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December 8,
2006
IF YOU
ARE A PARENT WITH CONCERNS
about the
treatment of children at Bancroft, you can write to the chairman
at
asmcryan@njleg.org. According to one advocate,
New Jersey's
"special children" are in serious trouble with no sustainable
help on the horizon. Perhaps we need to let the Chairman know we
are not satisfied with the care our loved ones are receiving,
the humiliation they go through, the State's inaction, and that
we will not tolerate it.
CRITICS: Claim
hostility to families
BACKERS: Say kids are helped
Panel
probes conditions at child facility
Posted by the Asbury Park Press
BY MICHAEL RISPOLI GANNETT STATE BUREAU
mrispol@gannett.com
Summary of Committee
Meeting
Expert’s Report on Bancroft NeuroHealth
Released
 To
listen to this panel
:
Click here, scroll down
and click on "archived proceedings" in the middle of the page,
then in the middle column scroll down to "assembly human
services". Click on the link, then click on "listen" for the
December 7 committee meeting.]
A
developmental and behavioral children's facility was in the hot seat
Thursday as it looks to turn around a past
culture of neglect and failing to protect its residents.
Bancroft
NeuroHealth in Haddonfield was before the Assembly Human Services
Committee to discuss progress toward safety and staffing
improvements recommended by an independent expert's report conducted
earlier this year.
Steve
Eidelman, an expert hired by the state Office of the Child Advocate,
issued a 111-page report in November saying that while the site
complied with most standards for quality care, it also must upgrade
video monitoring policies and use of a database technology to track
"unusual incidents."
The report
also cited tension and hostility between families and the facility.
"We are
very committed to parents who feel that way," said Bancroft
president Toni Pergolin. "There are ways they can help us become a
stronger organization by working with us."
Child and
parent advocacy groups continued to criticize Bancroft's history of
disenfranchising parents and failing to make upset parents
comfortable enough to come forward with complaints.
Peg Kinsell,
policy director for the Statewide Parents Advocacy Network, said
some families were not willing to testify before the committee for
fear of endangering their children.
"That kind
of history does not just turn over in a couple of quarterly
meetings," said Kinsell. "We have to find a better way to
communicate with parents. . . . We need to make some real efforts to
facilitate those conversations and for people to feel safe around
those issues."
Members of
the committee also were alarmed by the stories from families whose
children have been abused at Bancroft.
Assemblyman
Joseph Cryan, D-Union, the committee chairman, said some of the
stories he heard were horrifying.
Parents who
were present, however, came in support of Bancroft. Several gave
emotional testimony to the committee saying how much their children
have been helped by the center.
Joe
Atkinson, a member of Bancroft's board of trustees, whose child is a
resident there, said despite problems in the past, the facility's
officials are committed to making an improvement.
"You want us as an organization to
do better. And as a father and a trustee, I want us to do better
too," said Atkinson.
Cryan said the conflicting
testimony was like night and day.
"It's something that has to be
fixed. It just cannot be on such different sides as we hear it time
and again," said Cryan.
Bancroft over the past few years
has generated concern stemming from incidents involving aggressive
and violent behavior among residents.
In 2002, following the death of a
14-year old autistic boy, the facility paid $101,500 in fines to the
state. Most recently, Benny Ward, an 18-year old resident at
Bancroft, was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old
non-verbal autistic boy in August and was arrested shortly
thereafter.
Pergolin said since the alleged
assault, Bancroft has made changes to try and prevent such an
occurrence from happening but did not give any specifics.
Michael Rispoli: mrispol@gannett.com
* * *
Summary
of Committee Meeting: The
Chairman of the Assembly Human Services committee said the topic of
the hearing was Steve Eidelman's Monitor Report which covered only
the Lindens and Pediatric Campus at Bancroft for a 6-month period.
Most of the families who testified in favor of Bancroft were parents
of high-functioning adults in the group homes. The question arose:
Why did the Chairman allow all these people to testify "off the
topic?"
To
listen to this panel
click
here
While some
parents came forward with positive comments about Bancroft,
advocates came forward for parents who could not speak for
themselves. They were afraid of retaliation. The Chairman voiced his
concerns that parents are fearful to come forward and urges parents
to have their voices heard. Parents fear retaliation to their
children who are still at Bancroft, and some of which are not.
One mother
came forward and said her son was well cared for at Bancroft and
that it was her observation that children less fortunate than others
were treated well by staff who at times took them home for holidays
when their own parents could not.
Another mother
felt when problems arise the best solution is to discuss them. She
feels Bancroft is a family to her. She went on to say that when you
grow up in a family your perspective can be different. She can talk
to her sister about their parents and how they were brought up. It's
amazing, she said, "it's like we grew up in a different house." She
likened it to Bancroft saying people can all be from the same group
home and have a different observation than others with the staff.
She believes these differences are positive and that they bring
better perspective when you work as a team. Her son is 42 years old.
The mother of
an autistic boy said he was sent to Bancroft after injuring his
parents when he was 19-years old. She said her son leads a
productive life at Bancroft, holding down three jobs there,
including school guard and working in the kitchen.
The mother of
a 21-year old autistic and bipolar son said he has been at Bancroft
since age 10. He works at Bancroft and participates in clubs. She
said imagine if we could all work together, imagine the difference
we could make in the lives of these individuals.
The father of
a daughter who has been a resident of Bancroft for 7 years said he
believes no human being should be prevented from living a fulfilling
life because of a disability. He joined the Bancroft board in 2004,
chairing the finance committee and now serving as vice-chairman on
the board. His daughter was place at Bancroft because she was a
threat to herself and others.
An advocate
from the Family Alliance talked about the June 2006 rape at
Bancroft.
She asked
these questions:
-
Where were the
staff? Where were the staff?
-Why were
three low-functioning, non-verbal children left alone in a room with
a high-function sexually active young man?
She went on to
say that Bancroft failed to report this latest sexual assault. She
reminded people this is not an isolated incident;
there is a history of multiple sexual assaults at Bancroft. She said
shame on the state of
New Jersey
for allowing kids to be put in harms way. Bancroft is not doing
their job to protect the children, she said. The child who assaulted
the other children may go to prison for 20 years. The Family
Alliance believes staff should be trained and managed diligently.
They should have a career path and be well compensated for their
work. She raised the issues of families who were not there because
they were afraid to speak publicly. Members of committees confirm
there are many families like that out there. Bancroft cannot
continue to ignore these problems, she said. Lastly, she voiced her
dismay in the Monitor’s report that stated,
“a residential institution is not a family home and cannot replace
the atmosphere of a true home. Caring for a large group of children
requires rules and regulations. Family homes have a right to expect
clinical therapeutic services. However", she said, "they cannot
expect an institution to be the same as a family." She said she was
absolutely "blown out of the water" that Steve Eidelman could put
this in the report. The message many parents will get from this is
an institution is an institution;
don't expect much out of it.
 Another
advocate brought up the issue of Matthew Goodwin's death;
reminding everyone there that Bancroft is being evaluated. She
pointed out that there is a great deal of tension between families
who are pointing fingers and placing blame. This is not productive.
She said families were rising to the level of disrespect and the
tension was blamed on the parents. However, she said parents call
her when things are not well. Parents with concerns wanted and
needed a forum where they felt they were safe. Parents also assume
when placing their child in an institution that their child will be
safe and well cared for. She believes there needs to be a better
avenue for investigations and a way to speak with parents who are
disenfranchised.
Matthew Goodman - Spent 16 months on the
floor
in mechanical restraints
(click
here)
There is a
huge history of parents who have had complaints. That type of
history does not end because of a couple quarterly meetings. People
need to feel safe. She indicated she would be willing to help
accomplish this. She heard parents who talked about food restriction
and brought up the fact aversives are still used at Bancroft. There
exists a list of what behaviors and actions constitute abuse UNLESS
the behaviors and actions are part of a treatment plan. Parents, she
said, have been forced to sign off on treatment plans for their
children that they were not comfortable with. They felt they had no
alternatives but to keep their child in Bancroft's care. She
reminded us of the recent sexual assault, reminding us that not only
was the child assaulted a victim but the child who abused him will
now be a victim of another system. The family of the child who
sexually assaulted the boy was destroyed as well.
The question
was asked: Where are the parents who have concerns? How do we get
them to open up and talk in a safe
environment? There is concern about the people who are afraid to
speak out and a need to communicate with them so everyone can be on
the same page. There is a need to find a way to address their
concerns.
Another family
was scheduled to join advocates today but this parent was so afraid
of reprisal that she had been up all night without sleep and
vomiting. She was not physically able to attend the meeting. One
advocate said she has worked in many adversarial situations and
never has she seen a parent brought to such a condition.
The closing
statements were a desire to facilitate parents coming forward in a
comfortable setting and that the committee should take these
concerns very seriously.
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