Duff And Cafero Still Pushing Autism Legislation

I watch in horror. Why not just hold the people accountable for this mess in the first place? Why do we always have to increase the size of government with stupid laws that are unenforceable?

Lawmakers and Parents Testify In Support Of Bill That Will Protect Those with Autism from Phony Therapists

Hartford: Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven), Senator Bob Duff (D-Norwalk), and House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero (R-Norwalk) joined parents from Norwalk at a public hearing today to support Senate Bill 799, AN ACT CONCERNING MISREPRESENTATION AS A BOARD CERTIFIED BEHAVIOR ANALYST.

It was prompted by the case of a woman who was found guilty in 2010 of forging credentials in order to treat autistic children throughout Fairfield County. Stacy Lore, who was hired by both Norwalk’s and Weston’s public schools, reportedly charged taxpayers and parents more than $400,000 for what proved to be fraudulent services.

The proposed bill would crack down on people who fraudulently represent themselves as board certified behavior analysts—primarily for the treatment of children with autism. The penalty for this new criminal offense would be up to 5 years in prison and up to a $500 fine for each offense—with each instance of patient contact or consultation constituting a separate offense. That is the penalty under Connecticut law for fraudulently posing as a speech, occupational or physical therapist.

Ugh. Fire Ruotolo.

There, I feel better.

Sort of. It’s a live action joke isn’t.

Dude 1: Hey why are you guys doing near that street light?

Guys: Looking for our keys. We lost them in the parking lot.

Dude 1: So you lost them in the parking lot? But that’s over there.

Guys: Yeah but its dark over there, and we can see better over here.

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  • Ctyankee

    It’s a knee-jerk reaction to “that thing that that bad person did” — It doesn’t require any more details to get public support “against bad things that bad people might do”

    It does nothing to improve the budget deficit, it does nothing to raise revenue, it does nothing to *DETER* someone from committing a new and more unusual type of fraud… It does bloat the bureaucracy, it does make the fools that failed to perform “due diligence” look… hmmm, does it make them look better or worse??? Ahhh, it makes them feel better and look worse. Oh wait it makes them feel worse, and look better… Would someone call a Democrat to change the definitions of a few words so I can make sense of this???

    Yeah, I’m feeling so much better about government!

    BTW: I’m running for US Senate in 2010 — My platform is less government, more transparency, common sense, reduced government spending, reduced taxes, etc. Most Americans are in fact Libertarians, and that’s what I’ll be pointing out to them during the next 20 months.

    P.S. Bob and Larry are my CT State Senator & Representative respectively. I know they mean well, but we all know about how a certain road is paved… ha-ha-ha if it’s a Norwalk road it’s full of potholes {sorry} ;^)

    For more info visit my website: http://Passarelli4Senate.com/

  • Johncarvel

    Not sure why a new law was needed. Seems like existing laws worked fine and she was able to be arrested and prosecuted. Same result.

  • DaisyDuck

    I just read CTyankee and can’t make heads or tails of what he/she is trying to say – but the Stacey Lore thing business ought to have been enough to fire Ruotolo even without all the other reasons — I’m SO glad I moved away and don’t have my tax dollars going toward her salary anymore

    • Ctyankee

      @DaisyDuck, I think we agree. I’m annoyed that the legislature is wasting time and effort passing new and redundant laws! The fraudster has been charged. The bureaucrat that failed to perform due-diligence when hiring Lore as a contractor *SHOULD* be fired for cause. I doubt the new law would hold the the worthless employees accountable, but it would probably add another bureaucrat to the roster in a belated attempt to look for a fraud that the department is probably applying extra scrutiny too already.

      I don’t expect a law targeting autism fraud to do a damn thing to protect us, from other frauds, say diabetic counseling, or triscadecaphobia therapy. when I said:

      {quote}It’s a knee-jerk reaction to “that thing that that bad person did” — It doesn’t require any more details to get public support “against bad things that bad people might do”{/quote} Call it spit-balling if you will.

      I see that Johncarvel agrees with me.

  • Oldtimer

    The effective prosecution, under existing law, of the woman involved in all this, demonstrates it can be done without a new statute. A new, more specific, statute may be helpful for prosecutors and courts, and may increase the penalties for this particular larceny/fraud. It sounds like political theater. The legislators pushing a new bill want to be able to use it in future camapigns, but that doesn’t make it a bad idea.. We don’t know if the prosecutors have asked for a more specific statute. If they have, for good reason, they should get it. There is no argument that this crime deserves harsher penalties than some other larceny / frauds that are strictly property crimes with no long term damage to innocent and especially vurnerable juvenile victims. A new law may well be needed to accomplish such enhanced penalties.

  • Oldtimer

    Can anybody explain why nobody in the school system, was ever held accountable ? Their negligence was considerable, and possibly criminal. I wonder if Ms Lore paid a kickback to anybody ? Did anybody look into that ? Ms Lore might now be willing to tell all, if some immunity to prosecution for other crimes,like bribery, could be arranged. Further investigation might solve the Ruotolo problem.

  • Johncarvel

    Don’t we also need a law then about ADD therapists, Oppositional Disorder therapists, avant other therapist that works with children. Legislature better get busy because these kids are being diagnosed wroth a lot of things and each wil need a specific law against fake therapists for each disorder.

  • Oldtimer

    Reading the proposed new bill, It only makes misrepresentation of certification a crime, with no mention of possible penalty. I believe Lore was prosecuted under Larceny by Fraud (theft) statutes for the money she scammed from several communities. The victims, the children who got phony treatment, have no recourse except to sue her and that only works if she has some assets. They could also sue the City for damages, but it would be a difficult case to prove. How do you measure and put a dollar value on how much better these kids might be if Lore was a certified therapist ? Suit was filed against the BOE and others Feb 24th. it is listed as case number FST-CV11-6008466-S , lists seven defendents, but not Ruotolo..

    In response to Mr Carvel, I don’t see why we need another law, or this one. There might be reason for a law that raises the penalties, based on the number of children treated by fake therapists, but it should also punish idiots like the people in the system who failed to check credentials. I wonder how many others are in the system with fake certification based on non-existent college degrees. I also wonder how many convicted sex offenders have been hired without background investigations.