Fernald resident moved against her will, advocates allege
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff
A federal judge said today he is considering asking federal prosecutors to investigate whether state officials transferred a legally blind, 91-year-old retarded resident of the Fernald Developmental Center in Waltham against her will in violation of an order he issued in August.
US District Judge Joseph L. Tauro is weighing the issue after a day-long hearing into allegations that the Department of Mental Retardation and the corporate guardian for some of the 170 residents of the center moved the woman, identified only as A.T., to a group home in Bedford after telling her she was going on an outing.
Early in the hearing, Tauro left no doubt that he intended to refer the matter to prosecutors, saying he was going to ask the US Attorney's Office to undertake a ``very brief investigation to find out what happened.'' But he surprised many in the courtroom at the end of the hearing by saying that he was taking the matter under advisement and would issue an order soon.
A representative for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, who finished a study last March of Fernald and determined it should remain open for residents who want to stay, said prosecutors would investigate the allegations by the Fernald League for the Retarded. The league, which represents families and guardians of residents, wants the center to remain open.
In August, Tauro barred officials at Fernald from moving any residents unless they and their guardians agreed. Governor Deval L. Patrick, like Governor Mitt Romney before him, wants to close Fernald and move residents to group homes. The Patrick administration is appealing Tauro's order to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, where arguments are expected in a few months.
During the hearing, a former employee of the Arc of Greater Boston, the corporate guardian for some of the residents, testified that she had spoken with A.T. several times while working as a case manager at Fernald and was sure that she did not want to leave the center. A.T. has lived there about 50 years.
“She clearly stated no,'' recalled Linda Curran, who worked for Arc from August 2006 until last week. “She was so adamant about staying.''
After Curran conveyed A.T.'s objections to supervisors and expressed her own opposition to such moves, she said, higher-ups stripped her of her caseload and transferred it to an Arc co-worker. That employee recently approved moving the elderly woman to a group home in Bedford.
Under cross-examination by lawyers representing the Department of Mental Retardation and Arc, however, Curran acknowledged that she was not present when A.T. was transferred on Feb. 13 and had not spoken to her at that time.
Christine Oliveira, deputy assistant commissioner for facilities management for the
Department of Mental Retardation, said that A.T. had visited the group home several times in recent weeks, referred to it as her home in addition to Fernald, and grew fond of staff members. Oliveira also said that she had heard A.T. give conflicting responses when asked whether she wanted to move.
The hearing, part of years of litigation over whether the residents would be best served by staying at Fernald or moving to a group home, is expected to go all day. Beryl Cohen, a lawyer representing families and guardians of residents, has also asked the judge to order prosecutors to look into the circumstances of the recent transfer of nine other residents from Fernald. The judge said he will consider that request as well.
