The business of Disabilities – the problem is that disabilities has become big business for the providers and therapists while the parents and disability vulnerable persons are the losers…to exploitation and abuse… Further to my last post on Life without Barriers and their misdemeanors against their client ‘Natalie’ (fake name) who nearly died in LWB’s care due to their lack of attention to instructions from the mother on her health, medical and a number of issues – they NDIS and the providers, call them ‘clients’ and it clearly becomes all about the business, and not about the person. The providers need to realize and remember that these are living breathing, feeling humans that they are looking after not just clients to make money out of or just manage without regard to their right, feelings, and needs.
It is interesting that Life without Barriers have on the internet their notice for listening to complaints from their clients and parents, and then proceed not to listen to any complaints! https://www.lwb.org.au/contact-us/complaints-or-feedback/
Again regarding the same incident - on The Sydney News today (December 14th 2021) article is headed “Mother says Life Without Barriers ignored complaints about her daughter’s health and safety in a group home | Newcastle Herald”
The provider LWB say they will listen to complaints, but this Royal commission investigation showed they clearly do not. They do not even listen to the complaints by the family member, the mother in this case. Instructions are important and the difference between life and death. If a provider wont even do basic health and safety and then neglect the extra very urgent instructions then it is possible our vulnerable family member can die – and fatal outcomes should be manslaughter charges.
As we saw from Merna Aprem’s case, the young 19 year old girl drowned in care in the bath at Afford disabilities, because health and safety and protocols regarding bathrooms were not followed and in her case even worse because of seizures which the organization failed to make sure the support workers knew who were on shift that night. Tragedy and sadness followed and grief never ends for the mother and family of Merna.
As noted from the Newcastle Herald, the following are the areas where this provider, Life without Barriers, let another vulnerable girl be neglected(anonymous under the name Natalie) who has cerebral palsy, and lives in care in New South Wales.
The areas were firstly, LWB provider continued ignoring all the mother’s complaints for her daughter over a period of ten years! in all areas of quality of care and diet for her daughter living at the Life with Barriers residential facility. Due to her daughter’s diet and health not being managed properly this led to her daughter being hospitalized. She almost died in hospital, due to neglect by the provider to do the instructions they were given - because of Life without Barriers failure to follow up on the mother’s instructions on diet this girl ended up in hospital. Why do they not listen?. Often being given meals that did not comply with what her treating nutritionist recommended, and her prescribed exercise plan was not followed resulting in ongoing health complaints.
No wonder parents don’t want to put their disability kids in care even when they need the break, what happens to them when we are not here is there is no one to fight for their rights or check the providers?
Secondly, the provider was ignoring mother’s instructions and subsequent complaints to not let a Male worker do her personal care, even despite the girl being sexually assaulted then by a male support worker. The LWB provider then did not tell the mother when it happened straightaway but left it for up to six weeks! How dare they let this assault occur and then not even tell the mother so that she could comfort her daughter, who then had changed and become angry and upset and she couldn’t tell her mother why - how devious and hard hearted of the provider Life without Barriers to do that to this poor girl and her mother. Cover up as usual is what I also encountered with Life without Barriers.
In August, 2015,” Jennifer received a voicemail message from a Life Without Barriers operations manager telling her that she wanted to meet to discuss an alleged indecent and sexual assault of Natalie.” “This was the first I had heard about Natalie being the victim of alleged indecent and sexual assaults and it was a very distressing way to learn the news,” she said. “She was told that a male disability support worker who had been performing Natalie’s personal care had been charged with aggravated indecent assault of a person with physical disability and the offence of having sexual intercourse with a person with a cognitive impairment. “
Jennifer said she had raised concerns about that particular support worker “getting really close” to Natalie, and that he paid her “an unusual amount of attention” about four or five times, but that her concerns were dismissed. “I had also observed changes in Natalie’s behavior during 2014 and 2015,” she said.” I could tell there was something wrong with Natalie because she became angry … it was not like Natalie to be angry.” When the mother complained “Subsequent meetings with staff about Natalie’s personal care, the family’s preference that this be provided by a female and that she not be left overnight with a male support worker, did not lead to those changes, Jennifer said.
It seems Life without Barriers never ever listened to the mother’s requests for her daughter’s safety and comfort at all. Natalie would have been traumatized by the incident and this was obviously rape – she must have been so frightened – no wonder she was angry – how could they let this happen to a vulnerable person like this? They didn’t listen to the mother’s concerns. They ignored her again as not valid or were ignorant and not bothered to do what she requested yet they took Natalie’s NDIS funding which would have been substantial when a person is put in residential care. Why wont they do the right thing? It is truly despicable.
Natalie was also put to bed at 7pm every night despite her wishes – she is a grown person they should let her stay up as long as she wants it should be her choice…and “family members were made to feel uncomfortable about coming to visit her” - that girl belongs to her family not to the provider and she has the right to see them, and her family to see her. How dare they do this to the family!
Natalie is noted as having cerebral palsy, using a wheelchair and hearing aids and has moderate intellectual disability, and is ‘quite intelligent’ her mother said integrating into normal school from kindergarten and living at home until she was 21 years old.
When Natalie and her house mates were moved to a new LWB house, there was very little communication with families who were told they “did not want parents interfering”. The first time she visited her daughter at the new house, who had been distressed about the move and had been in tears, Jennifer said she felt so unwelcome she left soon afterwards. “
Thirdly the finances of her daughter were poorly managed with “numerous staff member having access to the safe where it was kept on the premises”! Her mother said that when Natalie asked for access to her own money, she said the staff would not give it to her, and her mother continued to pay for many of her lunches out, new clothes and pharmacy bills. Here we see exploitation of the girl’s funds as well how cruel.
The mother moved Natalie out of there at the end of 2020 and into supported independent living with a different service provider and she has since been saving money, even enough to buy presents for her family which she never could before. Jennifer the mother said “For years she had to ask me for money to buy people presents, but now she can buy them herself with her own money that she’s saved…”
Thank God her daughter is out of Life without Barriers house now. Her mother noted “Natalie seemed like she was scared of the Life Without Barriers disability support workers and was scared to speak up, however at her new home she “chatters all the time and appears very happy and comfortable with her workers”, Jennifer said.
Regarding the money it seems that providers are ‘winner takes all’ when it comes to our children’s and adult child’s funding and we have to constantly make them accountable. When I had James at a day program and we were changed over to NDIS suddenly all the accounts were changed and added to and claims by the manager that money was needed for this and that occurred.
I had to go to court for child support for my son since his father had nothing to do with him anymore preferring only to see James normal siblings he hadn’t seen him for 15 years and also would not pay money any further. The lawyer took him to court and the judge needed to see all the finances which I showed including from the provider at the time – Dare Disabilities accounts the woman in charge there kept changing amounts and making excuses and the lawyer said to me that place is dodgy. She was right.
I had to tell the accounts woman there You took $200 from James portal without my permission. Oh she said I will put that back What? She didnt even blink, she knew she was doing it and she thought she could. You shouldn’t take it in the first place – oh your support co-ordinator said I could no I never gave her permission – I rang the co-ordinator who smoothed it over even more oh no it’s a misunderstanding. Garbage. It was on purpose. That was just one incident there, there were many so I reported them and left.
This thing of taking over the money or thinking they can do what they like, has been a consistent with all the providers ever since NDIS came in, though it probably occurred before, including Life without Barriers always lying stealing and covering up has been my own experience for my son their little commodity. What false wolves are these?
After all this Natalie was lucky to move out of Life without Barriers, and her mother kept pushing and fighting for her, Natalie was also intelligent enough also to being able to tell her mother things. Those of us who have nonverbal children do not have that luxury, or children with intellectual disability who cannot articulate what has happened to them or speak up against those who care for them in disabilities programs and facilities.
We need more protection such as CCTV cameras for those who cannot defend themselves or speak about what is happening to them and those like Natalie who can do little about what the provider does to them. Parents are desperate for breaks and need these to keep caring for their disability child, and adult child, but afraid of exactly these things that happened to Natalie happening to their children.
We need an independent body to get onto these providers as the NDIS commission does little to follow-up and make a provider comply with regulations or even check if they are doing the right things by the ‘clients’ or listening to the parents requests. Here at Life without Barriers it appears they blatantly disregarded, ignored and disrespected Natalie’s mother and all she was trying to do for her daughter. How dare they take her funds from NDIS and proceed to ignore all instructions and needs that the person in their care has. They should not even be running those houses and continuing to neglect and abuse those they are paid to care for and paid well.
We have to keep on to providers and make them accountable at all times with our own children, they seem to become corrupt from their greed as time goes on, but we must not let them steal from our children’s funds, or allow them to not look after our children the way they claim they will and then fail to hiding it under multiple excuses or pretending they don’t know what happened. They often plead ignorance don’t listen to it stand and fight for your vulnerable dear ones always.
All the best
Anndrea
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