Monday, May 14, 2012
The California State Psychology
Board has launched an action against a Northern California psychologist and
advocate for the disabled, and has ordered the practitioner into a psychiatric
evaluation or face revocation of his license.
In an unprecedented deviation
from the Board's mandate to investigate consumer complaints, the Board has
involved itself in what appears to be an employer/employee dispute.
Psychology Board employee Gina
Bayless refused to go on the record as to why the Board has taken such an
unusual stance in the matter of Dr. Robert Fettgather. The State Psychology
Board, which is housed in the State Department of Consumer Affairs, has placed
on its website a legal document mandating Fettgather into the evaluation but
omits any names of or details about his accusers.
This reporter has obtained the
names of the four former employees of Dr. Fettgather who have filed complaints
against him. Bayless refused to confirm or deny that these were the complainants
due to what she called “privacy issues.”
Dr. Fettgather, who has been
licensed to practice psychology in the State of California for 22 years without
a complaint being lodged against him, came under scrutiny by the Board following
a series of events surrounding his advocacy for his disabled son, David. David
was born with Down Syndrome.
According to Fettgather, David
was prompted by Herman Kothe, a caseworker at Alta Regional Center, to “scribble
on the signature line (he cannot provide informed consent) and signed his life
away into care home exile.”
His father refers to the
warehousing of his son as “incarceration.” The Fettgathers had divorced many
years ago and, up until the time that the mother moved from San Jose to
Sacramento, were sharing custody of David. Around the time that David turned
eighteen, he was placed by his mother into what Dr. Fettgather terms a “slum
home.” Dr. Fettgather was erroneously informed by the Alta Regional center staff
that David had to be conserved once he reached the age of eighteen. In fact,
this is not the case in the State of California. According to the Director of
Association of Regional Centers, Eileen Richey, there are very few DD adults
under conservatorship in California and this generally takes place when the
individual has no parents.
In an effort to comply with
what he thought was a legal necessity and unable to work with his ex-wife on the
issue of David’s care, Fettgather decided to look for a suitable guardian.
Fettgather reports having interviewed Kay Carrigan and states he was satisfied
that she was going to do the best for David. The last thing he expected was what
followed.
Dr. Fettgather wanted his son
to return to San Jose and live with him. Conservator Carrigan refused to permit
this, and placed David into yet another home for the developmentally disabled.
She then curtailed his education, removing him from the high school he had been
successfully attending and putting him back into a segregated middle school.
Fettgather reports his son began to decompensate.
As Fettgather's advocacy for
his son continued, the conservator responded with further restrictions. She
began to defame the father in the probate court and to limit his visits with his
son.
In a letter dated 8/21/07 from
Fettgather's attorney Betty Marshall to Carrigan's attorney, Fred Heise,
Marshall alleges that Carrigan and Heise were “withholding information and
conspiring to deprive David of Dr. Fettgathers legal mandated involvement in the
IEP and IPP process for David.” State and Federal law mandate the IEP and IPP to
protect the rights of the disabled.
Carrigan ultimately resigned
and was replaced by conservator Betty Wright. Dr. Fettgather believes she
resigned to avoid a possible lawsuit.
In the meantime, Fettgather
became increasingly politically active around the issue of adult guardianship,
which has become a “national nightmare,” according to elder advocate and
activist Bonnie Reiter.
Reiter, who lost her mother,
Corinne Bramson, to a conservator/hospice scam in Florida, has termed
conservatorship a “holocaust on the elderly and disabled.” Fettgather began to
join together with other conservatorship activists and set up a website, David
Fettgather’s Circle of Support
(friendsofdavidfettgather.blogspot.com).
He also started contacting his
elected representatives concerning the abuses going on in David’s case. He
filed, along with other conservatorship victims, a complaint with the State
Attorney General. He also filed a complaint against the conservator with the
Professional Fiduciaries Bureau (PFB) only to be advised that his sole remedy
lay with the court. Jane Valdez, an erstwhile analyst with the PFB, which--along
with the Psychology Board --is housed in the Department of Consumer Affairs,
advised him of the closure in a telephone call and has refused to put this in
writing.
The PFB got into hot water a
couple of years back when it was determined that the agency was closing
complaints and advising complainants that their remedy lay with the court. This
is a departure from the mandate of that agency to investigate and prosecute
conservator misconduct. The agency now appears to have adopted a policy of
verbal notification of complaint closures and is reluctant to commit this type
of questionable determination to writing. Recent revelations that the
Professional Fiduciaries Bureau does not have a policies and procedures manual
has raised alarm that the agency is in violation of the law in numerous aspects
of its functioning.
Parenthetically, Fettgather's
advocacy work spans several decades. In 1976, he first began advocating for
those institutionalized in California State mental hospitals, which were
considered by many to be the worst in the United States. Ultimately, the
hospitals were shut down by Governor Ronald Reagan.
In 2008, Fettgather met with
Assemblyman Jim Beall. When Beall failed to follow up on David's situation,
Fettgather called him on it. Presenting at a Town Hall meeting in April of 2011,
Fettgather told David's story and revealed that Beall had ignored his pleas.
Beall was embarrassed. Following the meeting, Beall contacted the Dignitary
Protection Section of the California Highway Patrol, alleging that Fettgather
had “accosted” him.
The DPS investigator contacted
the conservator and also at least one judge. Apparently at this juncture, a
number of others in the conservatorship community were also notified. However,
according to a press officer at the California Highway Patrol, the DPS
investigator determined that no crime had occurred and that there was no threat.
Assemblyman Beall’s office
replied to queries as to the nature of his complaint to the DPS and stated
“Following the security protocols of the California Highway Patrol unit
responsible for the safety of legislators, the Assembly District 24 office is
precluded from commenting on any interactions Mr. Fettgather has had with
authorities or Assemblymember Beall.” The Assemblyman’s office also stated that
“Mr. Beall and his staff have brought Mr. Fettgather’s personal concerns
regarding his son, as well as his allegations, to the attention of the
Department of Developmental Services. Because of confidentiality regulations,
the Assembly District 24 office is not allowed to share that information with
you.”
Two days after the Town Hall
meeting, Dr. Fettgather visited Alta Regional Center and asked to meet with
David's caseworker.
A strong relationship exists
between the regional centers and the conservators who take charge of the
developmentally disabled. The RC’s work closely with the conservators as a team
to locate services and vendors for the developmentally disabled.
Instead of meeting with a
caseworker, Fettgather was taken into a private room by Alta Regional Center
employee David Rydquist. Moments later, Executive Director Phil Bonnet joined
them and began to level accusations against Dr. Fettgather. States Fettgather,
“”Bonnet tried to provoke me at every turn....he made countless intimations
about my mental status: are you going to kidnap your son; you've been acting
pretty strangely...” According to Dr. Fettgather, Bonnet referenced the recent
incident with Beall, stating he had already been informed about it.
Fettgather states that Bonnet
manhandled him in an effort to forcibly escort him out of the building.
Fettgather called the police and reported the assault. Fettgather's fiancée had
accompanied him to the Alta RC and was reportedly badly shaken by the
incident.
The police arrived and
threatened Fettgather with arrest if he returned to Alta, stating he was
“trespassing.”
Alta Regional Center Director
Phil Bonnet did not return calls asking for his input on the incident with Dr.
Fettgather.
A couple of days after this,
Dr. Fettgather received a call from State Psychology Board investigator Jeremy
Singleton who informed him there was a client complaint against him.
This soon morphed to a
non-consumer complaint and ultimately he was told that four of his former
employees had filed complaints against him. Also referenced is a complaint by a
wife of a former patient. The wife was in treatment with one of the former
employees.
Citing concerns about his
mental status, the California State Psychology Board has ordered Fettgather into
a psychiatric assessment. He has refused. The hearing is scheduled in
Administrative Law court in Oakland on May 14.
At this juncture, Fettgather is
permitted to see David every other weekend. Due to the length of the drive from
San Jose to Sacramento, he has parked a houseboat in the Sacramento area for the
weekend visits.
”I have spent over 100,000 in
court fighting for David,” he reports. He refuses to go back into probate court,
stating it is pointless. “There is a cozy relationship between the judges and
the professional conservators,” he states. “The conservator's attorney has
stated that I am a 'legal stranger' to my son. They own him now.” Incidentally,
Fettgather has been paying half the conservator's fees, half her attorney’s fees
and half the fees of the attorney appointed by the court to represent David,
splitting these bills with his ex-wife. He states that he stopped paying on
these bills a few months back, dismayed by the lack of attention to David's
well-being.
“David is very unhappy,” says
Dr. Fettgather. “He wants to come home.”
Fettgather fears that the
attempt to revoke his license to practice will, if successful, negatively impact
his ability to advocate for his son.
A growing number of people who
have attempted to advocate for a family member under a conservatorship have
found themselves the target of retaliation. Dr. Robert Sarhan of Florida, who
lost his mother to highly questionable medical decisions made by her
conservator, also lost his medical license and narrowly escaped an effort by
Social Services to take away his son. A number of people, including Marty Prehn
and Russell East, have found the financial retaliation for their advocacy has
resulted in their homelessness. Others, such as Ray Fernandez, have left the
U.S. due to perceptions of extreme prejudice by the conservatorship courts.
Robert Gettinger was arrested by a SWAT team in Southern California when his
internet postings about corrupt probate judges raised the ire of the legal
community. No charges were ever lodged and Gettinger, a former police officer,
was released after a couple of days in jail.
Others, such as Ricky Ritch,
claim that they were assaulted by the police due to their attempts to advocate
against abusive conservatorships. Jeannie Tanaka, who is an attorney for the
State of California, was subject to a false arrest when Conservator Linda
Cotterman made a false police report and had Jeannie taken into custody during a
routine visit with her mother. Jeannie was released prior to being booked when
the Beverly Hills police realized that there was no Restraining Order in effect
against her.
Several attorneys, known to
those in the guardianship reform movement to be aggressive in pursuit of justice
in matters involving conservatorship abuse, have been suspended from the
practice of law. Arizona JD Grant Goodman and California JD Jim Reiss are two of
the more recent legal casualties.
Those concerned about the
increasing use of psychiatry as a tool of control by the State are asked to
contact Gina Bayless at the State Psychology Board and lodge your concerns. The
number for the Board is 916 263-2699. Press 0 to be connected to the
receptionist.
*****************************************************************************
At the time of going to press,
this reporter was informed that the document filed by the State Psychology Board
describing its concerns about Dr. Fettgather was only served on his attorney May
10, a mere four days before his hearing. This document, prepared by clinical
psychologist Francis Abueg, was submitted to the Department of Justice on August
3, 2011, nine months before the hearing, and appears to contain a number of
inaccuracies, including the allegation that Fettgather never met with Dr. Abueg.
In fact, Fettgather and his attorney, Dr. Bruce Ebert, met with Abueg for two
hours per Abueg’s request.
A local attorney, speaking on
conditions of anonymity, has expressed the concern that such withholding of the
specific allegations against Fettgather and only releasing them to his legal
team at the eleventh hour might violate his right to due process.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Janet C. Phelan
Activist Post
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