marg wrote:All of this is good information and maybe Eric can get this on his site and maybe the word will get out to those still in what is and what is not acceptable. But it seems to me what's missing in this is there is no regulation which requires that student are informed or have access to an independent body where they can voice their complaints. If parents are informed to not listen to the youth, I think the school would likely make it difficult for youth to complain to a gov't body...but I'm sure few would even know how to do it, or that they could do it.
Quite frankly I don't trust the school to be honest in how it runs its program.
marg,
Eric can put those up on his website or a link to them, however, notice that the second set of rules/regs where I extracted the bit about behavior management and reporting is listed as revised as of 1 Mar 09. That is to say, they cover only such instances that occured AFTER 1 Mar of this year. Revisions could amount to nothing more than a few section changes, so the wording could have been present in the previous rules/regs.
What he needs to know is the statute of limitations in Utah for child abuse reporting, prepare documentation, and THEN, he needs to match up the allegations to the rule/regs that were applicable during that time period. The attorney will do that for him.
Another thing, the attorney isn't going to compose the documentation. Any statements would need to come directly from victims. That's why Eric needs to become familiar with the rules/regs in general, determine if what he or others experienced was valid abuse and THEN, he needs to document it as I suggested. The attorney will no doubt summarize the allegations however, the victim statements have to come from the victims. I think the attorney will offer guidance or review the statement for thoroughness, however, Eric needs to be working on this himself in advance.
Eric has a mountain to climb. Just preparing his own documentation will be time consuming.
And he needs to take the "smart ass" out of his documentation. Not saying that students/residents were walked around on leashes. If he himself was forced to wear a blanket and was tethered by a rope, he needs to be specific about the situation and if he wants to say "it made me feel like a dog on a leash", that would be totally appropriate.
If he (or another person) was forced to carry and move rocks around for four hours, he (they) need to be specific. How big were the rocks? Approximate weight? The duration of the activity (4 hours). Weather conditions. What distance were they forced to carry the rocks?
Sample: I was instructed that I would carry rocks from the corner to the curb. The rocks, weighing approximately 10 pounds each, were in a pile. I was instructed to carry the rocks an approximate distance of 1/4 mile. I was made to do this repetitively with no breaks, in weather conditions with temperatures of 98 degrees for four hours without drinking fluids made available to me. I was told that if I failed to follow instructions, that I would be confined to an isolation area in building #123. At one point, after about 2 hours, I became dizzy and sick to my stomach. When I reported this to the staff member in charge, I was told to keep working or face isolation. After another 20 minutes, I fell to the ground and vomited. The staff member offered no assistance. The staff member instructed me to get up and continue moving the rocks.
Like that. He needs to pack his statement full of detail. Date, time, location, etc.
The attorney will plug in the applicable and dated rules/regs that prohibited the activity. Perhaps the victim statement will be given in the form of a documented interview? That would relieve much of the burden from Eric and others.
We'll have to wait to hear how that goes. But in the mean time, he can help himself to prepare to give a statement if he hasn't already given one. He can practice "viewing" the activity as if he were a bystander. What does he see himself doing? What is being said? How does he feel?
If I'm not mistaken, Eric has skills as a screen writer. Do you see how that can help him with his statement? He can write what he can see and hear, and include how it made him feel. A little preparation work and recalling of vivid detail on his part, will smooth the way.
If he's worked with an attorney for quite some time, he may have already gone through this process. If so, maybe the above will help someone else in some way.
Okay, I'm totally zoned out now. If none of the above makes sense, I largely blame you, marg.
