Wonderful presentation. My brother lived at Willowbrook for 20 years and is now in a Group Home in Upstate New York. I am in the process of writing a Memoir, part of which tells the Willowbrook Story. Thnk you to all of you who advocate for the disabled and led to the closing of Willowbrook.
This was a wonderful documentary and panel discussion. Being a retired Office of Mental Health employee, I was a witness to the closure of the hospitals on that side of the Department of Mental Hygiene ledger. Sadly, many of the former patients are living a second insult wandering the streets and unwilling to nor wanting to participate in programs designed to help them. I was in NYC on the coldest day of the winter on February 3 and walked past an individual at around noon lying on the sidewalk completely covered head to toe by a thin, completely inadequate Red Cross blanket. Don't know if the individual was alive. I went into the church across the street to report the situation and went on my way. Upon returning about a half-hour later, the individual was still there. There was a fire station a few doors away and I banged on the door. A fireman opened the door and I pointed out the individual. I don't know what became of the individual. Hundreds of indifferent people just walked by this pathetic scene. Nothing to see here. I hope I saved a life.
It would be easy and probably better if states were required to have a behavioral clinician do the contracting because otherwise the doctor of the company has no say and it’s a waste of taxpayer money to have a fake doctor. The doctor will be a more ethical decision maker and it’s more likely that the doctor/clinician will try to improve the environment for the clients if they are actually able to have control over it.
Willful blindness is the way now and it’s an unnecessary way to be. Our concern shouldn’t be to make laws that stimulate profit for corrupt companies….obviously a doctor prescribed service would make more ethical sense. The receptionist at a hospital doesn’t perform the surgery at the hospital.
My brother was allowed to be put on a behavior plan from our states mental hospital that was abuse and the behaviors were because of psychological abuse and the man was a regular dsp who knew nothing about behaviors or cerebral palsy and empathy. How was a shift supervisor/shift manager Dunkin’ Donuts level person going to be given so much autonomy and no one ever investigated the environment and the staff and the employees and the cause .. no one called the family.I would be able to handle his job without an education but that’s rare. These people are all scum.
The social workers are good at saving the state money… it looks like that is the priority. I think we could prioritize the less vulnerable a lot less and maybe we can operate like a 2nd world country.
Wonderful presentation. My brother lived at Willowbrook for 20 years and is now in a Group Home in Upstate New York. I am in the process of writing a Memoir, part of which tells the Willowbrook Story. Thnk you to all of you who advocate for the disabled and led to the closing of Willowbrook.
This was a wonderful documentary and panel discussion. Being a retired Office of Mental Health employee, I was a witness to the closure of the hospitals on that side of the Department of Mental Hygiene ledger. Sadly, many of the former patients are living a second insult wandering the streets and unwilling to nor wanting to participate in programs designed to help them. I was in NYC on the coldest day of the winter on February 3 and walked past an individual at around noon lying on the sidewalk completely covered head to toe by a thin, completely inadequate Red Cross blanket. Don't know if the individual was alive. I went into the church across the street to report the situation and went on my way. Upon returning about a half-hour later, the individual was still there. There was a fire station a few doors away and I banged on the door. A fireman opened the door and I pointed out the individual. I don't know what became of the individual. Hundreds of indifferent people just walked by this pathetic scene. Nothing to see here. I hope I saved a life.
It would be easy and probably better if states were required to have a behavioral clinician do the contracting because otherwise the doctor of the company has no say and it’s a waste of taxpayer money to have a fake doctor. The doctor will be a more ethical decision maker and it’s more likely that the doctor/clinician will try to improve the environment for the clients if they are actually able to have control over it.
Willful blindness is the way now and it’s an unnecessary way to be. Our concern shouldn’t be to make laws that stimulate profit for corrupt companies….obviously a doctor prescribed service would make more ethical sense. The receptionist at a hospital doesn’t perform the surgery at the hospital.
My brother was allowed to be put on a behavior plan from our states mental hospital that was abuse and the behaviors were because of psychological abuse and the man was a regular dsp who knew nothing about behaviors or cerebral palsy and empathy. How was a shift supervisor/shift manager Dunkin’ Donuts level person going to be given so much autonomy and no one ever investigated the environment and the staff and the employees and the cause .. no one called the family.I would be able to handle his job without an education but that’s rare. These people are all scum.
Our most vulnerable residents appear to be taken care of with the tightest budget.
The social workers are good at saving the state money… it looks like that is the priority. I think we could prioritize the less vulnerable a lot less and maybe we can operate like a 2nd world country.