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Topics - MomCat

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1
Public Sector Gulags / Another child is dead
« on: May 04, 2006, 11:52:00 PM »
Kyle Young - 16 years old - died January 2004, his death is being ruled an accident, no charges will be pressed. Sound familiar? More of the same?

Sadly, the list of deaths is growing. This death occured at a courthouse in Alberta, Canada. The events surrounding this child's death are disturbing.

He was handcuffed, his legs shackled. He was being taken from one floor of the courthouse to another. There was some kind of altercation prior to the tragic accident that led to his death. A guard pushed him into the doors of an elevator, the doors opened, and he fell to his death.

Here is a link to articles and video clips or news stories.

http://caica.org/NEWS%20DEATHS%20KYLE%2 ... 20MAIN.htm

2
The Troubled Teen Industry / 2 deaths in 2 months
« on: March 31, 2006, 04:12:00 AM »
I just learned today that there were 2 deaths in 2 months at the SummitQuest facility in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

Giavinni "Joey" Alteriz, age 16, died from a prone face-down restraint.

James White, age 17, died of natural causes, according to ViaQuest. His death has been kept quiet.

SummitQuest is part of the ViaQuest programs. Does anyone know if ViaQuest is associated in any way with Vision Quest.

Articles have been added to the http://www.caica.org website. You can find the link on the front page, along with a video clip.

And here is the ViaQuest site:
http://www.vbh.cc/index.cfm

Here is a link to the preliminary review done by the Pennsylvania Protection & Advocacy, Inc.
http://caica.org/NEWS%20DEATHS%20JOEY%2 ... UPDATE.htm

[ This Message was edited by: MomCat on 2006-03-31 01:13 ][ This Message was edited by: MomCat on 2006-04-16 14:40 ]

3
The Troubled Teen Industry / Shocking
« on: March 29, 2006, 01:04:00 PM »
A debate on shock therapy:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheigh ... _full.html

It's nothing new:

USA Today Series
12-06-1995

More children undergo shock therapy
For the first time in four decades, children and adolescents are being used as subjects of significant new shock therapy studies.

The studies are being done quietly at respected schools and hospitals such as UCLA, the Mayo Clinic and the University of Michigan.

Shock therapy's use is on the rise, especially among the elderly. Children and other high-risk patients are receiving more shock as well, mostly as a treatment for severe depression.

Children still account for a small percentage of shock patients, and no national estimates exist.

But at a seminar for shock therapy doctors in May, one-third of psychiatrists raised their hands when asked if they did shock on young people.

University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist Peter Sterling, a shock opponent, calls the child studies "horrifying. . . . You're shocking a brain that is still developing."

California and Texas ban shock therapy on kids under 12. Most states permit it with approval of two psychiatrists and a parent or guardian.

Shock researchers met in Providence, R.I., in the fall of 1994 to discuss early results of the new studies, mostly unpublished.

"There's no evidence that electroconvulsive therapy affects brain development of children in any permanent way," says researcher Kathleen Logan, a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist.

"Parents and patients have been receptive in a vast majority of cases," Logan says. "We do a lot of education. We show them a video and the ECT suite. They're so desperate that they'll give it a try."

The latest child shock researchers compare their results to the pioneering work in the field: a 1947 study by psychiatrist Lauretta Bender.

Bender's study reported on 98 children (ages 3-11) shocked at Bellevue Hospital in New York. She reported a 97% success rate: "They were better controlled, seemed better integrated and more mature."

In 1950, Bender shocked a 2-year-old who had "a distressing anxiety that frequently reached a state of panic." After 20 shocks, the boy had "moderate improvement."

But in a 1954 follow-up, other researchers could not find improvement in Bender's children: "In a number of cases, parents have told the writers that the children were definitely worse," they wrote.

Today's researchers interpret Bender's study as evidence that shock works, at least temporarily.

The new studies are again reporting great success. A UCLA study had 100% success in nine adolescents. The Mayo Clinic found 65% were better. At Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, 14 who received shock spent 56% less time in the hospital than six who refused the treatment.

Ted Chabasinski, who as a 6-year-old foster child was shocked 20 times by Bender, says the research is unethical and should stop.

"It makes me sick to think children are having done to them what was done to me," says Chabasinski, a lawyer. "I've never met anyone other than myself who's functional after being shocked as a child."

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

4
The Troubled Teen Industry / What Will They Think of Next?
« on: March 27, 2006, 01:23:00 AM »
Lord, have mercy. I can't believe what people will do to children. I mean, really. This is simply disgusting. I've heard of people using shock mats to keep their pets off the furniture (someone actually suggested I use one to keep my cats from shedding on my couch - I'll vacuum the hair, thank you just the same.) And I've heard of shock collars on dogs so they won't bark (like my neighbors used on her dogs). But on children? Unbelievable!

Dispute Over Shock Therapies Has Education Officials Reconsidering
Out-Of-State Placements
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express http://www.InclusionDaily.com
March 24, 2006

ALBANY, NEW YORK--Some parents and experts say the device is a godsend.
Others consider it primitive and cruel, and say that it reminds them of "One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

The device is called a "Graduated Electronic Decelerator", or GED, and is
about the same size and shape as a backpack, and is worn much like one.
About half of the residents at the Judge Rotenberg Education Center in
Canton, Massachusetts -- most with intellectual disabilities, mental
illness, or brain injuries -- wear them 24 hours a day for what is called
"aversive therapy".

The GEDs -- which were developed at JRC and have been approved by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration -- have electrodes that are placed on specific
spots on the person's skin. When a person wearing a GED "misbehaves", JRC
staff members push a button on a remote control device to deliver an
electric jolt, which a JRC spokesperson described as feeling much like a
hard pinch of skin or a bee sting, for up to two seconds.

"It's painful," resident Katie Sparchichino told Newsday.

Rotenberg provides reports on its website showing that the devices have been
effective in getting some people to reduce "aggression and self-injury".

"It's not something someone would enjoy having done to them. That's why a
lot of kids change behaviors," explained Sparchichino. "I didn't want to get
shocked and I changed my behavior."

Without the GED, Sparchichino regressed, such as when she went home and her
mother found she could not shock her daughter.

While most experts agree that punishments are usually effective in reducing
a specific behavior, one criticism made by opponents of such pain compliance
or aversive treatments has been that the person subjected to them can start
to depend on them: Once the threat of discomfort is gone, the undesired
behavior can return, even at higher levels than before the treatment
started.

Last week, Evelyn Nicholson of Freeport, New York, announced that she is
suing her local school district for sending her 17-year-old adopted son,
Antwone, to the Rotenberg Center, formerly known as the "Behavior Research
Institute". She said that the institution's aversive therapy caused her son
emotional trauma and fear, amounting to corporal punishment, which is banned
in New York and at least 26 other states.

JRC started using the shock treatment on Antwone, who has learning
disabilities, in August of 2004, because he cursed, threw things and
attacked staff. Over the next 18 months, the GED was used on Antwone 79
times, or about once a week.

"He said, 'Mommy, you don't know how it feels. It's very painful,'" Mrs.
Nicholson recalled when describing her son's phone calls.

At her request, the facility stopped using the shock treatments on Antwone
in February. His psychologist said that without the GED the teen's
"inappropriate behavior" returned almost immediately. Last Thursday, it took
eight people to restrain Antwone after he tried to attack a staff member,
the psychologist said.

Last July, the New York lawmakers passed "Billy's Law", a measure that gives
state officials increased oversight of the treatment that more than 1,400
New York children and adults receive at out-of-state facilities. Rotenberg
currently houses about 150 youths from New York for whom their home state
could not provide adequate services.

Because of concerns over mistreatment at out-of-state facilities, New York
education officials and state lawmakers are considering ending the practice
altogether, and bringing those children and adults back to their home state.

Related:
"Mom cites trauma and fear" (Newsday)
http://www.newsday.com/ny-liantw0321,0,3279484.story
"Shock therapy disputed" (Newsday)
http://www.newsday.com/ny-lishok0321,0,4065911.story
"School defends electric shock of disabled youths" (Newsday)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/0324a.htm
"Use of Skin-Shock as an Aversive in Behavioral Treatment" (Judge Rotenberg
Educational Center)
http://www.effectivetreatment.org
"State sending more disabled students away" (Newsday)
http://www.newsday.com/ny-lishok0322,0,4131448.story
--

5
World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) / WWASP Exposed in Australia
« on: March 13, 2006, 09:19:00 AM »
Here's the article:

http://caica.org/NEWS%20WWASP%20Australia.htm

6
The Troubled Teen Industry / Parents settled out of court
« on: March 11, 2006, 01:50:00 AM »
The parents of Roberto Reyes, the boy who died at Thayer in 2004, settled their lawsuit out of court and won a hefty $1,000,000. They were scheduled for trial in June.

In my opinion, this is a case that should have gone to trial, that should have set a precedent, that should have forced the truth to come out, that should have brought attention to this death.

And Thayer gets but a slap on the wrist, really. Because it's the insurance company that's forking out $1,000,000 of the $1,050,000 settlement.

Here's the article:

15-Year-Old Died at Facility for Troubled Teens in 2004
Thayer Home to Pay $1 Million in Death
Steve Rock

Kansas City Star

March 10, 2006

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. ? More than 16 months after their son died at a northwest Missouri boarding school, Victor and Gracia Reyes settled their wrongful-death lawsuit on Thursday.

Thayer Learning Center, a home for troubled teens in Kidder, Mo., about 50 miles north of Kansas City, agreed to pay the Reyeses slightly more than $1 million. In addition, Thayer will establish a scholarship fund in memory of Roberto Reyes at Reyes? California high school.

The two sides agreed to the settlement during a 30-minute hearing in Buchanan County Circuit Court.

Neither John nor Willa Bundy, who own Thayer, were at the hearing. Neither were the Reyeses, who live in California.

A prepared statement handed out by the Reyeses? attorney after the hearing said: ?Victor and Gracia Reyes have decided to resolve their claims for the wrongful death of their son, Roberto Reyes, the terms of which address concerns the Reyeses had about health and safety, and provide for a scholarship fund to be set up in Roberto?s local community.?

It is not clear how those health and safety concerns have been addressed, and attorneys for both parties refused to answer questions.

Court files suggest $1 million of the $1,050,000 settlement will be paid by a Thayer insurer.

During the hearing, the Reyeses? attorney, James Thompson, told the judge that his clients thought the settlement was ?fair and reasonable.?

?At a jury trial,? he said, ?they realize they may have received more or may have received less.?

Roberto was 15 when he died in November 2004. He had been at Thayer for less than two weeks.

Roberto?s death has been attributed to a probable spider bite. A state child-welfare team conducted a lengthy investigation and concluded that Thayer apparently ?failed ? to provide access to appropriate medical evaluation and/or treatment? for Roberto. That report also said ?interviews and evidence also suggest significant contradictions and possible deliberate falsification of written records.?

In court records, Thayer officials denied culpability in Roberto?s death and denied altering any records.

The Reyeses filed the wrongful-death suit in February 2005 and alleged that Roberto was subjected to physical exertion and abuse that caused or contributed to his death. The lawsuit alleged that Roberto would have lived had he received competent medical care in a timely manner and that he was dragged, hit, placed into solitary confinement and ?forced to lay in his own excrement for extended periods of time.?

In court records, Thayer officials denied those and other allegations.

The lawsuit named seven defendants: Thayer, two affiliated businesses and four persons who were Thayer employees at the time of Roberto?s death.

The case file swelled almost immediately and, as of Thursday, contained hundreds of pages. It is clear from court filings that the plaintiffs were trying to establish a pattern of medical neglect at Thayer, saying in one filing that Thayer?s ?historical denial of appropriate medical care and treatment to students? would likely be the case?s ?central issue.?

Some allegations from a September 2005 filing:

A student was put in isolation with a sandbag tied or taped to each hand for approximately 11 hours. He never saw a doctor, despite deep gouges in his flesh.
After a boy drank a gallon of bleach in a suicide attempt, he was not allowed medical care.
A student had a fever of 102 degrees and then 104.7 degrees but was never taken to a doctor.
Plaintiffs? attorneys wrote: ?There can, perhaps, be no more tragic event than the failure to provide adequate care and medical treatment to minor children. Thayer engaged in such conduct before and after Roberto Reyes? death. Other incidents ? are both relative and probative of the issues in plaintiffs? petition.?

Thayer attorneys called such allegations ?sensational? and ?unsubstantiated.?

The case had been scheduled to go to trial in June.

To reach Steve Rock, call (816) 234-4338 or send e-mail to [email protected]

7
Thayer Learning Center / Parents settled out of court
« on: March 11, 2006, 01:49:00 AM »
The parents of Roberto Reyes, the boy who died at Thayer in 2004, settled their lawsuit out of court and won a hefty $1,000,000. They were scheduled for trial in June.

In my opinion, this is a case that should have gone to trial, that should have set a precedent, that should have forced the truth to come out, that should have brought attention to this death.

And Thayer gets but a slap on the wrist, really. Because it's the insurance company that's forking out $1,000,000 of the $1,050,000 settlement.

Here's the article:

15-Year-Old Died at Facility for Troubled Teens in 2004
Thayer Home to Pay $1 Million in Death
Steve Rock

Kansas City Star

March 10, 2006

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. ? More than 16 months after their son died at a northwest Missouri boarding school, Victor and Gracia Reyes settled their wrongful-death lawsuit on Thursday.

Thayer Learning Center, a home for troubled teens in Kidder, Mo., about 50 miles north of Kansas City, agreed to pay the Reyeses slightly more than $1 million. In addition, Thayer will establish a scholarship fund in memory of Roberto Reyes at Reyes? California high school.

The two sides agreed to the settlement during a 30-minute hearing in Buchanan County Circuit Court.

Neither John nor Willa Bundy, who own Thayer, were at the hearing. Neither were the Reyeses, who live in California.

A prepared statement handed out by the Reyeses? attorney after the hearing said: ?Victor and Gracia Reyes have decided to resolve their claims for the wrongful death of their son, Roberto Reyes, the terms of which address concerns the Reyeses had about health and safety, and provide for a scholarship fund to be set up in Roberto?s local community.?

It is not clear how those health and safety concerns have been addressed, and attorneys for both parties refused to answer questions.

Court files suggest $1 million of the $1,050,000 settlement will be paid by a Thayer insurer.

During the hearing, the Reyeses? attorney, James Thompson, told the judge that his clients thought the settlement was ?fair and reasonable.?

?At a jury trial,? he said, ?they realize they may have received more or may have received less.?

Roberto was 15 when he died in November 2004. He had been at Thayer for less than two weeks.

Roberto?s death has been attributed to a probable spider bite. A state child-welfare team conducted a lengthy investigation and concluded that Thayer apparently ?failed ? to provide access to appropriate medical evaluation and/or treatment? for Roberto. That report also said ?interviews and evidence also suggest significant contradictions and possible deliberate falsification of written records.?

In court records, Thayer officials denied culpability in Roberto?s death and denied altering any records.

The Reyeses filed the wrongful-death suit in February 2005 and alleged that Roberto was subjected to physical exertion and abuse that caused or contributed to his death. The lawsuit alleged that Roberto would have lived had he received competent medical care in a timely manner and that he was dragged, hit, placed into solitary confinement and ?forced to lay in his own excrement for extended periods of time.?

In court records, Thayer officials denied those and other allegations.

The lawsuit named seven defendants: Thayer, two affiliated businesses and four persons who were Thayer employees at the time of Roberto?s death.

The case file swelled almost immediately and, as of Thursday, contained hundreds of pages. It is clear from court filings that the plaintiffs were trying to establish a pattern of medical neglect at Thayer, saying in one filing that Thayer?s ?historical denial of appropriate medical care and treatment to students? would likely be the case?s ?central issue.?

Some allegations from a September 2005 filing:

A student was put in isolation with a sandbag tied or taped to each hand for approximately 11 hours. He never saw a doctor, despite deep gouges in his flesh.
After a boy drank a gallon of bleach in a suicide attempt, he was not allowed medical care.
A student had a fever of 102 degrees and then 104.7 degrees but was never taken to a doctor.
Plaintiffs? attorneys wrote: ?There can, perhaps, be no more tragic event than the failure to provide adequate care and medical treatment to minor children. Thayer engaged in such conduct before and after Roberto Reyes? death. Other incidents ? are both relative and probative of the issues in plaintiffs? petition.?

Thayer attorneys called such allegations ?sensational? and ?unsubstantiated.?

The case had been scheduled to go to trial in June.

To reach Steve Rock, call (816) 234-4338 or send e-mail to [email protected]

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