State investigates
7 at Canton school
Questions raised
about licensing
By Scott Allen, Globe Staff |
June 17, 2006
State regulators yesterday launched
an investigation of seven employees of the Judge Rotenberg
Educational Center in Canton, part of a broadening inquiry into
whether the controversial school for students with special needs
has overstated its staff's qualifications to the government
agencies that pay the school more than $200,000 per year for
each child.
Already, 14 other clinicians at the
school -- the only one in the country that routinely uses
electric shock to punish misbehavior -- are facing a hearing
next month to determine whether they should face criminal
charges for calling themselves psychologists when they did not
have state licenses. School founder Matthew Israel also is under
investigation by the Board of Registration of Psychologists for
his role in supervising the unlicensed psychologists.
``We're taking this matter very
seriously and intend to investigate it vigorously," said George
Weber , director of the Division of Professional Licensure, an
agency that includes both the psychology board and the Board of
Registration of Social Workers. ``You have to have sufficient
training to engage in activities that affect families' lives."
Yesterday, the psychology board
opened investigations into two of Israel's top aides for their
role in supervising unlicensed psychologists and three more
staff members for the unlicensed practice of psychology.
Meanwhile, the social workers' board started investigations of
two other employees, one for falsely claiming to be a licensed
social worker and the other for performing services such as
psychological counseling that aren't permitted by his license.
Kenneth Mollins , lawyer for three
former Rotenberg students from New York, has asked New York's
attorney general to investigate whether the school defrauded the
state and school districts there. Mollins, who himself is suing
the state of New York for $10 million over treatment of one
Rotenberg student, argues that New York isn't getting it s
money's worth from the school.
``New York sends students based on
what they expect, and the expectation clearly had to be that
these students would be instructed by licensed psychologists,"
Mollins said. ``People came to my clients' homes with . . .
tapes that indicated some of these employees were psychologists
and would be working with their children, and that is a fraud."
Officials at the school deny that
they have misrepresented anyone's qualifications, noting that
the people who claimed to be psychologists had substantial
training in the field. They also note that they immedately
changed the title of unlicensed psychologists to the more
generic clinician after the state pointed out the mistake last
month.
``There is not one shred of evidence
that anybody did anything intentionally or anybody was
defrauded," said Michael Flammia , attorney for the school,
which is often a last resort for students with autism, mental
retardation, or emotional problems.
The broadening investigation comes
on the heels of a report on student safety from investigators in
New York, where two-thirds of the center's students come from,
that was critical of the school. The New York Education
Department found that children are often given shocks for minor
misbehavior, such as swearing, and that some students are kept
in physical restraints for long periods or denied food. The
report said staff training is insufficient, and called for the
school to make drastic changes or risk losing students from New
York. That state's education regulators are scheduled to vote
Monday on whether to sharply restrict the use of painful
punishments on students from New York.
In response to the New York
findings, two Massachusetts education agencies promised to
conduct their own investigation of conditions at the Rotenberg
school. ``There is no question that this is a very disturbing
report," said Heidi Perlman , spokeswoman for the Department of
Education, which will carry out the investigation along with the
Department of Early Education and Care.
Yesterday, Rotenberg officials fired
back with a 74-page response to New York officials that says
their report was ``completely inaccurate."
Though half the 250 students do wear
shock devices, school officials point out that the treatment is
approved in each case both by the parents and a probate court
judge and overseen by psychological consultants.
Rotenberg officials said the New
York investigators left out information showing how much the
shock treatment had helped children .
Controversy surrounding the school
has been heating up since March when a New York teenager accused
teachers of torturing him. This year, the number of abuse
complaints against the center has skyrocketed to 22.
At least three other complaints
under investigation allege that students suffered serious burns
as a result of electric shocks. Rotenberg officials say the
shocks leave only a small red mark, not a burn.
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