When will Beacon Hill do its job?

Massachusetts 'leadership' (if we can call it that!) is again negligent and the cost is the lives of disabled individuals.

The focus for far too long had been on back room deals and secret meetings to address "Slot Barn Gambling."

The Gambling Industry has held the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hostage, stroking egos, providing undisclosed promises revealed during those secret discussions, monopolizing the media and providing campaign contributions.

Obsessed with the blinding lights of Slot Barn Glitter, leadership has ignored the rest of their responsibilities. The Governor, following the path set by his Republican predecessors has jeopardized the lives of those 'least among us.'

The system supposed to protect those unable to protect themselves has been sacrificed on the altar of "Slot Barn Gambling" by a Governor obsessed.

When will Beacon Hill do its job?


Lawmakers: Group-home deaths merit 'harder look'
By Joyce Tsai


Several of the area's state legislators are questioning the Patrick administration's plan to close four of the state's six institutions for people with developmental disabilities in the wake of a report over the weekend that two developmentally disabled men died in state-run group homes in Tyngsboro and Tewksbury.

The deaths, said state Sen. Eileen Donoghue, raise important questions about the men's quality of care and whether they received adequate supervision at those facilities.

"In my estimation, that certainly bears investigation," the Lowell Democrat said.

Although some argue that the cost of keeping open such state-run institutions for the severely developmentally disabled, such as the Fernald Development Center in Waltham, is astronomical, "it's not a dollar-and-cents issue," Donoghue said.

It's a complicated question, she acknowledged, adding, "Let's look at how the state can best care for people who are the most vulnerable in our society."

State Rep. Jim Miceli also said that the deaths -- especially that of a man who died after eating a plastic bag in Tyngsboro this summer -- simply should not happen.

"It's horrific," the Wilmington Democrat said, "and obviously we hold these agencies to the proper care of the citizens that are entrusted to them.

"Certainly, I want to see an investigation of the manning of those homes and what happened," he added.

The deaths have raised concern that the governor's plan could cause a lot of problems of a similar nature in the future, he said.
"Everyone likes to talk about our most vulnerable citizens, and these are our most vulnerable citizens," he said. "We should take a harder look."

According to reports from the state's Disabled Persons Protection Commission, obtained Friday by the Associated Press, a man living in a state-run group home in Tyngsboro died July 6 after he was taken to Lowell General Hospital on June 19 after swallowing a plastic shopping bag. No one at the facility saw him swallow the bag, even though the man required total care and had been flagged as someone who suffered from pica, a desire to eat inedible items.

Weeks later, on July 24, a man at a state-run home in Tewksbury died of a sudden undetermined illness that is still being determined by an autopsy. Although staff called 911 and tended to the man, who required minimal assistance, after he collapsed in a bedroom, he could not be revived.

Both had been transferred from state-run institutions that the Patrick administration plans to close. The man at the Tyngsboro home had been there for about a year after being transferred from the Fernald Center, and the man at the Tewksbury home had been there for four days, after moving from the Templeton Developmental Center in Baldwinville.

The state Department of Developmental Services, which runs the homes, said the deaths are under investigation.

But state Sen. Susan Fargo said it is crucial "to determine their causes, so they can be avoided next time."

The Lincoln Democrat, who represents Carlisle, Chelmsford and Concord, was saddened by the deaths and said she has been "very, very concerned about plans to close the Fernald center," which is in her district.

She believes commercial and residential interests have influenced the desire to shut the center.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney was among the first to push for closing the center because he wanted that land to be developed, she said.

"It's on an almost 200-acre plot of a prime real estate in Waltham, inside of Route 128, so it's a very desirable location," she said.

Although those reasons are "not stated" by advocates of the center's closure, Fargo said they have played a role in the debate.

"And in the meantime, those who don't have a voice were kind of shoved and moved around," she said, adding that keeping the center open "hasn't been a winning cause."

Fernald, which was the first center scheduled to close, on June 30, 2010, still has 14 residents in the facility.

A judge in a federal court case involving Fernald ruled that patients "cannot be forced to move against their will, unless they are getting equal or better care," Fargo said.

She added that although she supports community-based programs and has a sister with Down syndrome who has thrived in one of those programs, she is concerned that there have been other deaths for which the causes are unclear, and said that may indicate that those with developmental disabilities do not like a change in surroundings and don't thrive after such a move.

Many have lived in those facilities their whole lives, and such a move is "traumatic," said David Kassel, spokesman for the Massachusetts Coalition of Families and Advocates, an advocacy group for people with developmental disabilities and their families, who has argued against the plan.

Fargo agreed, noting that it's especially hard for people with complex medical conditions.

"To be picked up and moved at 50, 60, 70 or 80 years old is very hard on them," she said. "And we are concerned it's not just these two people, but others, that may not be getting equal or better care."