🕊️ History: From Tragedy to Reform - Saving Wrentham and Hogan Alliance, Inc.

A Hard-Won Legacy

“The Constitution does not permit warehousing of human beings.”
—Judge Joseph Tauro, U.S. District Judge, Ricci v. Okin

Federal Protections

In the 1970s, advocates like Benjamin Ricci exposed horrific conditions in Massachusetts institutions.

Their courage led to:

The landmark Ricci v. Okin case
Oversight of consent decree under Judge Joseph Tauro
Federal licensing requirements that transformed care standards

Federal Protections for Individuals in Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF/IID)
These reforms didn’t just improve conditions—they enshrined federal protections for individuals in ICF/IID settings.

📆 Timeline: From Reform to Restriction

Year	Event
1972	Benjamin Ricci files lawsuit after witnessing abuse at Belchertown
1973	OTHER STATE SCHOOL FAMILY ASSOCIATIONS (Fernald, Monson, Dever, Wrentham, and ARC) JOIN LAWSUIT
1977	Judge Joseph Tauro issues consent decree in Ricci v. Okin
1980s to 1990s	Federal licensing creates the Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) for Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and the Individual Support Plan (ISP) model for all residents, mandating Active Treatment, clinical therapies, and day programs, and transforms care standards. INDIVIDUALS ARE ALSO OFFERED STATE OPERATED COMMUNITY RESIDENCES. Court monitoring continues. Facilities are right sized and capital improvements made. Funding was granted to build state-operated group homes.
1992	Beacon Hill Institute[i] publishes a report concluding that the closure of state operated facilities may reduce quality of care and raise costs to the taxpayers.
From 1993 onward	Massachusetts begins shifting individuals into privatized community-based care.
From 1993 onward	State restricts ICF/IID admissions while reducing state operated group homes and expanding privatized corporate group homes. After ICF closures, Massachusetts shifted to a largely privatized group home model, often funded through Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). Unlike ICFs, group homes are not subject to federal ICF regulations or consistent Department of Public Health (DPH) inspections.

[i] SWHA was unable to obtain a copy of the original Beacon Hill Institute report. We used a secondary source: Hanafin, Teresa A., Locy, Toni, The Boston Globe, January 31, 1993

“Taken together, these improvements and placements have taken people with mental retardation from the snake pit, human warehouse environment of two decades ago, to the point where Massachusetts now has a system of care and habilitation that is probably second to none anywhere in the world.”
Judge Joseph Tauro, 1993

🚧 How States Sidestep Federal Protections

Currently, states can only deny enshrined federal protections in care by moving individuals from state ICF/IID facilities to community-based settings that lack federal oversight.

Massachusetts has:

Loosened restrictions on corporate-run congregate care
Maintained a hard line against public ICF/IID admissions
Constructed a misleading narrative suggesting that ICF/IID is obsolete, inaccessible, unsuitable, or insufficient, frequently portraying them as they were in the 1970s—prior to significant reforms.

This isn’t reform—it’s strategic denial.

CAUTION: Disability Advocacy Organizations with Conflicts of Interest

Calls to close state-operated ICFs should be viewed with caution when made by organizations that receive funding from corporate providers or that operate group homes themselves. These entities may have a vested interest in shifting care to privatized models, raising concerns about transparency and accountability.

🛡️ Why It Matters

Families are denied federally protected options
Public campuses like Wrentham and Hogan are underutilized by design
Corporate providers expand with less oversight

🔍 Our Commitment

The Saving Wrentham and Hogan Alliance honors the legacy Judge Tauro.

We fight for:

Real choice in federally protected care
Transparency in admissions and funding
Preservation of public campuses as centers of excellence

ICF/IID Closure Timeline in Massachusetts
Belchertown State School	1992	Closed after Ricci v. Okin consent decree with agreement from plaintiffs
Dever State School	2002	Residents transitioned to state operated homes on the edge of campus, to some community group homes and to Wrentham Developmental Center
Monson Developmental Center	2008	Closure part of broader deinstitutionalization. Residents transferred to state operated homes, corporate operated homes, or to Wrentham Developmental Center.
Templeton Developmental Center	2012	Most residents remain in state operated group homes in the area.
Glavin Regional Center	2013	Closure met with family opposition Residents transferred to state operated and corporate group homes or Wrentham. (ALL CLOSURES EXCEPT BELCHERTOWN WERE MET WITH OPPOSITION)
Fernald Developmental Center	2014	Final closure after years of resistance Nearly all remaining residents transferred to Wrentham.
Wrentham & Hogan	Still open	Only two remaining ICF/IIDs in MA