When he turned 21 last year, Cuevas' former foster family asked him to leave their Toano home because he had become an adult and because they had other children to raise.

But he isn't entirely on his own. A year before he moved, Cuevas began working for a York County family who hired him at their T-shirt and sweatshirt business through a state program that finds jobs for the disabled.

The York family, the Elders, grew attached to Cuevas, and they've become a surrogate family, taking up sign language, they said, to enter his isolated world. But they're frustrated because Cuevas needs help, and they don't know where to turn.

"Luis has no one else in the world," said Geri Elder, who hired him at Colonial Sports Custom Screen Printing and Embroidery. "He does not get any state help."

Cuevas has no relatives he can rely on. He said through an interpreter that social workers took him and his five siblings from their birth parents when he was 4 or 5. The Elders have sought help for Cuevas through various state agencies, but they haven't gotten anywhere.

For more than a month, they have been trying to help Cuevas get a new driver's license. A James City police officer took his previous license in early December when he stopped Cuevas for speeding, Elder said, because Cuevas had a three-year-old unresolved reckless driving charge, which was also a result of speeding.

For Cuevas to get a new Virginia license, he needs the birth certificate. Cuevas was born in New Jersey, according to one document the family has, but he doesn't know his mother's maiden name, and the state of New Jersey requires that information before they will agree to send him a birth certificate. The Elders have contacted the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and they've tried to request a copy of Cuevas' birth certificate through New Jersey's online services, they said. But the family can't get anywhere without Cuevas' mother's maiden name.

Elder said she feels ready to give up. "It's very, very frustrating at this point," she said Friday. "If (Cuevas) ever gets stopped for identification, he has no identification. He still can't drive anywhere. He can't go anywhere."

Elder called Cuevas' natural father in the state of Washington but he couldn't remember Cuevas' mother's maiden name, she said. Cuevas' father is remarried and has other children. He didn't return calls from the Daily Press.

When a reporter made numerous calls to various agencies in New Jersey, a spokesperson from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services said Cuevas must make his case before a judge. A court order from the judge should be sent to the New Jersey Registrar of Vital Statistics. The order should give the reason Cuevas needs his birth certificate and vouch for his identity, said Gretchen Michael, a spokeswoman from the New Jersey Department of Health. Cuevas should also have a letter explaining his situation and attach copies of school records or foster care records that could help identify him. Elder said an attorney told her getting the court order would be nearly impossible. "I could easily say this is not my problem," she said. "But who would employ him?"

Cuevas, she said, is such a nice person and an excellent worker that she felt obligated to step in when no one else would.

"He's a just a good kid," she said. "Luis is a vital part of our business. My son (Ryan) has, like, adopted him." Cuevas always shows up to his job on time and works very hard - longer than the required eight hours a day, she said.

After police took Cuevas' driver's license, the Elders would bring him to work every day and take him back home at night.

When the trip became too time-consuming, they helped him find an apartment in Williamsburg so he could walk to work.

Elder said they've paid for his car repairs and that Geri Elder's son, Ryan Elder, who also works in the business, has become a good friend of Cuevas'.

Ryan Elder said he learned sign language because he didn't want Cuevas to feel cut off. "I didn't want Luis to feel different because others can talk and he's just sitting there," he said. Learning sign language has helped Ryan Elder enter Cuevas' world, he said.

Cuevas, a bright-eyed, slender man talked a bit about his life, with Ryan Elder interpreting one recent morning after taking a break from work. "My life's a little hard," Cuevas said. "There's a lot of money I have to worry about. "

Cuevas said he never understood why his family was broken apart. But he remembers standing outside his Petersburg home when he was a little boy and seeing police cars show up and take his mother away in handcuffs. Social workers put his brothers and sisters up for adoption, he said.

He recalls that his parents were good to them but that the family moved a lot.

The first two foster families he lived with treated him as if didn't have a disability. "They all assumed I wasn't deaf," he said. "They'd yell at me and get angry. They were mean people."

He said none of the families tried to learn to sign. But his foster father in Toano was also deaf and knew sign language.

Cuevas said he hasn't talked to his father for two years, since his father sent some money for Christmas.

He hasn't answered messages he sent.

He said one of his brothers lives in Richmond but that brother has drug problems. Cuevas wonders how his two sisters are doing.

When asked what he needs, Cuevas' answer was simple and direct.

"I need care," he said. Geri Elder said hopes he gets it. "He's really struggling to survive."

By Keith Rushing
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-53718sy0jan28,0,6494759.story?coll=dp-news-local-final