I saw a news item on ABC news tv this morning and the guest commenter said this recent court Judgement of NDIS suing Afford, was a landmark case for disabilities, over the young woman, Merna’s drowning in a bath at Afford disabilities services, that Afford was fined $400,000 for this vulnerable young woman’s death.
The commentator also said that providers had been immune from accountability before this so this was a major outcome or step forward, and that what happened to Merna drowning in care was negligence, yet the TV presenter countered the comment and said Afford was fined for failing to keep the young woman safe.
Shifting the seriousness of the situation over into an accident. It was a preventable death, it was negligence and not just an accident. Calling it ‘failing to keep her safe’ is laughable if it were not so tragic and takes away the crime that it was. Not only did they fail to keep her safe they let her die due to their actions, of omitting to supervise. Typical that they make it out to be that if someone has a disability and die that’s their fault not the workers or the providers. It is very subtle how people view a disability person’s death as if the disability makes anyone else innocent of hurting them or their death.
Typical that on the news they would call it ‘failure to keep someone safe’, a nice smoothing over comment, that really should have been criminal negligence or manslaughter. In effect this government decriminalize when our disability children are hurt or assaulted or allowed to die.
When I brought my complaint to the police the first time when my son was hit to the head, by the worker he was with who said she didn’t said his swollen head, or know anything about it - that one of the policemen said to the other – this is just common assault isn’t it? Yes actually it is – but without cameras it is not a crime said the other policeman later to me. With no cameras, no crime he said. if they hit our kids if we cannot prove it and whatever they do to them it is not a crime. I went into shock, a shock and trauma that has never gone away. That our children do not mean anything in the justice system.
Noted in an article from New Jersey, America – Advocates demand cameras for homes for developmentally disabled adults to reduce abuse (Defilippo, December 5, 2022, “New Jersey monitor”) A article concerning a mothers crusade to fight for cameras is written about, her son Nick Aquilino, living in a state run home for developmentally disabled adults, a 33 year was severely autistic and completely nverbal. He suffered a broken finger in July 2021 which a specialist said was like an injury a basket ball player got from his fingers being bent back by a basketball. The young man couldn’ say what happened because he was non verbal, and neither could anyone else give the mother answers at the home where he stayed. Yet he had one on one care! Despicable, why don’t they know or are they just covering up? https://newjerseymonitor.com/.../advocates-demand.../
His mother started keeping track of all his injuries - and found he had another fracture from the past on his hand that had healed up. She found there were 248 injuries to her son, averaging an injury every other day. For two thirds of those injuries workers at the Woodbine developmental centre where he had the one on one 24 hour monitoring couldn’t explain what happened. If a person has one on one care you expect the worker would know something. The mother noted that yes he could sometimes do self injurious behaviours, but these other injuries were apart from those.
The poor mother asked state authorities to investigate. But “without proof of wrongdoing they told her they could not hold anyone accountable”.
Nick’s mother now wants state legislators to act on a long-stall bill that would require group homes to install security cameras in common areas and private rooms if the residents request and consent to such monitoring. She notes that her son’s situation of having one on one staff and sometimes two to one and he still gets these unknown injuries that if you had the video you could look and see what caused these.
Without change the mother said (Allen) “my fear is that he will end up dead”
Other critics say that it wont solve all abuse, neglect and exploitation and sometimes workers cover up the cameras or move to where there are no cameras - but I say and agree with the mother it is better than never knowing anything at all. If the disability places go to that extent to hide things makes them even more sinister and the need for accountability must be demanded of them.
Noted in the article, that calls for cameras in group homes started more than five years ago when Billy Cray was found dead, face down on a bloody pill in the bedroom closet of his
Somers point group home – an autopsy concluded that he died of natural causes. His mother however, Martha, suspected foul play and had been an outspoken disability rights advocate before he died in 2017. She said Billy had been repeated physically and sexually abused during the 25 years of living in group homes. Cray helped with other laws to be strengthen for protections of people with developmental disabilities and then started working with lawmakers to craft legislation know as “Billy Cray’s law” that would require group homes to install security cameras, with resident’s consent. This has all been delayed after being introduced in 2020 passing unanimously in two assembly committees yet failing to move in the Senate. It has been reintroduced in February 2022 but yet to be heard in a committed hearing in either chamber.
Cray is infuriated “How many deaths does it take” she says “ to pass a law?” She states “I find it, oh my God, horrible. People are going to be continuing to bury their children. I am offended that these (disability sons and daughters) are not considered.” Cray notes that Bills that protect dogs get passed quicker than a bill passed for the disabled.
She is so right. Animals get their rights in laws quicker than humans with disabilities do here in Australia too. Noted in an article in 2017 in Australia Sydney morning Herald (https://www.smh.com.au/.../school-classrooms-should-be
) The NSW Parliament was asked to put cctv cameras in special needs classrooms that provide live broadcasts so that recordings could not be doctored or hidden. Parents asked for this who had a child with multiple special needs and in their submission noting in the article “The submission contains serious allegations of abuse suffered by their son by a number of teachers and teachers' aids including pushing him with boxing shields and preventing him from accessing the toilet or eating sandwiches.” (Sydney morning herald 2017) saying also “"In short, certain staff at the school succeeded in turning our son into a monster and when aggression towards others failed to secure peace from abuse and neglect, he resorted to other survival instincts such as flight and freezing," the parents said.
The article also noted that animals get more safety surveillance than special needs children and said “The submission by the parents of a child with multiple disabilities said people in hospital cafeterias, banks, school foyers and "pets at dog grooming parlours have a greater right to protection from abuse and neglect than highly vulnerable children".
"[T]here are dog grooming services in the Sydney CBD that provide a log-in live stream to see what stage your pets' grooming is up to and how they are faring yet no such precautions for children in NSW government schools," the parents said.
"We believe the safety of our children is equally if not more important than that of peoples' money, house and pets."
We need the cctv to stop any crimes, assaults, manslaughters and deaths happening freely to our disability children, and that is why we need to make providers accountable and not be allowed to let abuse happen.
At present here in Australia, it all goes unpunished. Common assault under the Crimes Act 1900 (s16) the law notes s61 Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) “whosoever assaults any person, although not occasioning actual bodily harm, shall be liable to imprisonment for two years…” My son did get actual bodily harm and the swollen head he had with the bruise on his forehead stayed for up to a year. Quite a while. The police were not interested. The doctor said he had been hit with an object. James never hits his head with an object but after the assault started slapping the spot where he was attacked. He was traumatised. He is easily anxious now.
I do not want my son to be a victim of an assault through force as happened in 2019 with police refusing to question the worker. Police all the discretion and power, they also have biases.
It happened again a year later in another organization day program. The worker said nothing happened and I could not prove a thing without the cameras. The organization covered up and said the workers said nothing happened – of course they did - why are there deep bruises on his arms then?
We need the cctv cameras. WE need that legislation that mandates cctv cameras in all places of disabilities including group homes, day programs and school special needs classrooms. Critics don’t want them and cite privacy as the reason, but they are the ones who do not want to be accountable for the abuse and deaths in disabilities and they simply do not want to get caught letting their untrained, unskilled, workers hurting our vulnerable children and adult children. They should be ashamed.
Providers pretend to care as long as they get your money and NDIS funding and that is where the caring ends.
We parents must make the providers and schools and workers and teachers, accountable and we need laws that mandate accountability and a change of attitude in our society that makes those with disabilities as important and precious as the next person, even more important than people’s precious pets, because our children are human beings who are precious and of value and anything else contrary to that is a lie.
sign my petition: change.org/disabilitycameras
all the best
Anndrea x
 

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