JRC forging ahead without its founder
By Jay TurnerEditor’s note: Below is the second in a series of articles examining the Judge Rotenberg Center without its founder, Matthew Israel, who stepped down from the school effective June 1. The first story, which appeared in the Citizen on June 9, dealt with Senator Joyce’s ongoing efforts to ban shock therapy, while the story below looks at the school’s future plans without Israel at the helm. The third installment will examine the reaction of some of JRC’s most ardent supporters, including family members of current and former students.
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A month after bidding farewell to founder and longtime executive director Dr. Matthew Israel, the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton — a self-proclaimed school of last resort for individuals with severe behavior disorders — remains fully committed to its mission and has no plans to abandon its controversial treatment methods, according to JRC attorney Michael Flammia.
Dr. Matthew Israel (www.judgerc.org)
In an interview last week, Flammia said both the staff and students at the residential school are going to sorely miss the leadership and vision of Dr. Israel — a man he described as “one of the best behavioral psychologists in the nation, if not the world.” However, he said the JRC remains in good hands under the guidance of its board of directors, most of whom are psychologists and educators, and its interim executive director, Glenda Crookes.
“The students are educated and treated by dozens of well-trained clinicians and teachers,” Flammia added, “so the work of the school will certainly continue.”
The 77-year-old Israel, a Harvard-trained psychologist who pioneered the use of skin shocks as a behavior modification tool, was recently ordered to resign from his position and to sever all ties to the school following his indictment in May on charges of destroying evidence and misleading a witness.
Israel, however, has denied all wrongdoing in the case, which involves an alleged cover-up related to an incident in 2007 at a JRC group home in which two students received dozens of shocks based on a prank phone call. Israel also claims to have left the school on his own terms, stating, in a letter posted on the school’s website weeks prior to the indictment, that he was moving to California to join his wife, Judy, and that it was “time for [him] to move over and let others take the reins.”
While Israel certainly has his share of detractors — everyone from former colleagues to state lawmakers to various advocacy groups — Flammia said the bottom line is that the man did an “incredible job” building the Rotenberg Center over the past four decades, turning it into the “most comprehensive and intensive behavioral program available anywhere.”
The center now serves approximately 250 students, ranging from young children to adults, including many with severe developmental disorders as well as those with extreme self-injurious tendencies. All of them are treated with positive reinforcement, which includes a points/token reward system, and roughly one-third of them are treated with aversives, most notably a two-second skin shock delivered via a portable device called a graduated electronic decelerator (GED).
Flammia said the school’s central principles, including its “near-zero rejection or expulsion policy,” its opposition to psychotropic medication, its commitment to a behavioral approach to treatment, and its “24/7 video monitoring of staff performance,” all will continue under the new leadership.
Flammia said a national search for Israel’s replacement is currently underway, and he expects the new executive director to be named by the end of the year. He indicated that the interim director, Ms. Crookes, who is not a psychologist but was groomed by Dr. Israel over the past ten years, plans to apply for the permanent position.
“[Crookes] has worked at the JRC for over 20 years and is extremely experienced in all facets of the school,” said Flammia. “She worked her way up from the bottom, starting as a direct-care staff person and has worked in all of the various positions.
“She is doing a great job as interim executive director, and she is a critically important resource for the school.”
In addition, Flammia said the JRC has over a dozen full-time clinicians with PhD’s in psychology, and “all are highly trained behaviorists.”
As for the school’s use of shock therapy, Flammia stressed that only those students with parental and court approval are given this particular treatment.
“That will continue,” he said, “although certainly the school is always evolving and looking to improve its practices. And they are always trying to successfully treat kids without using any aversives whenever possible.”
Of course, continuing this practice means that the school will have to continue fending off its opponents — including a growing collection of private citizens and public officials who are convinced that the school tortures its students.
And heading that group is state Senator Brian Joyce, who once again is sponsoring legislation to ban the use of aversives in the state of Massachusetts. Joyce recently scored a victory when his proposal passed the Senate with a unanimous vote, and he is now more confident than ever that the bill will finally make it to the governor’s desk.
Nevertheless, Flammia did not seem too concerned.
“Every year, an effort is made in the legislature that tries to pass laws to restrict the use of aversives,” he said. “But every year the parents [of JRC students] have been successful in convincing the legislature that aversives, for a small percentage of severely disabled students, are necessary and potentially life-saving. And we are confident that the parents will continue to be successful in this regard.”
*Update: House blocks Joyce’s proposal, but Patrick administration responds
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