http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...s-students/21971406+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
It is a major victory for the only school in the country that uses painful electric shocks on its disabled students.
A Bristol County Probate and Family Court judge has sided with the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, allowing the school to continue administering electric skin shocks.
The administration of former Gov. Deval Patrick tried to put a stop to the practice, which is known as an aversive treatment, in 2013, months after video surfaced of 18-year-old Andre McCollins receiving dozens of electric skin shocks at the center in 2002.
But Bristol Probate and Family Court Judge Katherine Field denied the motion in a ruling that came after a 44-day evidentiary hearing that ended in October 2016.
“(The state) failed to demonstrate that there is now a professional consensus that the Level III aversive treatment used at JRC does not conform to the accepted standard of care for treating individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities," Field wrote in her June 20 ruling.
The decision was hailed by parents with students at the Judge Rotenberg Center, where 58 students were approved to receive electric skin shocks as of August 2017.
“As parents whose children attend and received treatment at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) we welcome the court’s ruling and repudiation of Massachusetts government officials at the Department of Developmental Service (DDS), who acted in bad faith and impermissibly made treatment decisions for JRC Clients - our children, just as officials within the agency had done in the 1980s and 1990s,” reads a statement from the JRC Parents Group.
Massachusetts Health & Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders must now decide whether to appeal.
“Obviously it’s controversial, but there is a use of aversives in the commonwealth under probate court and I obviously need to review all the findings and determine whether we accept the judgment or, in fact, whether we appeal,” said Sudders.
Sudders sidestepped a question about whether the Baker administration views the Judge Rotenberg Center's use of electric shocks differently than the Patrick administration, but said that aversive treatments can be effective.
"I think the use of aversives in very controlled environments for individuals who are extraordinarily high risk of harm to themselves or others -- in a very controlled environment, there is evidence that it can interrupt the negative behavior in order for you to introduce positives," said Sudders.
The Massachusetts decision may not matter if the Food and Drug Administration acts on its 2016 proposal to ban the electric shock devices at JRC. The FDA said it's still reviewing comments on the proposed ban.
As for the Massachusetts ruling, the state should decide in the next 30 days whether it will appeal the judge's decision.
Here is the full statement from the JRC Parents Group:
“As parents whose children attend and received treatment at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) we welcome the court’s ruling and repudiation of Massachusetts government officials at the Department of Developmental Service (DDS), who acted in bad faith and impermissibly made treatment decisions for JRC Clients - our children, just as officials within the agency had done in the 1980s and 1990s. The court’s decision admonished DDS for interfering with and ultimately taking over what was supposed to be an independent certification review of JRC, for altering the certification report, and for removing favorable findings supporting JRC’s work with our children. We are gratified that there was acknowledgment from current scientific literature, DDS psychologists, national experts, psychologists involved in DDS’s Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) Advisory Subcommittee and from national professional organizations, that aversive interventions have been an accepted part of behavioral interventions for individuals with violent or self-injurious behaviors and are necessary for some patients. As parents, making the decision to use aversive treatments comes after all else has failed our children, there was comfort in hearing the court and all these experts say what we already know from seeing the way this treatment improved our children’s quality of life. No one loves our children more than we do; we have tried and continue to try everything available to them. including positive behavior therapies and psychotropic medications to help our children, but as the Court found - there is no evidence that any alternative treatment would be effective to treat our children and keep them safe. We hope this decision and uncovering the State’s subterfuge that took place to discredit the school and its good work will open a new chapter where public commentary will recognize the need and value of this critically important treatment for the survival of our children.”
It is a major victory for the only school in the country that uses painful electric shocks on its disabled students.
A Bristol County Probate and Family Court judge has sided with the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, allowing the school to continue administering electric skin shocks.
The administration of former Gov. Deval Patrick tried to put a stop to the practice, which is known as an aversive treatment, in 2013, months after video surfaced of 18-year-old Andre McCollins receiving dozens of electric skin shocks at the center in 2002.
But Bristol Probate and Family Court Judge Katherine Field denied the motion in a ruling that came after a 44-day evidentiary hearing that ended in October 2016.
“(The state) failed to demonstrate that there is now a professional consensus that the Level III aversive treatment used at JRC does not conform to the accepted standard of care for treating individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities," Field wrote in her June 20 ruling.
The decision was hailed by parents with students at the Judge Rotenberg Center, where 58 students were approved to receive electric skin shocks as of August 2017.
“As parents whose children attend and received treatment at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) we welcome the court’s ruling and repudiation of Massachusetts government officials at the Department of Developmental Service (DDS), who acted in bad faith and impermissibly made treatment decisions for JRC Clients - our children, just as officials within the agency had done in the 1980s and 1990s,” reads a statement from the JRC Parents Group.
Massachusetts Health & Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders must now decide whether to appeal.
“Obviously it’s controversial, but there is a use of aversives in the commonwealth under probate court and I obviously need to review all the findings and determine whether we accept the judgment or, in fact, whether we appeal,” said Sudders.
Sudders sidestepped a question about whether the Baker administration views the Judge Rotenberg Center's use of electric shocks differently than the Patrick administration, but said that aversive treatments can be effective.
"I think the use of aversives in very controlled environments for individuals who are extraordinarily high risk of harm to themselves or others -- in a very controlled environment, there is evidence that it can interrupt the negative behavior in order for you to introduce positives," said Sudders.
The Massachusetts decision may not matter if the Food and Drug Administration acts on its 2016 proposal to ban the electric shock devices at JRC. The FDA said it's still reviewing comments on the proposed ban.
As for the Massachusetts ruling, the state should decide in the next 30 days whether it will appeal the judge's decision.
Here is the full statement from the JRC Parents Group:
“As parents whose children attend and received treatment at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) we welcome the court’s ruling and repudiation of Massachusetts government officials at the Department of Developmental Service (DDS), who acted in bad faith and impermissibly made treatment decisions for JRC Clients - our children, just as officials within the agency had done in the 1980s and 1990s. The court’s decision admonished DDS for interfering with and ultimately taking over what was supposed to be an independent certification review of JRC, for altering the certification report, and for removing favorable findings supporting JRC’s work with our children. We are gratified that there was acknowledgment from current scientific literature, DDS psychologists, national experts, psychologists involved in DDS’s Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) Advisory Subcommittee and from national professional organizations, that aversive interventions have been an accepted part of behavioral interventions for individuals with violent or self-injurious behaviors and are necessary for some patients. As parents, making the decision to use aversive treatments comes after all else has failed our children, there was comfort in hearing the court and all these experts say what we already know from seeing the way this treatment improved our children’s quality of life. No one loves our children more than we do; we have tried and continue to try everything available to them. including positive behavior therapies and psychotropic medications to help our children, but as the Court found - there is no evidence that any alternative treatment would be effective to treat our children and keep them safe. We hope this decision and uncovering the State’s subterfuge that took place to discredit the school and its good work will open a new chapter where public commentary will recognize the need and value of this critically important treatment for the survival of our children.”
