State investigates 7 at Canton, MA, school

As reported in the Boston Globe, and also seen here

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.