(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) The Massachusetts Legislature has rightly drawn criticism for getting little accomplished in the past year, and the following is yet another example of that apparent failure to go ahead and just do the … [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...]
Family and guardian rights bill gathering momentum
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) After years of being stalled in the state Legislature, a bill that would boost the guardianship rights of family members of the developmentally disabled appears to have a chance of passage. The bill … [Read more...]
Guardian rights bill would help families caught in the DDS-probate system
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) As we have chronicled a number of times, family members can get shut out of the process when their loved ones with developmental disabilities enter the state's system of residential care. This is … [Read more...]
Two lawmakers support an independent evaluation of Andy McDonald
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) More than a year ago, we asked for an independent clinical evaluation of a now 47-year-old intellectually disabled man, who has not been permitted to visit his parents in their Sherborn home for the … [Read more...]
‘Real Lives’ bill is now law, but it raises many questions
(Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog) The 'Real Lives' bill is now law, and it is somewhat better than the vehicle it was in danger of becoming for the financial benefit of corporate providers to the Department of Developmental … [Read more...]
Parents prohibited from even discussing a visit home with their son
[Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog] When Stanley and Ellen McDonald tried to share and discuss a COFAR Blog post with their son, Andy, during a visit to his group home on June 22, the residential manager told them to stop, or their visit … [Read more...]
A birthday celebration for a man who can’t return home
[Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog] [Note: This is one of a number of cases we have reviewed in which the state, courts, and providers have acted to reduce and even eliminate contact by family members with their loved ones with … [Read more...]
Pelletier case reversal shows gov’s power to affect guardianship cases
[Cross-posted from The COFAR Blog] The Patrick administration has dramatically reversed itself in the Justina Pelletier case, and asked a judge to reunite her with her family, The Globe reported this week. I think this reversal shows … [Read more...]
Are we a police state yet?
A judge's decision this week to award permanent custody of Justina Pelletier to the state scares me. This is the teenager who spent nearly a year in a locked ward in Boston Children's Hospital after doctors there disagreed with the … [Read more...]