A pattern seems to be emerging from my relentless attempts to hold Vermont Human Services, specifically The Department of Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) and the local designated human services agency, specifically Northeast Kingdom Human Services accountable for gross systematic abuse and reckless endangerment of a vulnerable adult, Bill Bennett.
Under the Vermont Statutes that civilly Commit Bill to the “Care and Custody” of the Department of Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) The Commissioner, Dr. Susan Wehry of DAIL is responsible to provide Bennett with “Individualized Treatment” based on Bill’s disability and provides for his well-being.
Attorney’s for the Commissioner, Dr Susan Wehry, upon reports of abuse have instantly reacted against the Guardian instead of the offending parties. I can confidently say “offending” parties because as I said, a clear pattern has emerged as a result of investigations into the reports of abuse.
Claims made by Attorney’s for Vermont Human Services and Northeast Kingdom Human Services (NKHS) that the Mother is interfering and preventing Bill from receiving appropriate individualized “care and habilitation” seem laughable in light of the following investigations.
After repeated reports to APS an investigation resulted in the State finding many violations against the Safe choices Lowell House where Bill Bennett was placed by the Commissioner. Reports made directly to the Commissioner were ignored but an investigation by the State Licensing for Care Facilities turned up many violations which were directly related to my Complaints. See full Report http://www.scribd.com/doc/81206732/Safe-Choices-Lowell-House-120911
The first retaliatory acts from Vermont Human Services began in 2011 immediately after Bill Bennett hired an attorney to help fight for his freedom:
On Feb. 23, 2011, Bill Bennett reported being picked up, thrown on a bed and held down by a home care provider after he asked to use the phone to call his attorney. I made a Report to Disability Rights Vermont. Reports to APS were also made but that agency would not make a copy of the investigation available and made no findings of Abuse, which is in stark contrast to the DRV findings, which are as follows:
The evidence appears to support a finding that Home Care Provider #2 did hold Bill on the bed unnecessarily as other options,
such as allowing personal space, were available and could have been implemented without harm to any party or property.
Home Care Provider #2 could have given Bill distance and space at that time but instead chose to impose more confrontation on the situation. the use of restraint on the bed was more likely than not an effort on the part of Home Care Provider #2 to intimidate and
place Bill in fear in order to reassert control and express Home Care Provider #2’s frustration over the day’s events.
According to the Behavior Support Guidelines published by DAIL and dated October 2004, “[Th]e following types of restraint are
prohibited under any circumstances…Restraints that have the individual lying on the ground or in a bed with a worker on top of
the individual.”
Despite the fact that Home Care Provider #1 was the contracted home provider, SAS knowingly supported her in not complying with
the requirements laid out in their Contract for Services.
To Read full DRV Report http://www.scribd.com/doc/56888199/Disability-Rights-Vermont-Investigation-into-Abuse-By-Home-Care-Providers
Despite the fact that DAIL is aware of these findings and violations of their service providers they continue to attack me, the Mother, even going so far as blaming me for all their problems. In a recent document sent to the Caledonia Court where Bennett’s Annual Review should take place but is now a full year overdue! DAIL asserts that the “Mother’s inability to work respectfully with providers” is the source of all Bill’s mistreatment, providers found by investigating Agencies to be Negligent, Incompetent and in violation of the many State Regulations.
MOTHER BEAR
Safe Choices Abuse Reports 
Safe choices is changin’ its name? Well, as was written by the bard of avon, and spoken by Juliet:
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet”- Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II, Capulet’s Orchard….. It is the same for that vile money $$$$$$$ machine, safe choices…. let’s say they call it a nice french name like ” la choix safe”… well, um, “that which we call a pile of shit by any other name would still smell like shit”… kinda like trying to cover up skunk stench with cheap perfume , it just doesn’t work!
From what I have heard, this blog has forced NKHS to rename the “Safe Choices” program. It’s still run by the same perverted, uneducated criminals but a message is getting thru. When the current board of directors, along with the management staff and their bootlickers, has been sent packing, the entire agency might enjoy a renaissance and do what was intended. Serve the area’s needy.
Really, i mean REALLY. Marie are you blinkered to the fact that Bill is not the victim here. Are you even remotely aware that the real victim is the one Bill offended AGAINST? Thats right, NKHS were not looking for him, they do not roam the streets looking for recruits. They were tasked with the duty and obligation for keeping Bill and the community SAFE. The state is not a puppy mill looking to make a dime off vunerable individuals as you wish the “very few readers” to believe.. What if it was your child who was victimized?
Thankfully most people side with the work and dedication of NKHS. As a parent i am more than happy to know Bill is being cared for and supervised. Of course mom wants to bury her head in the sand, i understand that, it must be hard knowing other people are doing her job as a parent, serogate, respite, whatever the definition might be!
All the history lessons in the world should not distract from the simple fact that people are doing what they are required to do for Bill. This is not about the holocaust, hatred or abuse. Do not go there, it really has no validity.
If you know Bill’s mother, sit her down, talk with her, help her see reason. Its obvious to the rest of us. she might even save the tax payers a few $$$’s in legal fee’s. This whole legal issue has probably far exceed the $ amount that costs to provide safety for Bill.
Your skills should be directed to more meaningful cause.
Really Mr. May, Really, are you even remotely aware that Bill has never been convicted of Offending anyone? Or are you of the belief that being accused is enough to deny someone freedom? Are you even remotely aware that NKHS took my son with no court order, before any court order or condition of release gave them the authority to do so. You are in favor of kidnapping? Are you even remotely aware that NKHS had a vested interest in preventing a trial which would have spotlighted their negligence and ignorance most likely ending in a lawsuit against them? Are you the judge and jury Mr. May?
Even if you were of the opinion my son is guilty of a crime, do you not believe that all Americans are entitled to a fair trial or are you of the Lynch em first ask questions later, philosophy? Maybe all those black folks had their heads in the sand too? The civil liberties they fought and died for are the same rights my son is being deprived of by Americans like you.
My son has been in this community for his whole life, educators, psychologists, prosecutors, police officers, parole officers, attorney’s, neighbors, school mates, Bill’s employers, AND SEVERAL FORMER EMPLOYEES OF NKHS have all spoken up through letters to the editor, the courts and my blog to say no, Bill is not dangerous, the system is the danger to all our safety.
“Mom” has never had her head in the sand and Nobody is doing my job, which is called “Parenting”, not surrogate parenting or respite or home care. It was MOM who asked NKHS for help so long ago because my son was being sexually abused and if the psychologist and owner of Safe Choices Inc. had provided my son with the individual sessions we repeatedly asked for, he would have known this. Instead, he through him in his “sex offender group” where he gets the most bang for his buck. This was long before Bill was accused of a crime.
I hope Mr. May, that you are not in the Human Services field, for the sake of all our children. But my guess is you are either one of, attorney for or a relative of the real pervs and perps.
I will post your comment Mr. May, to show your ignorance.
How many times do we as a society forget the lessons of the holocaust? It is so easy to slip into apathy and complacency.The holocaust started with hate. Pure, simple, hatred. The Nazis were treating Jews differently– first mocking them, then publicly branding them, then publicly humiliating them. The weapon of choice( at first) was public sentiment. Nazis played on society’s lowest emotional common denominators. Jews were “different” and undeserving of
equal treatment. The Jews were demonized– and dehumanized. Jews were isolated from the rest of society into ghettos– the Nazis knew where they were — easier to kill them when their number was up. Men and women were forced to wear armbands. Men were branded with the name “David”– no matter what there real names were— and women were branded with the name ” Sarah”.They were the “boogie man”– blamed for all of society’s woes. Jews became the scapegoat for all that was wrong in German society. The Nazi’s fed on society’s irrational fears. Jews were ” evil money hungry pigs” etc.Jewish children were chased down the street, to the yells of ” Jew! Jew!” while German children– who learned hatred from their parents– threw rocks at them.
Within a few short years, the public mocking and humiliation morphed into Gestapo action. Jews– at random– were brutally beaten to death on the street by Gestapo. Jews were the subject of gruesome “scientific experiments”– treated like guinea pigs. Jews were rounded up and made to do jumping jacks, push ups, and excercise in public- -whether they were healthy or not– the public watched and laughed as the sick and old struggled to jump up and down– these unlucky ones were shot on the spot. Jews, of all ages, economic backgrounds, walks of life, the sick, the healthy, the rich, the poor– were rounded up in the dead of night and herded like cattle into cattle cars and shipped en masse, and slaughtered en masse. At first they were forced to dig their own graves, then marched to the edge of the grave, then rows and rows of Jews were mowed down by machine guns. Then came travelling “gas chamber” trucks, which could kill a few hundred people a day. But this was all too slow for the Nazis.The result was the Final Solution– death camps that could kill thousands of nameless victims a day, adding up to millions murdered in a few short years. This was human liquidation. This happened SIX MILLION TIMES. Yes, some Germans cared, and some were able to help save lives– but most Germans stood by silently, and did NOTHING. It was not just Jews that were killed- -it was anyone who was
” different”. Gypsies. Homosexuals. The mentally ill. The mentally retarded.The physically handcapped.These grounds were all “deficient”.The Germans wanted a pure, master race for their thousand year Reich, so their country had to be “cleansed” of the “inferior” members of society.
So what , you ask is the connection to Bill Bennett? Bill has been dehumanized by the State and NKHS. Bill is the “boogie man”. Bill has been branded as “mentally retarded”. Bill has been branded a “sex offender”.Bill has been branded as “incompetent” He is being branded as DIFFERENT. He has been branded as dangerous to all the rest of “us”
( Whoever that is…??). With branding comes isolation– he has been isolated from al the rest of us. With zero scientific basis ,and zero justifiication from a licensed pyschologist, and zero emperical evidence that Bill is any kind of threat to anyone–Bill is prohibited to go places that other people freely go to. He is not allowed to do anything by himself.He is forced to live where NKHS and the State say he must. He is cut off from family and friends. He has been physically assaulted by a home provider– NKHS and State watch in silence and do nothing. His life was repeatedly brutally threatened in the Lowell House– NKHS and State watched and did nothing. He is abruptly uprooted and moved from place to place in the dead of night– NKHS and State do nothing.His family has not been told where he is headed to next– NKHS and State do nothing. He has not been told where he is moving to next– State and NKHS do nothing. Bill Bennett been denied food and medication– NKHS and State do nothing.He has been ridiculed by NKHS’er Terry Moore that ” Bill is masturbating with one hand”– NKHS and State do nothing. He was prohibited to speak to his attorney– NKHS and State did nothing. He was prohibited access to a telephone to make personal calls. NKHS and State did nothing. Bill is the victim of one huge experiment– NKHS and State do nothing. NKHS workers treat Bill like a freak– they follow him around in public, creating a spectacle, because he is a
” dangerous sex offender”– who, truth be told– has never ever been convicted.Now Bill is victim of yet another indignity– while at a NKHS placement in a glass factory, he had no privacy– he was not allowed to even lock his door for his own personal safety and security– so people entered his room with impunity– and his personal items have been stolen. NKHS and State do nothing.Can’t people see where this is going? When the State, and NKHS can force Bill Bennett into a life of misery where he is ridiculed, isolated, ostracized, attacked,paraded around town as a freakish public spectacle ( remember the Jews doing jumping jacks in puiblic?)denied access to an attorney and denied the ability to communcate with family members, threatened with his life, denied medication, falsely imprisoned in the community- and stolen from– we as a society must not stand by and just wring our hands, and watch in silence and do nothing.People, listen: it is a short hop skip and a jump from what is happening to Bill Bennett- to what is happening this very second in Homs, Syria– and what happened to the Jews( and others) in Nazi Germany and WWII Europe, to what happened in Bosnia and Serbia in the 90’s to Muslims and Christians. We can not sit idly by! If the State and NKHS can freely treat Bill Bennett so cruelly, the next to be treated so cruelly could be your child, your brother, your sister, your grandmother , grandfather– and yes, YOU! WE must protect our freedoms, and YOU must protect your freedoms. WE must protect our very lives!WE MUST ALL BE VIGILANT. So, stand up! Do something about Bill Bennett’s plight! Tell the word that Bill Bennett must be freed from State and NKHS abuse and torture!Write to and speak with your legislator, carry a sign, write and speak to the governor, write and speak to the president, write and speak to your friends and neighbors, to your city council. Speak to your co – workers. Speak up at church. Write and speak to your pastor, priest, elder, bishop, minister, rabbi, guru, whatever your religion. Use social media– facebook, twitter, whatever you prefer– to spread the word that Bill Bennett must be freed from State and NKHS abuse and torture.DO SOMETHING! Because– if we continue to be complacent, if we do nothing– the next Bill Bennett will be YOU and your family.And yes, the holocaust can happen again. ONLY we can prevent it, and only YOU can prevent it! Make your voice count!
DO NOT FORGET THE PAST. “HE WHO FORGETS THE PAST IS DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.”