Torture not Treatment - Disability Rights International

TORTURE NOT TREATMENT
Level III punishments are given to children with all kinds of disabilities, many without
self-injurious behaviors;
Level III punishments are given for swearing, nagging and failure to maintain a neat
appearance;
The use of electric shock skin devices raises health and safety concerns;
The withholding of food as punishment could pose risks affecting growth and
development;
Delayed punishment practices are used so that subjects may not be able to comprehend
any relationship between a punishment and a behavior;
The JRC setting discourages social interactions;
There is insufficient academic and special education instruction;
JRC compromises the privacy and dignity of students. 208
Ultimately, the NYSED‘s review team concluded that the effects of the punishment on children
at JRC are increased fear, anxiety or aggression. 209
One of the findings of the NYSED review team was that ―behavioral programming at JRC is not
sufficiently monitored by appropriate professionals at the school and in many cases the level of
background and preparation of staff is not sufficient to oversee the intensive treatment of
children with challenging emotional and behavioral disorders.‖ 210
The reality is that JRC staff may have had even less training than was represented to the NYSED
review team. In May 2006, the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure found that
JRC had improperly claimed that fourteen JRC clinicians were trained as licensed psychologists.
In a consent agreement with the Board of Registration of Psychologists, JRC paid $43,000 in
fines. 211 Dr. Matthew Israel, the Director of JRC, was personally fined $29,600 and was
reprimanded by the Board. 212
Recent incidents of abuse
In August 2007, an investigation of JRC was conducted by the Massachusetts Department of
Early Education and Care (EEC) – the licensing agency for JRC residences - following the
unauthorized administering of shock to two boys at their JRC residence. According to the report,
one boy received 29 electric shocks, and the other received 77 shocks within a three hour time
period. 213 The incident occurred when a former JRC student phoned the residence in the middle
of the night, pretending to be a staff person, and ordered the residence staff to use shocks on the
sleeping adolescents. EEC investigators interviewed the boys and staff and reviewed video
footage and found that both boys had been awoken from their sleep when they received the
shock; both boys had additional shocks when they were strapped to a 4-point restraint board;
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