When Alex Died....The little boy who should not have died. In disabilities vulnerable children are allowed to die with no consequences for providers - the justice system is not giving the most vulnerable justice that is equal to the rest of society.
A Bus driver was arrested and charged without bail last Thursday when the 53 year old woman hit a 14 year old school boy with the bus and killed him (Guardian February 2023) - she was immediately arrested without bail, and immediately in trouble and brought to court and charged…an accident? Sure but she was still charged for dangerous driving, negligent driving and a whole gamut of charges. https://www.theguardian.com/.../bus-driver-charged-boy
Yet when an 11 year old boy, called Alex, ran from a respite house even though meant to be having one on one care and was killed by a train no one was charged for negligence or manslaughter, reckless endangerment – not even the workers in charge of the boy or the organization which apologized! How can an apology be enough? It wouldn’t be for a ‘normal’ kid dying. Yet the respite house itself had not put enough safety measures into the disability house for looking after this boy - in short the life of a disability person is weighed up by the justice system as not being important enough to charge the people who harm or allow the death of a vulnerable one like that. Even a child. They blame the child’s disability for the accident, or neglect in care, but a non disability person is not blamed for being hit by a bus, the perpetrator is. The bus driver took responsibility for their crime, yet disability providers never admit responsibility for their crimes of neglect, or even manslaughter against a vulnerable person in their care. Again and again parents say where is the duty of care by the providers in disabilities? Where is heath and safety when it comes to disabilities? not just for the workers but for those in care the very vulnerable? They are not being protected enough.
Outside Macarthur High School parents were talked to by the media tv news after the 14 year old boys accidental death at being hit by the school bus, and when they questioned the mothers they said they were afraid, for their children in case anything should happen to them. Were they safe? How do they think parents of special needs children feel everytime a child or adult child dies and other mothers watch on with fear in case it should happen to their child. The fear is real and valid.
Providers put money before care, profits before safety. Then when someone vulnerable is harmed and it is covered up or apologized for as if that is enough! The parents of the 11 year old boy Alex, who died in 2018 will never be the same, (ABC News 14 February 2023),
‘When her 11-year-old son Alex died almost five years ago, Sharon Braverman said she lost her life's purpose. "It's worse than anything I can imagine … the pain is just underneath the rage and the feeling of injustice," she said.’ https://www.abc.net.au/.../alex-raichman-death.../101895652
It was noted in the article ‘ The coroner found his death was "entirely preventable if adequate safety measures had been in place" ‘
If it was ‘entirely preventable’ then why wasn’t it prevented? Alex’s mother cannot move on five years after her son has died and because he was her life. No mother can move on who loses their child yet our children are treated with scant regard and not valued or given justice when wrong is done against them. No children should be dying in any care or respite.
This needs to change. What is wrong with Australia? Even the United nations anti torture investigations were called off due to being blocked from seeing youth detention place, and even disabilities place they were also intending to investigate. Wrong needs to stop being covered up.
Again no safety measures were taken for this little boy who was prone to running away and needed proper care and safety to be put in place to protect him and keep him in the house proper latches on windows and doors etc. Yet this appeared to be lacking at the respite house who had this knowledge of him. . We need stronger health and safety laws in disabilities applied. Disabilities have been made into a business making money for greedy providers who focus on their profits with little regard for those they make the money off - yet these disability children are the most vulnerable humans who need protecting in our society. People start these disability businesses and then fail to put health and safety measures instead keeping things economical or cheap when disabilities persons and children need more than the usual safeguards. They need extra care. Instead they get less care and less justice when things go wrong because of the lack of extra care and safety precautions by many of these disability ‘businesses’.
“They entrusted Alex's care to a respite home they had used before, in Oatley in Sydney's south, run by Civic Disability Services.
"My expectation was a safe care setting, run and maintained by professional, skilled staff," Ms Braverman said.’
Parents expectation is not being met. The staff are often not skilled, not professional, with no training or education in disabilities or even social welfare or psychology. Less than a childcare worker. Yet they are put with the most complex needy children and adults with little understanding of what is needed for these human beings who need the greatest care. A great injustice is the way those who know so little are put with those with the greatest needs of care and regard. If wrong is done or someone is hurt it is hidden swept under the carpet unless there are cctv cameras to pick up the crimes. Yet there would be less harmed or die if the right training and education was expected of workers and if they were more accountable and if there were health and safety checks more often and unexpectedly but it is doubtful that any health and safety checks are done in disabilities. We need health and safety regulations applied more strongly or more vulnerable children will die unnecessarily and more families left distraught and broken. With no justice given it cuts deeper
‘Ms Braverman informed Civic that her son was a "profound absconding risk" and he was assessed as requiring one-to-one care at all times. On Alex's first night in the house, he attempted to escape through a window. A Civic support worker emailed management expressing concern for Alex's safety and requested immediate work to secure the windows. The next morning, Alex got out of his bedroom window and played outside for an hour.’
Why wasn’t this work done before Alex stayed at the house? Why take a boy with high absconding risk without make the house safe? Where was safework on this one? The respite house had the information about this boy and yet had not secured the windows and doors enough on the house before he came to stay. As for one on one why wasn’t the worker watching Alex like a hawk at all times? Do they actually get one on one care which we parents pay for at night as well as day, or do they look after all the kids with one worker? I asked the respite provider we use about that and they never answered me. Why charge one on one if they are not giving it? Crooks.
The article notes: The support worker sent another email to Civic regarding the lack of locks on the windows and a handyman attended the house to make them safe.
But the ensuite window wasn't secured and on the fourth night of his stay, Alex escaped. He jumped over a low-lying fence and ran from the house.’
Alex ran onto railway tracks and was killed by a train as the worker pursued with emergency and tried to catch him. We know the rest, it was the fourth night of his stay. The fence around the house was low lying??? There should have been a high fence with a locked gate around the house.
"The trust they placed in Civic to care for their precious child was betrayed." His death was entirely preventable if adequate safety measures had been in place."
Magistrate Grahame said the "deficiencies" in Alex's care included "inappropriate staffing levels".Civic had been fully informed of the risks inherent in housing a child such as Alex in a property with a low fence and unsecured windows."’
I never trust providers anymore, the care they advertise or claim to your face I ignore as hype and lies if necessary it is just to get the business. I always send instructions always question workers always demand more because they are just not doing what they should be or will hide it. The workers are not capable of proper safety and care so I make sure they do what I require of them or I ask for another worker because it is too late once something happens I can no longer believe in them or their claims of care. No, we cannot entrust our children or loved ones to providers because they are in it for the money not for our vulnerable precious children at all. We must fight for better laws, higher standards of workers, health and safety regulations to be applied in all disability centres and greater accountability by the so called ‘care’ providers and our government for turning a blind eye at what happens in disabilities.
The article further notes: Alex’s mother ‘… has taken Alex's case to the NSW Ombudsman, SafeWork NSW and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Despite her efforts, Ms Braverman feels the response to her son's death has been inadequate.
"There's been no accountability and it was just like, 'Well Alex died, oh well, that's sad.' "Alex's future and his life meant absolutely everything to me."’
No one person got criminal charges and even the organization Civic did not get any penalties or fines it just got ‘recommendations’. What an awful outcome to an organization not looking after a child properly. One that didn’t bother to put in safeguards to give the care that was need for this boy. No penalties for letting someone die. That is not justice that is equal to the rest of society.
‘While Magistrate Grahame said the "deficiencies" in Alex's care were not caused by "the failings of a single person", Civic "as a whole, led by the CEO Annie Doyle, must take responsibility".
"I was very troubled by Ms Doyle's evidence, particularly her acknowledgement that Civic always knew that Oatley was a substandard property."
Magistrate Grahame did not make recommendations for any individual to be considered for criminal charges as a result of Alex's death.’
Another provider gets off scott free with the negligence and death of a vulnerable boy and even involuntary manslaughter, because they are an organization no one person is prosecuted. There seems to be no prosecutions for failed duty of care yet it is a criminal offence. Why are the judges not charging disability organizations for this? This is not justice at all. Things need to change so that an organization can be penalised, fined and shut down if necessary at the least the CEO should be dealt with even sued, imprisoned, for the loss of a precious life they claimed they would give care to.
Let us fight for changes in the law system and disabilities accountability to be lifted and stronger in order to stop more vulnerable children and adults dying in places the parents expected they could entrust their child’s care – it is wrong to let this kind of lack of justice and accountability to continue it has to stop.
The manager of the respite house where I send my son said you do not have to keep sending instructions oh but I do have to send them I said – do your workers even read the profiles of the clients? (In fact can they read ?) I want them, the support workers, to read my instructions and I will not stop sending them and questioning as much as I can because the providers can not be trusted no matter what they say.
Sign my petition for cctv in disabilities centres to be made mandatory so that we can have justice in all incidents of harm and provide evidence: change.org/disabilitycameras
All the best
Anndrea x