DISABILITY RIGHTS GROUPS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION FOLLOWING TRAGIC DEATH OF WOODS SERVICES RESIDENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
(215) 219-0694 Cassie James
(267) 608-0913 Alan Holdsworth
(267) 322-0516 Madeleine McMahon
DISABILITY RIGHTS GROUPS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION FOLLOWING TRAGIC DEATH OF WOODS SERVICES RESIDENT
Join us Thursday, July 29 at 2pm for a vigil outside of Woods Services memorializing Bryan Nevins, the 20-year-old autistic man who died in a sweltering van, neglected by the facility’s staff.
On Saturday, July 24, Bryan Nevins, a 20-year-old, non-verbal autistic man, died in the back of the van where he had been left after returning from a trip to Sesame Place with fellow Woods Services residents. Hours after the Woods Services van driver had dropped off the other residents and parked the van, Mr. Nevins was discovered missing. After 5 hours in the suffocating 150 degree heat of the sealed vehicle, staff found the victim’s clearly lifeless body in the back seat.
In the wake of the tragedy—the second death of a Woods Services resident in less than a year—the van driver and another staff member were suspended. The State Department of Public Welfare, which licenses the Middletown, PA private residential treatment center and school for adults and children with “severe physical or developmental disabilities”, has initiated an investigation into the incident.
WHO: Representatives and supporters of disability rights groups including: ALFIE (The Alliance for Inclusive Education), a national network led by disabled people and supported by allies that include parents, educators and teachers; Liberty Resources, Inc., Philadelphia’s Center for Independent Living for People with Disabilities; disability rights groups Disabled In Action and ADAPT; and Kids Together, an organization committed to promoting inclusion for children with disabilities in all settings.
WHAT: The group will gather at Woods Services to lay flowers in memory of Bryan Nevins, who died on July 24 after being left in a van in extreme temperatures, parked just 200 feet from Woods Services, where he was a resident.
WHEN: Thursday July 29th, 2:00 P.M.
WHERE: WOODS SERVICES, 469 East Maple Avenue, Langhorne, PA
WHY: The gathering will honor Mr. Nevins, but will also protest the “unethical accommodations and negligence which lead to his death,” said Madeline McMahon, National Policy & Advocacy Coordinator at Liberty Resources, Inc.
“This story is appalling and we will not let it pass and fade quietly into the night,” said Alan Holdsworth, one of the organizers representing ALFIE. “Woods Service basically murdered this young man, leaving him in a locked car for 5 hours in 150 degree heat.”
The group calls for the following steps in response to the tragedy:
1) A full and open public inquiry into this incident.
2) The closure of Woods Services to any new admissions until the inquiry concludes.
3) A planned closure of Woods Services and all its subsidiaries.
4) A public meeting at which Woods Services executives explain the actions and the culture within the facility that enabled such a tragedy.
5) Staff and management responsible are charged to the fullest extent of civil and criminal law.
6) Woods Services relies very much on public and corporate support for its existence. We call on all donors and supporters to withdraw their support.
7) The State Department of Public Welfare should withdraw funding and support for Woods Services and use those dollars to safely transition the residents back into the community.