Naughton v. Goodman
| Decision Date | 05 October 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75-35-A,75-35-A |
| Citation | 363 A.2d 1345,117 R.I. 113 |
| Parties | James NAUGHTON et al. v. Dr. Charles H. GOODMAN et al. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
The Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals (M.H.R.H.), through its Director, is before us on its appeal from a 1974 decision 1 of the Family Court directing it to assume the expenses of treating the petitioners' 18-year-old autistic child, Timothy, at the Behavioral Research Institute (B.R.I.), a day care center which specializes in the treatment of persons having serious behavioral disorders. The cost of treatment at B.R.I. is $16,000 a year.
Before we proceed to the merits of the appeal, a brief chronological sketch of Timothy's parents' search for a proper treatment facility to serve their son's needs is in order. The Naughtons live in the town of Cumberland, where Timmy attended special education classes in the public schools up until his twelfth birthday. Between the ages of 12 and 14 he lived in Golucester at a residential treatment center, from which he was discharged because of a lack of educational progress. He returned home and to the Cumberland school system, but after several months the destructiveness and aggressiveness of his frequent tantrums became so dangerous that he left school and was assigned to the Adolescent Unit of the Institute of Mental Health (I.M.H.), which is a division within M.H.R.H. White residing at the Unit, Timmy attended several daytime special education programs. In all instances, however, he was expelled because of repeated uncontrollable tantrums and other inappropriate behavior.
On October 18, 1973, at the age of 16, he began a 4-week trial attendance at B.R.I. day school. B.R.I. is a private, non-profit organization which is located in Providence. It specializes in the treatment and education of severely disordered personalities. Timmy's placement at B.R.I. was the result of a law suit brought by his parents in the Superior Court against the Town of Cumberland. This litigation did not reach the trial stage because the town, acknowledging Timmy's needs but asserting its lack of responsibility to meet them, agreed to fund a trial program at the institute. Despite a solid record of accomplishment and results at B.R.I., Timmy could not return to this facility because Cumberland's budget could not find the necessary $16,000 to pay B.R.I.'s cost of treatment. Moreover, M.H.R.H. refused to come to Timmy's aid because of its belief that he was not an emotionally disturbed child.
The Cumberland School Committee suggested to Timmy's parents that he be placed in a new program. However, they were convinced that the committee's proposal was unsuitable and that another change of schools was inadvisable. Consequently, they instituted this suit in the Family Court, and in September of 1974 a trial justice ruled that Timmy was emotionally disturbed as that term is defined in G.L.1956 (1969 Reenactment) ch. 7 of title 40.1 and directed M.H.R.H. to fund Timmy's attendance at B.R.I. to the extent required by § 40.1-7-7.
A survey of Rhode Island statutes indicates that on February 26, 1970, an executive order was issued by the then Governor of this state whereby the Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals was established and charged with the responsibility of assuming and carrying out certain responsibilities formerly exercised by the Directors of Health and Social Welfare in relation to the Office of Mental Retardation, the Division of Curative Services, the Division of Business Services, and the mental health law. The chief executive's action was based on the Reorganization Act of 1969, P.L.1969, ch. 134. Later, in 1971, the General Assembly added to M.H.R.H.'s responsibilities and obligations by instituting a new program for the care and treatment of 'emotionally disturbed children,' P.L.1971, ch. 89, which is now known as ch. 7 of title 40.1.
The Legislature has left no doubt as to what it meant by the 'care and treatment' of 'emotionally disturbed children.' Section 40.1-7-4(1) defines 'care and treatment' as meaning:
'(M)edical and psychiatric care, medical attention, nursing and medications as well as food, clothing and maintenance, psychological, social work and recreational services and those educational services furnished to a child other than those regular or special education programs under the jurisdiction of the board of regents for education.' (Emphasis added.)
An 'emotionally disturbed child' is defined in § 40.1-7-4(5) as:
'(A)ny person under the age of twenty-one (21) years, and who has been diagnosed and judged by the examining physician to be in need of psychiatric care and treatment.' (Emphasis added.)
Other sections of ch. 7 delineate the powers and duties of administering this program.
The former Clinical Director of the Adolescent Unit at I.M.H. appeared at the hearing in Family Court. He told the trial justice that he and a team of physicians had diagnosed Timmy as being moderately mentally retarded and that his emotional problems stemmed from the frustration he experiences as he seeks to learn. Consequently, he and the staff of M.H.R.H. did not consider Timmy as emotionally disturbed and, therefore, he was, in their opinion, not eligible for the treatment prescribed by ch. 7. On the other hand, Timmy's physician testified and left no doubt that, in his opinion, his patient was emotionally disturbed.
The differences of opinion expressed by the medical experts who appeared at the trial court are of no moment because the fact is that the Legislature applied a board bursh as it defined as 'emotionally disturbed' child as one needing 'psychiatric care and treatment' and specifically included within the definition of 'care and treatment' psychological services, psychiatric care and educational services other than those which may be furnished by the Board of Regents. Whether or not Timmy's medical condition is more accurately defined in the scientific lexicon as 'mentally retarded' as opposed to 'emotionally disturbed' is irrelevant to the proper application and interpretation of the statute. The crucial issue for an examining physician is whether or not the patient is in need of psychiatric care and treatment as defined by the statute, and if he or she is, the patient is 'emotionally disturbed' and comes within the statute.
Although Timothy is for the purposes of ch. 7 emotionally disturbed, his parents are in the wrong forum because the Family Court is powerless to act in such matters. M.H.R.H. is unquestionably a 'state agency.' There is no...
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