Delinquent: Its easy to blame parents, but that doesnt help kids like Lamar, who end up cycling [Video]

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Lamar was 13 when, he says, his mother told him she didn’t want him anymore.

The neglect started long before.

Growing up in Cleveland’s Stockyards neighborhood, Lamar remembers many visits by social workers questioning his care. When he was 3, his daycare called police about bruising that stretched from his head to leg. Lamar told officers his mother’s boyfriend picked him up and threw him to the floor.

As he grew, Lamar watched his mother’s boyfriends beat her, too, he says. He never knew his father’s name. He witnessed his first shooting at 10.

After he turned 13, the chaotic home life drew the court’s attention, resulting in a charge of unruly behavior and introducing him to the justice system. Around that time, he became a habitual runaway. Police responded to at least 22 missing person calls, mostly initiated by his mother.

Through it all, Lamar never considered that his mother might …