COFAR blog

A resident of a group home suffered serious injuries there requiring hospitalization, and now his family is barred for undisclosed reasons from visiting him in the hospital. 

Late last month, Giovanny Arias, who has autism spectrum disorder and other conditions, reportedly fell down a flight of stairs in the group home, according to his great aunt, Carolina Hernandez Broomhead. The Roslindale home is run by the Seven Hills Foundation, a corporate residential provider funded by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS).

Giovanny’s injuries included a broken wrist, black eye, and numerous bruises across his body, according to Carolina.

While Giovanny has undergone two surgical operations at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, his family has been prohibited from visiting him there and has been denied medical updates, Carolina said.

The ban on visiting the hospital follows mounting communication and visitation restrictions imposed by the Seven Hills management and by Giovanny’s state-paid guardian, Susan Braus, Carolina said. She said the restrictions began after the family complained of inadequate conditions and poor care at the residence. 

Seven Hills even prevented Giovanny’s grandmother from seeing her grandson and, at one point, called police on her, Carolina said. She said Giovanny has been subjected at the residence to poor hygiene and overmedication, and to the disappearance of his Social Security funds.

Seven Hills has not provided the family with an accounting of his monthly spending, and has claimed he has no money. Carolina said her family has had to supply all of Giovanny’s clothes, blankets, mattresses, and bed linens, and has had to provide food for him on a weekly basis.

Carolina also said that in November, Seven Hills proposed a series of additional restrictions, including a complete ban on family visits to the group home. Family visits would have to take place at other agreed-upon locations. There would also be a cap of two family visits per month with a maximum duration of two hours per visit. 

In addition, the family would be required to bring a translator with them on all visits for the benefit of staff who are unable to speak Spanish. We believe this requirement violates DDS regulations that establish a right of clients to have confidential communications and demonstrates a lack of sensitivity to culturally diverse communities. 

As we have been reporting, staff neglect and restrictions on family visitation often go hand in hand in DDS-funded group homes (see here).

Restrictions on visits

According to Carolina, Seven Hills management, DDS, and Braus have blamed the family for failing to act in Giovanny’s best interests. Before his hospitalization, over 100 days had passed since Giovanny last saw any member of his family apart from a single cousin, Carolina said.

Carolina said the Seven Hills group home management blocked Giovanny’s grandmother, Liduvina Gonzalez, from visits and communication with Giovanny after she complained about substandard food and inadequate hygiene. The Seven Hills management called the police on the 78-year-old woman after she attempted to visit her grandson on September 21.

The restrictions appear to violate a 2024 decree naming Braus as Giovanny’s guardian. The decree states that Giovanny retains the right “to determine with whom to have friendships and visitation, with assistance if needed.”

Family response

In response to the alleged neglect and visitation restrictions, Carolina delivered what she termed a “demand letter” on behalf of the family to DDS on November 5. In the letter, she called for inspection and remedy of Giovanny’s current care conditions, his relocation to a more suitable setting, and restored family visitation and communication rights. The rights included regular, in-person visitation and private telephone or video calls at reasonable and scheduled times.

The family has yet to receive any reply to the letter, Carolina said. She said Giovanny’s DDS service coordinator, James Griffin, has ceased responding to her communications since she sent the letter. 

Rather than opening a dialogue with DDS and Seven Hills about how to better support Giovanny, the demand letter sparked a wave of new visitation restrictions, according to Carolina. She also said Griffin has excluded her from all meetings related to Giovanny.

Seven Hills visitation restriction agreement

On November 14, the family received a proposed agreement that DDS, Seven Hills, and Braus requested that they sign, listing rigid requirements for family visits and communication with Giovanny. The restrictions include the following: 

  In-person visits:

• Family visits cannot occur at the group home and can only be scheduled for outside locations agreed upon by both parties in advance.
• Family visits may occur only twice per month on Sundays and must be planned at least a week in advance.
• Family visits are limited to a maximum duration of two hours.
• If a family member needs assistance with personal care, they cannot visit unless accompanied by someone who can provide assistance.
• The family must have an individual present at all visits to translate for the benefit of the staff if the visiting family member is unable to communicate in English. There cannot be more than two people present during any visit.
• Family members are not permitted to bring food to Giovanny under any circumstances.
• Seven Hills can terminate visits at any point they deem “appropriate.”

Phone calls:

• The family can call Giovanny only on Tuesdays and Thursdays after 3 p.m. If Giovanny declines the phone call, the family is not to call back. 
• The family is not permitted to call staff or discuss problems unless they are able to speak English or have a translator on the line.
• If at any point in time, the family’s behavior is deemed “negative,” Seven Hills has the right to hang up on the call with notice and organize another time to call with DDS involvement.

Questionable provisions of the restriction agreement

Several of the provisions of the proposed agreement appear to be in violation of DDS regulations, which state that DDS clients have “the right to be visited and to visit others under circumstances that are conducive to friendships and relationships,” and that “family members shall be permitted to visit at all times, unless the individual objects.” 

The regulations note that “reasonable restrictions” may be placed on the time and place of visits “to protect the welfare of the individual or the privacy of other individuals and to avoid serious disruptions in the normal functioning of the provider.” However, the regulations require that arrangements be made “for private visitation to the maximum extent possible.” 

There is no indication that Giovanny’s family visits have ever adversely affected Giovanny or other residents to warrant such restrictions. The restrictions limiting the number, duration, eligible participants, and locations of visits can hardly be considered to allow for private visitation “to the maximum extent possible.”

We are further concerned by the restrictions’ failure to accommodate the needs of linguistically diverse families. The requirement that family visits occur exclusively in English not only limits meaningful expression that preserves a sense of cultural identity, but also impedes private conversations amongst family members. This also appears to violate DDS regulations, which state that DDS clients maintain “the right to communicate,” including “the opportunity to make and receive confidential communications.” 

Escalating health concerns

Carolina said issues involving neglect and visitation restrictions reached a breaking point on December 19, when Giovanny was hospitalized at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

During a three-way telephone call with a doctor and Braus on the evening Giovanny was hospitalized, Carolina said, she heard Braus instruct hospital staff to withhold medical updates from the family, even as a doctor suggested that the information be shared. As a result, the family was deprived of critical information about Giovanny’s health during a medical emergency, she said. 

Family visitation restrictions amid medical crisis

Although the family was able to visit Giovanny in the hospital on December 31, they were barred after that from visiting him there, according to Carolina. On January 2, two security officers escorted another aunt out of the hospital after she attempted to see Giovanny, Carolina said.

When Carolina called to inquire about that incident, a Brigham and Women’s staff member told her Braus had submitted written documentation restricting family visitation, Carolina said. She said that when she spoke with Braus, however, Braus denied this and attributed the restrictions to the hospital.

DDS response

We emailed DDS Commissioner Sarah Peterson on December 1, asking the Department to investigate the allegations of neglect at Giovanny’s group home and to allow unrestricted family visits. We were later told that a DDS official would be reaching out to the family directly to address these issues. But Carolina said as of January 6 that no one had contacted her.

The coexistence of neglect and visitation restrictions has been an undercurrent in many of the cases brought to our attention (see here, here, and here), particularly when DDS involves itself in guardianships or co-guardianships. 

There is a tendency of DDS and its providers to dismiss family members’ concerns about their loved one’s care as “overly dramatic” and to shut them out rather than investigate and address their allegations. This breakdown of the DDS-funded, provider-run residential system is especially alarming in the context of medical emergencies.

Fostering a DDS culture that acknowledges families as essential partners in collaboration is critical for improving outcomes for people with disabilities.