By Gina Macris

A. Anthony Antosh, Director of the Sherlock Center on Disabilities at Rhode Island College, is among the candidates under consideration as the next independent court monitor responsible for overseeing implementation of a landmark civil rights decree requiring an overhaul of work and other daytime services for adults with developmental disabilities.

The search for a monitor is underway to succeed Charles Moseley, who retired Monday, Sept. 30.

In a July 23 letter to U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., lawyers for the DOJ reported that they and officials of the state of Rhode Island “are gathering a list of candidates, with the goal on agreeing upon a candidate by the end of September 2019. We will file a notice with the Court once the Parties reach agreement, or in the event we reach an impasse. Dr. Moseley provided some suggested candidates, including Dr. Antosh, whom we are considering.”

In an email Sept. 30, Antosh has said that he is “aware my name has been floated. If appointed, I would be willing to serve.”

Judge McConnell has extended the search deadline from the end of September to Nov. 25. His order, dated Sept. 27, requires the state and the DOJ to give McConnell a progress report on the search every two weeks.

Antosh, as the long-time director of the Sherlock Center on Disabilities at Rhode Island College, has played an integral role in numerous education and training efforts related to the integration of people with disabilities in their communities, the principle at the heart of the consent decree and the Integration Mandate of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

He also has overseen a critical quarterly survey assessing the quality of life of Rhode Islanders with developmental disabilities that has played an important role in helping the state provide data to the consent decree monitor.

Antosh, a lifetime advocate for people with developmental disabilities, was a plaintiff in the lawsuit that succeeded in shutting down the Ladd School in 1994, making Rhode Island the first to de-institutionalize the population.