The Belief in a Just World: A Fundamental Delusion We No Longer Struggle With

A judge in Vermont recently ruled that a man civilly committed under Vermont’s civil commitment scheme known as Act 248 which places individuals who have been accused of a crime or are considered a “danger to the public” does not have the right to a renewed competency evaluation and to stand trial.  According to this ruling a person found incompetent to stand trial has forfeited the right forever to attain competency and face their accuser to clear their name.  Statutes: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullchapter.cfm?Title=18&Chapter=206

Upon a finding of incompetence the individual in this case, William Bennett was  “committed” to the care and custody of the Vermont Commissioner of the Department of Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) .  The  charges were then dismissed yet the State’s Attorney retains the right to reinstate the charges, in other words the statutes of limitations are stayed.

Competency unlike an insanity defense,  refers to an individuals ability to understand the court proceedings and  effectively assist their attorney in providing a defense.  The statutes clearly state that the individual, his attorney or a judge may at any time request a renewed competency evaluation.  Because competency is fluid some individuals  may be brought to competency through education.  This is especially true in this case where you have a borderline, or questionable diagnosis of mild metal retardation.  Even though V.S.A. 4814 (a) seems to allow for renewed competency evaluations, the Judge ruled otherwise.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/92323235/Manley-Decision-4-6-12-1

In this case the State’s Attorney argued that there are no charges pending and that the Statutes of Limitations had expired in June of 2011. Therefore States Attorney, Lisa Warren argued, a competency cannot be ordered.   Yet in November of 2011 the DAIL  Attorney with the State’s attorney proposed the following:

The charges against Mr. Bennett were dismissed without prejudice back in 2006 and so could be reinstated.  Under this agreement, your client would not challenge his competency.  Caledonia State’s attorney Lisa Warren (also co-signatory to this letter) would reinstate the original two counts of L&L and your client would plead guilty and be offered a probationary sentence.  This offer stands for a period of two weeks until November 9, 2011. Note: this offer is only good if your client agrees to a plea deal. This is not an offer to reopen the criminal case for the purpose of bringing the criminal case through trial. http://www.scribd.com/doc/92324748/Lisa-Warren-3-7-12

This was clearly an attempt to coerce my son into a guilty plea which if accepted would have brought him back to criminal court where a judge must inform a defendant of his or her right to a trial.  The judge would also have to ask the defendant if he or she was coerced into the plea.

In the original case William was charged with two counts of L&L, not L&L against a child.  The alleged victim was older than William and the circumstances surrounding the events were very suspicious.  A provider for the Agency brought William, then 18 and a 19 yr old female client to a hotel and left the their alone.  The provider had been explicitly instructed by me, Bill’s mother and Bill’s therapist to prevent these types of situations..  The State’s attorney waited a full year before bringing charges.  From reviewing the files, I believe the State’s attorney only filed the charges as a vehicle to the commitment.

In her decision Judge Manley also ruled that each annual review of the committment is a new case (even though they are filed under the same docket number), and that the proceedings occur in the family court  rather than the crimminal court which the statute clearly states.  In this particular court there has been a long standing practice to close these proceedings to the public.  This practice isn’t provided for by law or statute, it simply is the way for the State and the Court do it.

In her decision Judge Manly also denies the Guardian of the committed individual party status.  The Act 248 statutes provide for an annual review which is supposed to review whether or not the DAIL is providing  care and habitation in a “individualized manner” in accordance with the statutes and whether or not they pose a risk to public safety.  In this proceeding the Commissioner must show that the individual still poses a threat to public safety and is still in need of “care and habilitation”.

In the cases I have seen the individual is provided a Guardian by the State and an Attorney from Vermont Legal Aid.  If a state Guardian is involved they are given party status and they file a report agreeing with the state.   If the guardian is a  private non-state guardian, they are not given party status and receive no notification of a review before or after it takes place.  Attorneys form Vermont Legal Aid have Stipulated to the States recommendations that the individual should remain in custody for another year without ever meeting with their client.    The State and the Court have it pretty well rigged.

You might at this point be asking yourself why the State would want to keep someone in custody who doesn’t pose a threat to the public.  The answer is very simple, MONEY.  A lot of money comes into the State’s Coffers under these people’s commitments.   Some of of the money stays at the state level to pay salaries  for case managers and “Public Safety Specialists” and $100,000. to $300,000 comes straight to a local “Designated Agency” who provides supervision.  This is a big chunk of money that goes right into the Agencies budget and they do not like to see it go away.

In December of 2010, I hired a private attorney for my son.  Since that time my son has suffered at the hands of the Commissioner and the “Designated Agency”.  A bizarre series of attempts to isolate and intimidate and harass him began, he has been assaulted by a “home care provider”, denied his inhaler, forced to clean other peoples urine an feces, denied  access to his attorney, forbidden to see his private psychologist, he’s been moved from location to location without any idea where he’s being taken, he’s been forced to sleep on springs, he’s been  threatened, intimidated and harassed beyond what most of us could endure.

Yet he’s maintains composure and determination to end the cycle of abuse perpetrated against him by the courts and Vermont Human Services.  Adult Protective Services is currently investigating one of the placements where Bill had to clean someone else’s urine and feces.  During this time, he was also denied his inhaler for allergies and asthma.  This is disgusting and a disgrace to the State of Vermont.   video:http://youtu.be/O0fN5aDlB7k

After a year of wondering why an how the citizens and the Government of Vermont can witness such abuse and neglect of a disabled group of men without and fail to act,  I came across some research by Melvin Lerner that explains the psychology of what I’m witnessing.   In 2008 Lerner was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society for Justice Research.  Lerner sought to answer the questions of how regimes that cause cruelty and suffering maintain popular support, and how people come to accept social norms and laws that produce misery and suffering.  This is a question I have struggled with.  Why when abuse is obvious and blatant in this rural area of Vermont do Judges and law makers just turn their heads and even reward the abusers.

Lerner’s repeatedly witnessed the tendency of observers to blame victims for their suffering.  During his clinical training as a psychologist, he observed treatment of mentally ill persons by the health care practitioners with whom he worked.  Though he knew them to be kindhearted, educated people, they blamed patients for their own suffering.

In 1966, Lerner and his colleagues began a series of experiments that used shock paradigms to investigate observer responses to victimization. In the first of these experiments, 72 female subjects were made to watch a confederate receiving electrical shocks under a variety of conditions. Initially, the obseres were shocked by the apparent suffering of the subject.  However, as the suffering continued and observers remained unable to intervene, they began to blame the victim.  The blame became greater as the shock treatments intensified.  Other researchers were able to replicate Lerner’s findings.

Lerner hypothesized that the belief in a just world is crucially important for people to maintain for their own well-being. However, when daily with evidence that the world is not just: people suffer without apparent cause, one strategy people will use to make sense of nonsense is to blame the victim.  To avoid the feelings of  powerlessness victims will even blame themselves.  Most survivors of sexual abuse can identify with this.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_phenomenon

After years of presenting evidence of abuse to Mental Health professionals,  judges and  the Agencies tasked with protecting victims,  I’ve been relieved of the delusion.  I’ve found support among others who’ve also been freed of the delusion, we are working hard together to force justice upon the deluded.  Each of us has a role and a voice.  Write a letter to the editor, like it on facebook, educate your Grand children and children about the dangers of the system.  To speak out in any form and you are part of the solution.

Lets keep working toward peace an justice in reality.

Tracy Gilman

Pattern of abuse; Vermont Human Services

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.

 

Vermont Commissioner: Dr. Susan Wehry, Prescribes Abuse

I received a phone call from my son on October 3rd at 5 p.m.  He said “Mom they just came in and told me to put some clothes in a bag because I’m being taken somewhere,  and they won’t tell me where”.  This Agency did take my son away.  Under orders of the Commissioner of the Department of Aging and Independent Living, Dr Susan Wehry, my son was taken to a house and forced to sleep on springs covered by a thin layer of fabric.

The next day when I went to the house where my son was supposed to be with a memory foam mattress, I was told he wasn’t there and he wouldn’t be returning.  I had no idea where my son was or where he was being taken.  I packed Bills things up and left.  I received a call from Bill saying he was being taken to Dirby Vermont, but nobody would tell him the address or who he would be staying with.

I drove to meet the worker we’ll call Wheels, because that’s how he described himself to the Hardwick Police Department the night before, saying, “I know nothing, I’m just wheels”.  I met Wheels on the side of the road, as you can see in the video, he wouldn’t tell me where he was taking Bill.  The worker was so “bothered” by Bill’s family wanting to know where Bill was being taken that he drove off leaving Bill on the side of the road.

Bill was left on the side of the road so we decided to go to the St Johnsbury Police Department and let them know that Bill was with me, not because we fled but because his worker had “eloped” (as they like to put it).  After talking with the St Johnsbury Police, realizing Bill had not eaten all day, we went to a restaurant and I bought him dinner.  Three hours after leaving him on the side of the road a Human Services Worker called to tell me if they didn’t get Bill back they’d call the police.

That evening Bill Bennett was taken to an address in Dirby Vermont.  I was eventually told the name of the person he was going to stay with, Barbara McGee.  But once again I wouldn’t be allowed to inspect the placement.  (These Videos Tell You Why)

 The following day I received a call from Bill, he was distraught.  He said the bedroom and the bathroom were disgusting.  The bedroom floor was littered with cigarette butts, leaves and dirt.  The bathroom was covered with someone’s hair, urine, dirt and feces as you can see in the videos.  The woman who owns this house is the mother- in -law of Bill’s Case Manager, don’t tell me she doesn’t know what she’s done.

When I was allowed to pick Bill up for 24 hours on Saturday, he hadn’t showered in five days.  Not because he’s a slob, but because he wasn’t given any towels or soap.  Even if he had been he said there was no way he was going into that bathroom without shoes on.  Bill has thoroughly documented the disgusting conditions which Dr. Susan Wehry, the Commissioner of The Department of Aging and Disability has personally forced him into.   Bill was forced to clean this disgusting filth.

My son has been taken to several locations in one week, he’s not told where he’s going or who he’ll be with.  He’s stuffed into a car and taken.  “Stuffing” is a term used by the clients of Northeast Kingdom Human Services.  “They moved me around like a ketchup bottle” as Bruce Wilson would say.

Human Services Of Vermont does what our Government rails against other Governments for doing to their citizens.  As my sons Legal Guardian I hold The Governor of this state responsible.

Dr. Susan Wehry, a medical doctor has taken an oath to do no harm.  Yet she is forcing my son to sleep on springs and live in filth.  She has treated him worse than a dog.  Bill Bennett, my son hasn’t  had his inhaler in a week.   He has repeatedly told the Commissioner’s minions he needs it but still he is without it.   And I, Bill’s Mother and Legal, Court Appointed Guardian “hah” am being prevented by the Commissioner from fulfilling my responsibilities as a mother, a guardian and a a decent human being.  Commissioner Dr. Susan Wehry, should remember her oath as an M.D.

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.

I will not be ashamed to say “I know not”, nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Dr. Susan Wehry has violated every one of these promises.  My son’s physician and psychologist abide by this oath.  Everything this Commissioner does is observed by her peers.  This is not an ethical woman.

The Governor of the State of Vermont, Peter Shumlin and the Secretary of Human Services, Douglas Racine have facilitated this abuse through their refusal to address what has been reported to them and highly reported on and documented over several administrations.  Governor Shumlin, you should be ashamed and disgraced to have this going on in your State.

Governor, you are spending the tax dollars of hard-working Vermonters to fund and cover up Abuse of Disabled People.  If you can stomach the truth, watch the videos.  My son voted for you! It’s time for you to do what he put you in office to do.  Investigate and end the Abuses of the Safe Choices Program of North East Kingdom Human Services! Before It’s to late.

Vermont Human Services Ignores Medicaid Fraud and Abuse

Disability Rights Vermont uncovered Medicaid fraud in an investigation of an assault on a disabled man by a “home care provider”. http://www.scribd.com/doc/56888199/Disability-Rights-Vermont-Investigation-into-Abuse-By-Home-Care-Providers

In the report the Sterling Area Agency, in Morrisville Vermont admits they knowingly put a contract into the name of a person not providing the service.  SAS also knowingly supported the contracted provider in not complying with the requirements laid out in her contract.  This has been reported to the Vermont Attorney General and they have said they are going to investigate.

The Vermont Agency of Human Services oversees this provider, has received a copy of the DRVT report but has taken no action on the fraud or the assault.  Earlier that day, I Tracy Gilman, the Legal Guardian and mother of Bill Bennett attempted to remove him from the placement due to concerns for his safety.  Vermont Human Services ordered him back to the placement just hours before the assault occurred.

The  DRVT report also concluded that:

The information provided by the contracted Home Care Provider, Wendy Demar and the assaulting “home care provider”  Wayne Demar were “strikingly” inconsistent.  Wayne Demar admits to following Bill to his bedroom and pushing him down on his bed but did not admit to holding him down.  Yet Wendy Demar state that Wayne admitted to her having pushed and held Bill down.

The two HCP’s also differed in their stories one saying that Bill was agitated upon arriving home and the other saying he was not.

The Home Care Provider did not comply with Bill’s Behavioral Support Plan, Crisis Response Plan or his SAS training.

The Home Care provider entered into Bill’s room to unnecessarily confront Bill within his own personal space.

That he forcibly placed Bill on the bed and held him there against his will.

That more likely than not the Home Care Provider acted in an effort to intimidate and place Bill in fear in order to reassert control and express his frustration over the days events.

The Home Care Provider did restrain Bill on the bed in a manner that was not appropriate pursuant to the Guidelines cited in Behavior Support Guidelines published by Vermont Human Services 2004 that prohibits under any circumstances, “restraints that have an individual lying on the ground or in a bed with a worker on top of the individual”.

Adult Protective Services apparently never interviewed either provider before making the determination that “No Abuse Occurred”.

William Bennett’s troubles with the state have been ongoing since he entered into services.  In 2005 he was set up by a home care provider who dropped him off at the Comfort Inn and Suites with a nineteen year old girl.  As a young man with a disability this was exactly the sort of “encounter” William wasn’t ready for and the guidelines clearly outlined in his support agreement made that clear.

The Agencies records clearly acknowledge “poor supervision L&L resulting.  Bill was then charged with Lewd and Lascivious conduct and “successfully” court ordered into the custody of Vermont Human Services.  Where he has been subject to years of Abuse and Neglect at the States Hands.

One can only conclude that the Agency will go to any lengths to avoid responsibility/liability for the actions of its minions.  The only avenue for Justice seems to be to sue the State of Vermont.

I have carefully documented the neglect and abuse against my son for many years and I can tell you there are so many fraudulent practices occurring at the area agencies that the counts of abuse and neglect won’t be counted on one hand.

I’m certain documentation is being created and destroyed by these agencies in an effort to erase all evidence and create new evidence.

Instead of addressing the abuses that have been reported Vermont Human Services has harrassed, intimidated and retaliated against me, costing me tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to maintain my guardianship of my son,  to file motions for relief from abuse, motions to prohibit them from interference with his right to legal counsel.  They have attempted to intimidate me into signing releases of information without legal counsel.  They have  harrassed my son relentlessly, interference of his access to legal counsel.    They have isolated him from his whole family and have treated us like criminals forcing us to have our visits in parking lots supervised by unidentified staffers.  They have acted in an egregious manner in an attempt to break our spirits.

After repeatedly informing our Governor Peter Shumlin, Douglas Racin Secretary of Human Services, Dr Susan Wehry Commissioner of The Department of Aging and Independent Living of the abuses to no avail, I will be commencing a Hunger Strike one month from the fourth of July, 2011.  If this supposed Human Services Agency wants to break people’s spirits and it will be in a public forum for all the world to see, not in some rinky dink little town where nobody pays attention.

Please sign our petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/vermont—investigate-the-abuse-of-quotdevelopmentally-disabled-offendersquot/  Maybe, just maybe someone will do the right thing.

And Let’s not forget the DRVT report where the 24 year old man died a slow,  gruesome death while in Sterling Area Services.  The care givers where negligent, forged documents, ignored his desperate pleadings for help, failed to provide medical attention and watched this young man deteriorate for six months until he was found face down in his bed, dead.  Yet, was anyone held accountable for that? http://www.scribd.com/doc/52929838/Disability-Rights-Investigation

Tracy Gilman, Mother of William Bennett

Vermont Human Services Agency Poses Risk to Public Safety

Vermont Human Services is ignoring the standards of their own Best Practices Manual http://www.ddas.vermont.gov/ddas-publications/publications-os/publications-os-documents/os-pub-supervision-treatment-sex-offenders-with-ds committing Medicaid fraud and helping agencies such as Northeast Kingdom Human Services and Sterling Area Agency to cover up reports of abuse, posing a seriouse  “Risk to Public Safety”.  “Risk to Public Safety”  is the same term used to civilly commit and incarcerate some of the very people this service is supposed protect.

Vermont Human Services charges the state and federal government millions of dollars every year to pay for services not provided.  These State contracted Human Services Agencies are supposed to protect the public by “treating” and rehabilitating people; who could not be convicted of crimes, people who have served their sentences for crimes and in many cases people who haven’t even been charged with a crime.

Civil Commitment  is being used as a continuum of incarceration.  All over the country people are being detained indefinitely without charges or convictions.  Treatment is mandated and provided through state human services agencies and corrections.  The very people and agencies responsible for assessing and treating are the people profiting  from “treatment”.  This conflict of interest does not encourage treatment that results in successful rehabilitation.

In Vermont 194 individuals are in the custody of the Department of Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) under Act 248, Vermont’s civil commitment law for people with mental retardation (18 V.S.A Section 8839 et seq).  In a 2010 Report to Representatives Lippert and Marcotte on Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Who Pose a Public Safety Risk, http://www.ddas.vermont.gov/ddas-publications/…/ds-offenders-report-2009 DAIL  makes the following recommendations (to themselves) which remain unfulfilled;

1. Competency evaluations for individuals suspected of having a DD should include a current evaluation by a psychologist skilled in assessing individuals with DD.
2.  Some ACT 248 commitments should be for a defined period rather than indefinitely.
3. Additional review processes should be adopted  for individuals who are under guardianship and in a restrictive program.
4. The State should adopt the best available risk and criminogenic needs assessment tools, to ensure that these individuals do not remain in treatment or in restrictive settings longer than necessary.

Although the Act 248 Statutes give the individual the right to seek judicial review of an order of commitment, in many of the ACT 248 cases, annual reviews take place with no participation from private guardians or the DD clients themselves.

In the case of William Bennett notice of annual reviews were not given to him or the guardian.  This goes against Section 4.10 – (c) – (pg. 36) of Regulations Implementing The Developmental Disabilities Act of 1996 March 2011.  Clients with DD cannot be expected to fully understand and initiate these proceedings without support from their guardian and real advocacy from their attorney.

In the most recent annual review Bennett was phoned by a Vermont Legal Aid Attorney and asked if he needed a consultation.  For a person with a developmental disability the word “consultation”  may have no meaning.

Recommendations for continued services/incarceration were made by the service providers and DAIL, agreed to by the Legal Aid Attorney, submitted to the courts and approved by a  judge.  This automated system to extend “care” to ensure the continued funding is a breach of human rights.

Without  proper procedures for legal representation of DD individuals outlined in the legislation their human rights will continue to be violated for a profit to these privately owned publicly funded institutions at a cost to the state of $100,000 a year and up, per client.  The report to Lippert and Marcotte goes on to say that no court has ever concluded in the 23 years since the passing of Act 248 that a person committed should be released.  This should raise questions about the treatment being provided.

From a review of  the reel to reel tapes of the hearings it is clear that during the  formation of Act 248, the testifying professionals were concerned that DD people would be “swept up” due to public discomfort and families of DD individuals not wanting to deal with them   They expressed a clear concern that these individuals civil rights would be violated, that people would be detained longer than necessary and that treatment would not be given on an individualized basis.

Expert testimony given by mental health professional, felt that long-term commitment was not necessary for many of the Developmentally Delayed Individuals.  In testimony given by Charles Mosley to the House Judiciary, Mosley states that there is a lot of potential to train individuals with Mental Retardation and 24 hour supervision could often decrease after the first few months.  He goes on to say that Lots of these people are mildly retarded and have great potential for employment teaching.

During Testimony Walt Morris, Defender General disagrees with the characterization of the individuals as “getting off the hook”.  He also points out that public discomfort with street people and people who are different tends to sweep them up into the system.

Testimony by Bill Reedy of the Vermont Coalition of the Handicapped urges access to the same civil rights proceedings as any other citizen.  He also voices concern that commitment be provided in the “least restrictive manner” and adhere to constitutional standards.

Roger Strauss, Director of Washington County Mental Health refers to the Judicial Review as a method to see if  “appropriate therapy” is being received.  Saying that “constitutional law requires the commissioner to provide appropriate therapy”.  In discussions of the annual review it is repeatedly stated that the Commissioner is responsible to provide “individualized” treatment in the “least restrictive manner” possible.

It also requires that the burden of proof be more substantiated as the individual proceeds through the care-program. Thus putting more pressure on the Department of Human services to prove the individual still poses a danger to public safety.  This is obviously a measure that has failed.

An expert witness in the taped hearings, believed to be Bill Reedy of the Vermont Coalition of the Handicapped puts it very clear, we are talking about people with inappropriate behavior, not armed and dangerous criminals.  He continues saying “very few people need to be shackled, mentally retarded people actually are less violent than you and me“.

Major parts of the original Act 248 statutes in Vermont have been repealed leaving civilly committed individuals with no civil rights and undermining the oversight and accountability originally intended by the legislatures.  Section 8821-8834 regarding Provisions of Service and Judicial Review has been repealed, Section 8842 stated that Hearings be  in accordance with 8827 which has been repealed, Section 8845 states that procedures shall be in accordance with 8834 which has been repealed.  Just take a look at the most recent draft, it looks as though they will cross-out (repeal) the entire Act.

Total authority is given to DAIL due to the Court’s and the Legislature’s lack of concern for civil rights for all and fear of public opinion, “out of sight, out of mind”.   Developmentally Disabled people remain in restrictive and abusive environments for decades without hope.

DAIL has demonstrated that they will go to great lengths to silence reports of abusive practices.  In a recent petition for Relief From Abuse in which one DD client’s life was threatened by another client in a State Licensed Group Home, Attorney’s from the Agency (NKHS) running the  home and an Attorney for the Commissioner of DAIL showed up to fight the order.  The Defendant nor his guardian or attorney for the defendant was even present.  NKHS and DAIL made  no denial that the threat was  made, yet the judge dismissed the order after the attorney from DAIL threatened to call in the Attorney General if the judge pursued the matter further.  DAIL and NKHS immediately moved the aggressor client back into the group home with no concern what so ever to the risk posed psychologically and physically to the Aggressed client.

In January of 2011 William Bennett”s guardian and mother hired an attorney to contest the Act 248 placement. William’s Guardian is concerned that his placement in this program will have permanent detrimental effects on him.  Since his placement in this “Safe Choices”  program he has been assaulted by a home care provider, kept incommunicado, been double staffed by workers who refuse to give their names, been denied his rescue inhaler, been sexually harassed by a staff member, been kept isolated from his family and guardian, been denied a low fat diet recommended by his physician, been denied opportunities to exercise, forced to witness another client having daily uncontrolled grand maul seizures, has been denied private conversations with his attorney and his guardian, has been threatened and intimidated to sign releases of information for medical and psychological appointments. William Bennett has and still is being harassed and Bullied by the State of Vermont.

DAIL and it’s Agents have been actively thwarting efforts by William and his guardian to improve his mental and physical health through years of suppressing and isolating William.  The damage done due to the negligence and incompetence of these supposed providers is inexcusable.

DAIL has the ultimate responsibility for the well-being of people in custody, they have a vested interest in covering up abuse by providers they contract with.  The Human Services Board would normally review decisions made the Commissioner of DAIL  but has recently stated that they don’t have authority over the commissioner in Act 248 cases.  The  Human Services Board defers to the courts, which under threat of the Attorney General submit to the DAIL.

Adult Protective services is supposed to defer to the Secretary of Human Services when the Commissioner of DAIL is implicated in reports of abuse but instead make findings that the abuse never occurred.  The Secretary of Human Services Douglas Racine, after repeated pleas from the guardian of William Bennett defers to the Commissioner.  Vermont’s Governor Shumlin after repeated pleas from the guardian of  William Bennett defers to the Secretary of Human Services.

Adult Protective Services, commissioned with investigating abuse has recently been threatened by Vermont Legal Aid and Disability Rights Vermont for not investigating reports of abuse.  APS settled out of court and is supposed to implement changes and clear up a back log of abuse reports.  William Bennett and his guardian have made several recent reports of abuse to APS  and has not seen any action taken.  No doubt they will at some point write a letter saying “no abuse occurred”.

In case after case of abuse reported to The Department of Human Service they have hammered clients and advocates into submission with their incredible powers and access to tax payer funded attorneys.  It is time we as a Civil Society end this atrocious abuse of this vulnerable group of fellow human beings.

Commisioner of DAIL Continues to Retaliate Against William Bennett & Family

William (Bill) Bennett is in a battle for his freedom and physical safety.  After 5 years of civil commitment and court ordered participation in a program called “Safe Choices’ which has come under heavy fire for abusive practices, the Commissioner of DAIL has repeatedly acted to limit William Bennett’s access to the people supporting him in his “fight for freedom”.

In a meeting today with DAIL representatives,  Bill and his family had hoped to resume their well established routine of over night visits 2-3 days a week.  Apparently the Commissioner of DAIL had other intentions.

After years of this routine without incident the Commissioner of DAIL filed a motion with the Courts to have Tracy Gilman, Bill’s mother, removed as Bill’s Legal Guardian.  The Commissioner gave no specific reason other than stating that Ms. Gilman, a strong advocate for her son, was “difficult to work with”.  In the 6 months prior to this action the Commissioners representatives had no contact Gilman and only one meeting with Bill.  The Commissioner herself has never met Bill Bennett.

After abandoning the motion at the last moment, the Commissioner then made a decision to revoke unsupervised visits between Bill and his mother.  The reason given was that Ms. Gilman stated on this blog “My son is not a sex offender”.  In a meeting May 5th the Commissioner using visitation as leverage, tried to force Gilman to sign a statement agreeing to her son’s guilt as sex offender.  Not signing meant that the family would be forced to have 3 hour visits in public places at designated times often supervised by several staffers who would refuse to give their names to Bill or Tracy, his Legal Guardian.  Both Gilman and Bennett felt they were being stalked.

The Commissioner’s actions could be seen as a risk to public safety given the principles of the DAIL’s  Best Practices Manual (2005) which emphasizes:

(1) long separation from parents are associated with recidivism

(2) Offenders who have positive social relationships are less likely to re offend

(3) the importance of family in everyone’s’ life and

(4) the harmful impact of isolation from family and the importance of family resources to the healing process

Though William was charged with Lewd and Lascivious conduct in 2006, he never stood trial due to his disability.  Ms Gilman believes the charge would never have arisen if a “Home Care Provider” had not brought Bill and a nineteen year old girl to a hotel and left them there alone.  Many bad things have happened to William Bennett while in the custody of the Commissioner and Vermont Human Services.  Yet each time the Legal Guardian tries to bring misconduct to the attention of DAIL, the Commissioner takes some action against the guardian and Bennett.

Ms. Gilman has never been required to sign such a statement in the past and feels this is retaliation for hiring outside legal counsel for Bill.  The Commissioners first act of ‘aggression” toward Bill and his mother occurred just after they hired an attorney to contest the Act 248 Placement.

The Agency which the Commissioner oversees to provide services refused to provide services to Bill immediately after he hired an attorney.   Bill and his mother were alarmed by changes in the attitudes of service providers and felt the situation was dangerous. Guardianship Statutes allow a Guardian to make an “Emergency Change of Placement”.  So,  Bill’s mother removed him and filed a motion with the court.  Before an audience with a Judge could be had, the Commissioner had Bennett brought back to the Agency.   That evening, after requesting to use the phone to call his attorney Bill was assaulted by his Home Care Provider and was not allowed the phone call.

Today, 6/7/11 the Commissioner presented Gilman with a new statement to sign, which doesn’t require her to retract her original statement “My son is not a sex offender.”  It is in fact the Commissioners original statement, revised by Gilman and offered to the Commissioner.  So the Commissioner is agreeing to Gilman’s stated position, not the other way around.  Yet even if signed, the Commissioner will continue to limit visitation to 3 hr visits twice a week.  It is hard to see any motive other than retaliation in the Commissioners actions.

Ordinarily The Human Services Board after a request for a “Fair Hearing” would review such decisions made by the Commissioner.  In this case The Board’s position is that it doesn’t have the authority due to the Act 248 Court Order giving the Commissioner full responsibility for William’s “Care and Custody”.  So another avenue which  is available to other people to seek consideration of unfair treatment is closed to William Bennett.

The actions of the Department of Human Services have cost the State of Vermont and The Family of William Bennett great sums of money.  Each action taken by the state resulting in court proceedings is charged to tax payers by States Attorneys.  The Bennett family has incurred over $20,000 in legal fees, Gilman’s ability to work while trying to protect her son has been greatly diminished adding to their financial burden.  The extent of emotional suffering  William Bennett is being subjected to by staff of Northeast Kingdom Human Services and DAIL will only really be known once he is out of this environment.

Secretary of Human Services Douglas Racine in response to my letter informing him of the abusive practices of the “Safe Choices” program, the retaliation by the Commissioner and the fraudulent practices of the Sterling Area Agency, has informed me that he supports the Commissioners actions.  This Disability Rights Investigation http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/56888199?access_key=key-217dz8rwqnusyxy19w2minto the assault by the Home Care Provider whom the Commissioner so vehemently supported has clearly exposed the abusive and highly unprofessional practices of her agents.

According to Vermont Statutes on Reporting Abuse (second paragraph) http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullsection.cfm?Title=33&Chapter=069&Section=06904 the Commissioner had a duty to refer the Report of Abuse to Secretary Racine due to her conflict of interest.  The Commissioner was clearly implicated by her actions to return Bennett to the home where he was assaulted, ignoring the Guardian’s concerns for Bill’s safety.  The action taken by the Commissioner to remove the guardian also created another conflict of interest and should have prompted her to refer the report to Racine.

Is Secretary Racine still so certain he is on the side of right.   Will Governor Shumlin remain silent?  I won’t!

Assault By Home Care Provider Vermont Human Services Takes No Action

On June 1st William Bennett and me met with Disability Rights Vermont to review their investigation into the abuse Bill had reported on February 23rd.  I felt that DRVT did a thorough investigation into the abuse and pointed out some additional problems in the Sterling Area Agencies procedures, trainings and contracts.

In sharp contrast to this investigation, is the Adult Protective Services investigation.  APS is a one page three paragraph letter with two check boxes indicating that

1.  The available evidence indicated that abuse, neglect or exploitation did not occur.

2.  The allegation does not meet the statutory definition of abuse, neglect or exploitation.

33 V.S.A. § 6902. Definitions

(1) “Abuse” means:

(A) Any treatment of a vulnerable adult which places life, health or welfare in jeopardy or which is likely to result in impairment of health;

(B) Any conduct committed with an intent or reckless disregard that such conduct is likely to cause unnecessary harm, unnecessary pain or unnecessary suffering to a vulnerable adult;

(C) Unnecessary or unlawful confinement or unnecessary or unlawful restraint of a vulnerable adult;

So, the Home Care Provider follows Bill into his bedroom,  lifts and throws Bill, who is 4ft.11in tall. and 120 lbs, onto his bed, pinning him down while on top of him.  This doesn’t fit the Vermont Statutes of Abuse?  I see no reason for APS’s backlog at all with this interpretation of the definition of abuse.

The last paragraph of the APS letter indicates that I can ask the Commissioner to review this decision.  The Commissioner of the Department of Aging and Independent Living has recently motioned the court to remove me as my son’s legal guardian and make her his legal guardian. Commissioner Dr Susan Wehry has admittedly terminated unsupervised visits with my son because of a statement I made on my blog. Furthermore since the abuse occurred simultaneously with the Commissioner trying to remove me as guardian I’m quiet certain her stamp of approval is already on it.

After speaking with DRVT about some incidences that recently occurred at the group home where Bill lives, they urged me to report it to, APS so I did.  I called APS and spoke to an intake specialist who was very rude, she raised her voice to me and impatiently said “it’s been a really long day”.  This was not said in an apologetic tone.  I ended up having to call back several times because her attitude made it so difficult to focus on what I was trying to report.  Her attitude would have devastated me if I was disabled and had been abused.

More funding won’t eliminate an attitude of hostility.  Without significant measures to ensure that changes are real we’ll just have more letters going out denying abuse occurred.

View this document on Scribd

Dear Douglas Racine, Another Former Employee Comes Forward

Submitted on 2011/05/16 at 1:27 pm

Tracy, I applaud your uphill battle against the “Evil Empire”, being NKHS and Safe Choices!!! Not too many people dare to go up against this corrupt, demeaning, and self-serving so-called “non-profit” organization! There is so much corruption, neopatism and favoritism that goes on there, in particular the DS Department in St J. I know how you are feeling, Tracy – I too have attempted to expose this using the proper channels, and it was so convienently swept under the rug. I remember BIll’s situation so vividly – when you first attempted to have him removed from Safe Choices – I think it was in ’04 – he came onto my caseload, and was placed at Kate’s. That was the start of the nightmare for Bill! He was totally set up, left alone on numerous occasions, and left unsupervised at the Comfort Inn (more like dropped off by Kate!!) also left unsupervised at her home. (as I recall, the alleged “victim” was there without any knowledge of NKHS). I also remember when you were practically forced to put Bill back into the Safe Choices – you did not want that, but a certain so-called Assistant Director of DS practically threatened you. I have nothing but respect and admiration for what you are trying to accomplish – your dedication, devotion, and love for Bill goes far beyond what I have ever experienced in dealing with many families of Special Needs children. Safe Choices shold no longer exist, and those running it should be admonished, and in some incidences, lose their license to practice. Tracy, I will support your effort in any way I possibly can. Please e-mail me if there is anything you need that will assist you in shutting these demons down!

A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION will be held in Newport VT May 25 at 5:00 -8 P.M.  We will be in the State owned parking lot on Field Ave. Turn between the Goodrich Memorial Library and the Police Station on Main St..  DR. SUSAN WEHRY, THE COMMISSIONER of The Department of Aging and Independent Living ( has the ability to end this abuse) will be speaking to home care providers.  According to their Brochure it will be “an evening of pampering“, with Reiki, Massage and Dinner.  That would all be fine if disabled men weren’t languishing away year after year hidden in the woods eating bologna sandwiches and whatever else the food bank donates.  It would be okay If disabled men weren’t cut off from their families and all forms of social contact, left with no hope of the close connections Dr. Wehry will be enjoying.  It would be okay if disabled men weren’t forced to go to a group once a week where they are called liars, yelled at and demeaned by a  so called “Therapist”.  And it would all be okay if Vermont Tax payers weren’t paying over $20,000,000 a year to fund such programs.  It’s time to take back our Human Services.

A petition will be available to sign, volunteers are needed to gather more signatures and all are welcome.  Even if you can only stop and sign a petition, you’ve done your part.  Signs will be available.  We’ll be there until 8 p..m.  We Mean Business!

Comment From Former Employees of Northeast Kingdom Human Services

I will be dedicating the next several posts to “Comments From Former Employees”.  This link posted by a supportive blogger has great information.  http://vermont4evolution.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/vermont-abusing-the-developmentally-disabled/

Be sure to click on the New York Times Article.  A very similar situation where the Governor finally acted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/nyregion/13homes.html

PLANNING A PROTEST IN NEWPORT AT THE GATEWAY CENTER MAY25th.  THE COMMISSIONER WILL BE SPEAKING TO HOME CARE PROVIDERS.  5 P.M.  MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR, LEAVE A COMMENT SO I KNOW WHO’S WILLING TO TAKE A AFTERNOON AND DO SOME CHANTING.  THIS IS A WORTHY CAUSE, I’VE BEEN DYING TO HOLD UP A SIGN FOR YEARS.  IF THIS IS THE ONLY ISSUE YOU EVER PROTEST FOR, IT’S A GREAT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET’S TAKE BACK OR “HUMAN SERVICES”.

A Very Touching Letter:

Dear Senator Kitchel,

I am writing to you about my outrage at the misuse of funding at Northeast Kingdom Human Services…in particular the program “Safe Choices”.  All that program is to NKHS is a cash cow and a legal way to abuse people who have had their rights stripped from them… and they are mentally impaired so they have no way to fight back.  They are so programmed by the staff at Lowell house and Roy Mountain House that many of them feel that this is all they deserve in life.  These people (clients) are bringing in a lot of tax dollars to line the pockets of the directors, assistant directors, therapists and supervisors (who already make MORE than a living wage) at NKHS and (OF COURSE) NKHS wants to keep them there.  The more the clients are abused, the more afraid to speak out against the program they become and the more secure NKHS staff is about their income in these troubled times.

Imagine being born with a disability.  It makes life a struggle from day one!  Friends, family and freedom is something that we all take for granted but when one’s life is shrouded in a disability most people never look past that diagnosis to the person living inside.  Many parents throw their hands in the air and let “the system” take over…or other parents have their children ripped away because someone in “the system” saw another big Medicaid waiver waiting to happen.  Medicaid waivers ARE, after all, what keeps people in  jobs.

My grandson is three years old and he has autism.  He has the face of a cherub and a head surrounded by blonde curls. He also has a lot of socially inappropriate behaviors and we are faced with the daily task of teaching him what is right and what needs to change.  Because he is cute a lot of actions are excused by the public and even by family.  “That’s Rowan!” has been even my explaination for taking apart my flashlight or spitting on the floor and stomping in it, or taking his diaper off or unplugging the TV while we are watching it when his brother and sister are expected not to do these things.  As he matures his behaviors will become less and less those of a cute little boy and harder and harder to control.  His mother will need a lot of help from Human Services agencies.   WHAT IF…when he arrives at puberty and he is faced with an entirely new (and natural) change in his body…we don’t get the time to teach him what is and is not OK?  What if something comes to the attention of an agency my daughter went to for help and HE becomes a cash cow?

What about your own family?  I know that I never anticipated having a disabled grandchild…it never crossed my mind.  I have hopes and dreams for my family and I am sure you do for yours.  Please consider that could be me” and take a good hard look at the agency serving your area.  I have guardianship of a woman who was a client of NKHS and she was beaten down, threatened and abused by that agency and she didn’t know how to fight back.  She asked me to be her guardian and fight for her.  NKHS accused me of “sneaking that one in under the door”.  They broke the law more than once in the way she was treated and then were shocked when I transferred her services to Sterling Area Services.  I knew her rights and mine as a guardian but had I not, she would still be one of their puppets.  I was lucky…she was lucky.  Most people with a family member or ward don’t even know their rights and NKHS does NOTHING to educate them on this matter.

I have read the blog by Tracy Gilman, safechoicesabuse.org and I am appalled by the stories of abuse there.  They are all true and documented by the very agency she is fighting.  I have worked for NKHS and I have seen firsthand the way they treat the clients who bring in the big waivers.  They deliberately keep them in a crisis state to generate more money for themselves.  This is not JUST the Safe Choices clients.  I encourage you…no I am asking you… to take a look at NKHS and the ways they use the monies given to them for providing “services”.  Look at their “CADRE” billing.  Is it possible that every weekend a client is in crisis and the same people are paid (over and over) an additional $18.00 to $22.00 per hour to watch them?  Why do these clients rarely have a crisis during the week when staff are doing other things and don’t have time built into their days to supplement their salaries?

Look at the life of the safe choices clients and imagine trying to live it?  Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week they are antagonized and made to feel like the dirt of the universe.  I would go crazy if I had a loved one in that program.  It is “arms length” supervision.  Some of these people have not been touched in years.  What must that be like?  Babies DIE if they aren’t held.  The staff is creating a death of the soul in these already vulnerable people who would be at enough of a disadvantage if this had never happened in their lives.  Prisons don’t even treat people like that.   Please help them…and save the state a LOT of tax dollars.  Shutting down Safe Choices and installing the VERY small handful of people who really DO need such a program in a place where they will be treated humanely would be a good start.

Sincerely,

Jeannie Ayer

Voter and taxpayer.

A Rogue Agency, allegations of rape, abuse and Neglect in Vermont Human Services Agency

I wake up each morning knowing that my son, a young man with a disability is surrounded by Northeast Kingdom Human Services (NEKHS) Employees who despise him, it seems a part of their job description.  Bill was placed on Act 248 in 2006 because he was accused of Lewd and Lascivious conduct and due to disability determined to be “incompetent” and unable to stand trial.

In 1987 Vermont passed a law to deal with people slipping through cracks in the laws and Act 248 was the solution.  The act places the “incompetent person” into the “Care and Custody” of the Commissioner of The Department of Aging and Disability (DAIL) who then places the “Ward” into a designated Agency for services, which now makes the ward a “client”.  The Agency is now able to access upward of $100,000, yearly for each “client” and according to a 2010 report by DAIL to Representatives Lippert and Marcotte Vermont has 200 “risk to public safety” clients.

The designated agency in my son’s case is NEKHS.  For five years I have voiced my concerns about the “therapeutic model” which consists of 24/7 supervision and a weekly group facilitated by Saul Schoenberg, where high level sex offenders without disabilities are thrown together with low level offenders with disabilities and a third  type of “client” who has no charges and no convictions, just a disability.  The danger to the Psyche of these second two types seems obvious.   My son would tell me over and over that he didn’t want to hear all this really bad stuff, that it wasn’t good for him.  The therapist “Saul Schoenberg” according to his own treatment  notes questioned my sons ability to process information in this environment. Yet he continued to treat  him in this forum for five years.  Not to mention other things noted in his therapy notes that should have been addressed and weren’t.  He probably knows what I’m referring to.

In an attempt to bring public awareness to this ongoing saga where men’s lives are at stake I created the blog “safe choices abuse reports” and started to conduct interviews with some of the men who have escaped the “Safe Choices” Program.  I’ve heard nightmarish stories, stories far worse than those already reported in the “Safe Choices” series printed in the Barton Chronicle, Orleans and Caledonian Record.  Men raping men in bathrooms while the group is paraded by and told to “look straight ahead”, program directors having sex on their desks while clients pass by, clients being locked into rooms with no bathrooms and forced to defecate on the floor.  When I asked one young man how he came into the program and he said, “I was homeless once and I was walking down the street when  “Saul pulled up and asked me if I wanted a ride”.  Years later he has many stories to tell.  I have not posted many of these videos and will try to avoid doing so to protect the victims from more abuse, but the victims want justice and I intend to use a wider media outlet before much more goes onto my blog, which is mostly read by state workers and attorney’s to see if I slip up and to determine how much evidence there really is.  I’m just scratching the surface of my son’s incomplete file and I can prove a lot.  I can only imagine what I could do with the files of those other clients.  Not to mention the former employees who would love to come forward and testify if they thought it would make any difference.  NEKHS and DAIL just keep building a case against themselves. While I keep talking to people and getting more names.  I am a very outgoing person, a respected professional and through my work I meet intelligent people from all over the world.  The powers that be sitting in Waterbury might think we are all just a bunch of “Bumkins” up here in the Kingdom who never get out of the state but they have sorely misjudged.  I have no doubt that good will prevail over evil, I’m just not sure how much public humiliation the  State of Vermont has to experience before it decides to investigate this rogue agency.

I have not uploaded many of the interviews.  I have truly hoped that Governor Shumlin or Secretary of Human Services Douglas Racine would respond to the packets of information I mailed to them weeks ago.  It wouldn’t take a huge effort to prove serious misconduct as well as Medicaid fraud.   Bill’s attorney and I have filed so many motions with the courts trying to get my son out of this hideous house of horrors;  relief from abuse for a vulnerable adult, emergency change of placement, writ of habeas corpus .  An Emergency Relief from Abuse” order was filed against DAIL and NEKHS on Tuesday morning in Orleans county, the affidavit cite more than ten counts of ongoing abuse and neglect as defined by Vermont Law as well as DAIL’s own definitions  including failure to provide food, withholding medical treatment (inhaler), verbal abuse (sexually degrading comments by HEKHS employees), harrasment, interference with legal counsel, unnecessary confinement, subjecting to second hand cigarette smoke and marijuana,  it is now Thursday and I’ve heard nothing.  I can only hope that it is being seriously considered.

On Mother’s Day I was allowed to visit Bill in the parking lot of NEKHS where of course video taping is forbidden.  Bill’s Grandfather,  Terry Gilman, his brother Nate Bennett, sister Amber Bennett, and Bill’s Father Patrick Bennett were supervised by four NEKHS Employees.

When I asked at a “Team Meeting” which included NEKHS and DAIL why my son was being subjected to two Staffers following him at all times, I was told that it was so they could witness for each other.  When I asked why my son is not being allowed to have a low fat diet as recommended by his doctor, I was told by Kath Aiken (who’s face contorted like a hideous sneering animal) that “it’s  a recommendation, not a doctor’s order, so we don’t have to”. Clearly if there is any way possible, legally or illegally, to deny my son the most basic human kindness NEKHS will.  When asked what was being done about Terri Moore the employee who made a disgusting sexual comment to my son which I consider sexual abuse, I received a non answer from Dixie McFarland.  Before the meeting ended I could see my daughter Ambers’ discomfort at sitting next to the Venomous Kathy Aiken, “Program Manager” who is at the center of many of the videos I have yet to put up on the blog.  Afterward Amber, who was sitting between Aiken and her brother said the only reason she didn’t move to the other side of the room was that Bill would have been left with nobody between him and the clearly hostile Aiken. And why can’t my son go buy some saline solution for his inflamed sinuses, oh yeah, I remember, because we can’t make them.

On 8/5/ I posted a video of case worker, Tammy Crowe trying to get me to sign releases of information without my son’s attorney looking them over.  Remember now, there are several court proceedings pending and we are in a adversarial relationship with this Agency and DAIL.  Well on Monday 5/9 in a more aggresive attempt to get the my son’s records, Jerry Laike, a “Public Safety Specialist” (PSS) big man with  a history in corrections showed up at Bill’s (independent) psychologists office, along with Kathy Aiken and Rick Devost demanding to have access to Bill’s records.  Bill’s psychologist, not a big man, but a good man, stood with Laike towering over  him trying to intimidate him.  Bill’s therapist calmly informed Mr Laike that he would need a specific court order to release Bill’s records without his consent.  The three stooges sat in the waiting room through out Bill’s whole session talking in voices loud enough that they could be heard through the doors and over the noise maker.  Upon leaving Mr Laike pounced on the therapist once again.  These people have been emboldened through successful dominance of the  court system and legislation.  While tax payers are being crushed under the weight of more taxes to pay thugs like these to harass disabled men, our legislators are seemingly unaware or unconcerned.

The Commissioner of DAIL personally is holding my right to see my son over my head in an attempt to get me to sign a document that states “my son is a sex offender”.  I was presented with the document by Heather Allin another PSS on Tuesday at the so-called Team Meeting.  Bill’s brother, sister and father sat and witnessed the corrupt and devious “Human Services of Vermont”.  I did not sign the statement so my son remains separated from his family.

There is a serious movement in this country to broaden government ability to civilly commit people under the guise of “Risk to Public Safety”, a term which makes the public feel safe.  It’s like “Threat to National Security” makes you feel secure, right?  Let us not forget history.  We are clearly a country in decline, when government has such broad powers to deny individual citizens the rights granted by our constitution we are no longer a free country.  Please read a famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.  First the Came for the communists………………trade unionists…………..Jews.  And we all know they came for the “Retards”