took action.
“He grabbed some gloves off their cart and cleaned the toilet,” Moore said Wednesday.
Joi, who grew up in foster care and later worked to improve the lives of young people in the system through volunteer work and advocacy, died May 14 of complications related to COVID-19. He was 28.
“He was just light,” Moore said. “He was assertive and confident and focused, and he was just the poster child for a good outcome for a foster youth.”
On Friday, Moore and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, introduced the Dosha Joi Immediate Coverage for Former Foster Youth Act.
A clarification to the federal law governing Medicaid, which would allow eligible former foster youth access to the health care program until age 26, was set to take effect in January 2023. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Moore and Bass want to move up that date in Joi’s honor, Moore said.
Dedicated to helping others
Laura Wojciuk met Joi 10 years ago while she was serving as an adviser for the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council, a group of current and former foster kids who work with government to improve the child welfare system. The more advocacy work Joi did, the more he thrived, she said. She saw him grow from a shy teen who didn’t show emotion into an ambitious young man determined to help others.
“He tried to get other youth connected. He was really good at that,” Wojciuk said. “He was like the core of everything. He loved people. He wanted to see things get better.”
Joi succeeded in that goal on both an individual and a systemic level.
Daniel Rembert, 26, also grew up in foster care. He said he could always count on Joi.
“Whenever I was at my lowest point, he would come over and talk to me, help me through my depression,” Rembert said. “He always had your back when you needed him. He never let you down.”
Joi did the same for Jameelah Love,
29. The two met 10 years ago when a social service agency for young adults who have aged out of foster care placed them in the same apartment building.
“He’ll reach out to you and check on you and make sure you’re OK,” she said. “I thought that was cool. It felt good to have somebody reach out to me, let me know that they cooked some dinner, if you want a plate, come on up.”
Love introduced Joi to advocacy work. Together, they advised a state Assembly task force on foster care. They also helped train foster parents.
“He tried to inspire them for this role. He loved to tell stories about how his foster parents made tremendous longterm positive impacts on him,” she said.
On the legislative side, Joi was part of a group that successfully lobbied for a law that allows young people eligible for special education to remain in foster care until age 21 rather than aging out at
18.
Joi also testified on behalf of a change in state law that eliminated work permits for 16- and 17-year-olds. A parent had to sign the application for a permit, which made it impossible for foster youths who were not in touch with their biological parents to get jobs. Both he and Wojciuk were there when then-Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill, she said.
Joi also fought for the addition of the “reasonable and prudent parent standard” to Wisconsin child welfare law. The change cut through red tape and allowed foster parents to grant permission for children in their care to participate in everyday activities such as going to school dances, getting haircuts and staying overnight with friends, according to Wojciuk.
An advocate for change
Joi advocated for numerous other proposals at both the state and federal level, Wojciuk and Moore said. In addition to fighting for foster youth, Joi, who identified as queer, also championed greater rights for the LGBTQ community.
“He knew about his efficacy and his importance and his purpose,” Moore said. “I get lobbied and lobbied and lobbied by the best of them. He knew his facts and gave instant feedback. If you wanted to know something, he would have the answer that day.”
For more than four years, Joi had been volunteering as a Court Appointed Special Advocate, commonly known as a CASA. In that role, he worked with children in the child welfare system, attending court hearings with them and making recommendations to judges.
Last month, he was honored by Kids Matter Inc. the nonprofit organization that trained him as a CASA. As part of that recognition, Joi participated in a question-and-answer session for the group’s newsletter.
“I like being the person that asks them what they want,” he said of his work with children in the system. “It’s the moment when the kid goes, ‘Wow, somebody cares, someone is listening.’ You keep everybody silent and allow that youth to have the floor. When you see that frown turn into a spark, all of a sudden, they’re sitting up in their chair and telling us what they need. … That reaction changes everything, and that’s what I live for.”
Goals cut short
Joi maintained a relationship with his mother, Kecha Kitchens, who told the Journal Sentinel her struggles with addiction were the reason for his out-ofhome placements.
Kitchens, along with Wojciuk and other advocates, attended Joi’s graduation from Springfield College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in human services with minors in addiction studies and domestic violence prevention.
“It was such a big dream of his even to be able to get into college,” Kitchens said. “It was a very exciting moment.”
Joi’s next goal was to become a psychiatric nurse, helping to ensure children and youth with mental illnesses aren’t overmedicated.
“There are some kids who are zoned out like zombies and they shouldn’t be,” he said in the Kids Matter newsletter. “Those are the kids we don’t hear from, those are the kids we don’t see. … Those are the kids who have health issues caused by overmedication.”
The first step on that path was becoming a certified nursing assistant. Moore helped Joi through the licensure process even though she was concerned that his health problems, which included diabetes and high blood pressure, might expose him to increased risk on the job. But there was nothing she could say to convince him working in the health care field might not be a good idea.
“He must have contracted it from that work environment,” she said of the coronavirus infection that took his life. “But I can’t escape the pride that I have in him pursuing his dream. You’ve got to live your passion. He exemplified that.”
The National Youth Foster Institute is planning a virtual memorial for Joi. Details can be found on its website at www.nfyi.org/statement-from-nfyion-the-passing-of-dosha-joi/.