(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blogsite) (Update: The Essex County District Attorney’s Office confirmed this morning (October 26) that they have opened a criminal investigation into this matter.) As The Salem News reported this morning … [Read more...]
Developmentally disabled man nearly dies after group home fails to respond to severe food aspiration symptoms
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blogsite) Yianni Baglaneas, who has Down syndrome, had a great time at a Special Olympics bowling tournament in Peabody on April 9, the day after his 29th birthday. But later that night in his group home, … [Read more...]
Court statements show DDS employees held a bias against family members seeking to visit Chelsea Barr
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blogsite) In statements made in a probate court hearing last year, an attorney for the Department of Developmental Services and two other DDS employees appeared to demonstrate a bias against the father and … [Read more...]
Father and sister banned from all contact with developmentally disabled woman because they cried when they saw her
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blogsite) Can it really happen in America that the state can take an individual into its custody, and then not even let that person’s family know where she or he is, for months on end? Yes, that is … [Read more...]
Proposed changes to DDS behavioral and restraints regs would subtract protections, add vagueness
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) The Baker administration is proposing major changes to regulations governing behavior modification techniques and restraints that are used on persons with developmental disabilities. The Department … [Read more...]
Limited federal IG probe faults state’s reporting on group home abuse in MA
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blogsite) In one of the few investigations of the community-based system of care for the developmentally disabled, the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last week … [Read more...]
DPPC and other programs for the developmentally disabled to get little or no increases next year
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blogsite) Last week’s House budget debate on the Fiscal 2017 state budget showed just how little, in the way of funding increases, programs for the developmentally disabled will get next year. In that … [Read more...]
Committee quietly changes bill to train health care professionals in dealing with developmentally disabled persons
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) The Massachusetts Legislature already has a reputation for a lack of transparency in the way it does business; and a case involving a bill that would provide training for medical personnel in dealing … [Read more...]
We shouldn’t criminalize intellectual disability
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) When people with intellectual disabilities commit assaults or other violent crimes, our response should not be to race to lock them up. That, however, appears to be the intent of the Bristol County … [Read more...]
Andy and Stan McDonald gain a small victory in a system that has been pitted against them
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) In a Middlesex County Probate Court hearing last Monday (October 26), Andy McDonald, an intellectually disabled man, finally got the opportunity to tell a judge his long-sought wish -- that he be … [Read more...]