I am the younger sister of a Willowbrook resident. My brother was what was called “profoundly retarded” in the 60s. He was initially in building 1, the main building. It was ok in there. Then,when he got older he was in building 13 I believe. It was one of the dormitories. I’ll never forget the stench. He was 11 when he died. I was 9. We went almost every Sunday. What a nightmare. My brother had little awareness, but I’m sure he was extremely physically uncomfortable in those narrow hospital beds day after day, likely in his poop until he could be cleaned. I’m almost 63. It haunts me to this day that he was left there.
That could of had been me. I was misdiagnosed at age five of profound mental retardation because I was not talking and did not respond to the psychologist. My patents refused to believe the doctor and took me home and raised me as one of the family. They refused to have me placed in a institution. I am now 60, work as a teacher specializing in autism for over 20 years and living on my own.
This is why we must maintain freedom of the press. The press tells us the stories we don't know about. Stories we don't know we need to hear. Once they tell the story, people can act.
They are doing same to the elderly in these corporate- for-profit nursing homes, You may hear a rare news article occasionally when things have gotten so bad they were closed but they just open up in a different name
He really is. It’s incredible what our mind can do when we don’t put limitations on people. In the documentary made for the 25 year anniversary, he said it was like being in a concentration camp, and I was like wow amazing how after enduring so much, he still went on to learn history and has such a profound vocabulary. I wouldn’t doubt if the treatment in that place disabled children even more, or killed them. 😢. So he’s incredible for making it out and going on to help so many.
My father in law was in a nursing home. Watching this I was thinking the same thing! People wake up ,stop in to any nursing home and say hi! I know you will be totally blown away with the care that is considered acceptable. 😢I was so discouraged and outraged by his mistreatment and lack of basic care I literally packed a bag and stayed with him . If I could have removed him I would of in a heart beat. His daughter had power of attorney and couldn’t be bothered . I did the only thing I could. I stayed !! It was an eye opener to see the constant mistreatment. The rough handling,lack of simple basic care such as washing his face. He was an amazing man,he loved everyone and looked after everyone!Now he is totally bedridden,cannot even take a sip of water without assistance much less eat .Needed total care! I also witnessed numerous times others were treated badly and left on their own with no assistance.R.I.P.
@@jaimeeedwards5296 I’m sorry bc I’m a nurse in one but I’m tired and I care just too much about elderly people. So I stay so that at least someone can be their advocate. It’s all about money nowadays. I don’t care these are human beings that had lives. They had children jobs family. No one should be treated like they are and all because why they got old and sick. We are all going to get old that’s inevitable. You better believe that.
My son has nonverbal autism and I can't imagine just dropping him off with strangers and forgetting he exists. They were just babies. Surely living without the child was harder than enduring through.
Geraldo and Jane Kurtin really were the people who helped to expose the abuse of people with physical and intellectual disabilities in institutions. Had they not done this brave work, who knows what laws would’ve been prevented from being passed.
Geraldo is my hero. My sister is mentally handicapped and this story touched me deeply. Blame it on crap doctors who told parents to give up their handicap child.
@@bernadettekennedy2981 My mom told me that my grandma (her mother) thought I belonged in an institution. Thankfully, my mom disagreed and did not put me in one. I have mild to moderate MR. (The new labeling sucks)
The Willowbrook expose' really shook me as a kid. I never forgotten about it. I'm glad to see the fulfilling life, Bernard got to have. Thanks Geraldo... It needed to be shown.
I remember seeing this as a child. I was shocked and then saddened about the state of the depravity. I see that Bernard is doing better now. I'm so happy that he got a second chance at life, but what about the others? No one talks about at least 90% of Willowbrook's patients' aftermath. Where did they all go?
If it was only 50 years ago - how in the hell do people believe the evils at play in 2023 are all that different from whatever tf permitted this quality of life to the vulnerable. its mind blowing honestly.
Its worse now. Hopefully with Kowalskis winning against JHACH, people will feel compelled to research the current state of affairs in this country and maybe even follow the money.
Those residential institutions were downright terrible! However, just as bad was patients not having support systems when they were thrown out of the hospitals they lived in. Look where deinstitutionalization has got us now, rampant drug addiction, homelessness through the stratosphere, waste of law enforcement and jail resources arresting and imprisoning the mentally ill for things like disorderly conduct, etc. Those people still often end up institutionalized anyways, the asylum has been replaced by the homeless shelter, the jail\prison, and the group home.
This is what I also was thinking about what while watching this video. The whole story is heartbreaking for sure and what happened to those people while in institutions are inhumane and shouldn't be repeated but what is a substitution for the system that question was not answered at all. What we have now are thousands of people out on the street without proper care or system to back them up.
This video absolutely broke my heart. Every child and adult there deserved to be loved for who the were and cared for with dignity. They suffered more than we can know for no good reason. I feel the shame that the administration should have felt, but didn't. Thank you Geraldo and all who had the courage to take a stand for these precious human beings. Each one was "fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God" and deserve to be remembered. 😢❤
And sadly it was not the only one, many people throughout history have been thrown away due to not meeting societal standards. It breaks my heart as well.
I taught in a residential school for students with emotional and intellectual disabilities. When I shared with someone at my church. He said," oh you work with those unloveables." He got it wrong.
I have a family member with an intellectual disability in New York State. This could have very easily been him. Because of advocacy, hard work and a lot of sacrifices on behalf of my grandparents and his siblings, he is a contributing member of society with an active social life, a purpose and is loved and values by his numerous nieces and nephews
This was me and my now deceased twin brother from ages 3 to 9 til we were put into abusive foster care I still have PTSD from the memories and I'll always resent my parents for putting us there abandoned to a jacked up situation
Based on diagnoses and previous behaviors, I would have been institutionalized as a child and adults. I am happy that I exist after places like Willowbrook were shut down.
My daughter was killed 1 year and a half ago the mental health community killed her with the pharmaceuticals that they compounded and then when they saw the horrible damage they did to her they abruptly stopped all meds and treatments. At which point she killed herself. She was a beautiful person inside and out.
So there were places like Willowbrook all over NYS, Sunmount in Tupper Lake, JNAdams near Perrysburg NY are two, Sonyea, earlier known as Craig Svhool in the finger lakes. I worked at an ARC in northern New York taking care of some survivors of Willowbrook and reading their case histories broke my heart. I was born with congenital hypothyroidism and could have wound up among these children…and I NEVER forgot it!
I volunteered at Great Oaks Center in Beltsville, MD for 7 years. It closed in 1991 due to abuse of residents and funding cuts. The residents there had developmental disabilities, many of them regressed as there were few real programs to help them.
its not just letchworth and willowbrook, just about every single state and county institution in every state was like this, a few good exceptions were a few of the private owned and ran places were decent, but most of these places were just deplorable and cruel and inhumane. i do feel however that yes, while quite a few do great in the community, there are so many that just do not and cannot really participate in the community and do better in a sheltered institution or structured environment, they should have changed how these were run, make sure clients had their own belongings, clothes, privacy, cleanliness, human and civil rights; and also, institutionalization should have only been a last resort, not a primary choice, and not for young children , but after over 20 years of working in social services, i can say that, yeah, community supports can be great, but one size does not fit all, and, abuse and mistreatment, denial of dignity and rights sadly happens quit often with home and community support programs and in group homes: plus, because of these type places shuttered slowly over the decades, is a large part of why we have such severe homeless problems, as around 70 to 80 percent of them are mentally ill and or disabled, we have left it up to ''personal choice'' to get treatment when by default most of these folks are incompetent and cannot make a sound decision as ill and unstable as they are, so the institutions should not have been shut down, they should have revamped the system and policies , and mental health screening and treatment needs to, at times, be mandatory for those who clearly cannot manage themselves on their own.
Many of the residents were put into residential homes with adequate staffing. I worked for 28 years at a day habilitation for the mentally and physically challenged. They were all adults. There are so many programs now for parents to help their children. It can be a tough job but also very rewarding.
@@purpleprose1315There aren't. I have 2 developmentally disabled children. The state-provided respite services were an absolute joke, and they are what I need most. It's very difficult to be a caregiver, going above and beyond what most parents do. It's impossible to do it well without breaks or self-care. My kids do attend school and receive therapy, which I am very grateful for....but I'm the one who takes them to school and therapy. I feel as if the pendulum has swung away from "Just put them away" to "They're with the parents 24/7/365, whether the parents can handle it or not." Neither extreme is right.
I needed this, keeps me humble and im perspective of why I continue to work in this feild for such shitty pay. We have a long way to go but now we are empowered to give them hope and a life they can be proud to live ❤
I just finished reading The Lost Girls of Willowbrook and immediately watched this. Just super heartwarming to see so much good coming from something so horrible. ❤
It makes your heart hurt to know what these poor souls were forced to live like. Never should we ever allow those of us who are not able to be whole to be put away and live under such deplorable conditions. We as a human being need to have a responsibility to those born with a disability to see they get the help, the care, the love snd the resources that they deserve. They are Gods children and we have a responsibly to help them achieve all that they can and with dignity and care.
Where are the former residents now and is their care really any better today than it was at the time? The cover-up in current care today for those with developmental disabilities is greater that it was at the time. Little progress has been made. The care today is just covered up better.
I remember when the story came out and how angry and said I felt. When I moved to Staten Island and went to Willow Brook Park, I remembered that story. I'm so glad that it's over. And thank you to Geraldo Rivera for doing this expose.
So this is where my IEPS came from, I remember having them When I went to school and I was really struggling to learn the curriculum at school with my learning disability. The help that I got really helped me out. Over time I developed learning techniques and study strategies that enable me to learn and understand the curriculum at school and then later on at college, which I graduated with a degree in History last year at California State University, Northridge.
I was actually surprised that it wasn’t just a government run business that used its budget to pay staff and adhere to human rights laws without any kind of financial corruption from those who have college degrees to work in any other sales industry
This was sickening and I lived about a quarter of a mile away from Willowbrook State school, and I cannot believe what went on there - I was no older than 25 when it was dismantled due to Geraldo Rivera. A lot of the residents there were not all mentally challenged, some had Autism, Asperger‘s , etc but back then there wasn’t any special needs agencies or doctors, so everybody got thrown into one pot. My husband‘s mother worked there, either in the kitchen or laundry room and the stories he told me, cannot be repeated, because it was heartbreaking?
I worked for a Medicaid agency in New York State while I was in college back in 2009. Our first day consisted of us watching these horrible tapes on Letchworth and Willowbrook. Back in the day, if parents birthed a child with any sort of disability, it was common practice to sign their parental rights away to the state, and these children would live and die in these horrible places. It’s very sad to see the way these poor kids were treated in such a filthy environment. Thank god we’ve progressed as a society to where parents no longer give their disabled children away and there are more resources to provide services for the disabled.
A portion of our society wants no responsibility. That don't want to help those less fortunate then them. That party of society that says, 'I'll pray for you and let God deal with it !" are the hippocrates we have to deal with. It' TOO EASY TO SAY IT'S GOD'S WILL. WE HAVE TO CARE !
We had a beautiful state school here in Vineland NJ. I would go with my mother, she was a lab tech she'd go once a month for blood draws. It was clean, well funded but by the town because the feds didn't give enough of a budget so the town kicked in. We had food, clothes drives and so many people volunteered so did doctors and PT therapist. But then Nixon shut em all down. Never knew where they all went. I guess the start of homelessness it seems.
In the 1980’s they shipped much of willowbrook clients up across the street from me. Into an old TB hospital, then a veterans hospital, and now OPWDD office for people with disabilities. A few of the willowbrook clients are still a live today, I believe. I worked in the institution for 10 years. The abuse is still rampant in these places. I turned whistleblower back in 2009. I was retaliated against by the state. I had a union lawyer and I maintained my job in an arbitration but the state never let me return. I had video of the abuse and sent it to the NY state inspectors general’s office, they wanted me arrested. It is a very long story over many years, but I could write a book on what they put me through. Everything is covered up in these places, because all they do is hire trash from the top down to run these places. All the scum employees get full benefits, vacation, sick leave, personal leave, holiday pay, dental, retirement and their all criminals and pill poppers, o well, this is the shit hole world we live in.
Hi Alex, I just want you to know that what you went through to try and help your patients, and to expose the mistreatment of our society’s most vulnerable was not in vain. You are a hero. I’m sorry for what happened to you, just trying to tell the truth. This world can be an awful place- feel good in the fact that at least you didn’t add to it! You. Did. Good. Not many can say that ❤
I worked in the the early 70s in Canada in a place like for mentally handy cap people it was not like this it was wonderful and fun we really took care of them.
The difference is now that we still don't receive proper treatment or the medications we need. Now we just sleep outside , the government saves money and the only difference is now that we're a burden on a families and loved ones. It's a horrible history and a horrible reality. Maybe one day we'll get better , I think its unfair too throw us out on the street at every turn.
Back in 1999 I worked briefly in a group home for Heritage Christian Home. One of the residents formerly lived at Willowbrook. He was brought there when he was a toddler, being that his parents were told by this individuals pediatrician “it’s the best place for your son” Every time I hear Andy Williams sing “Moon River” I think of this “young” man. Andy was his favorite singer and that being his favorite song. Every single time he was bathed/showered he had (wanted) to have that song playing loudly. He was born with cerebral palsy. Unfortunately while institutionalized at Willowbrook he was severely neglected, physically and sexually abused. What amazed me so was his personality. He was not bitter, rather, thankful he now lived in a home. He was “no dummy”. He strived to be a part of the group home as independent as possible. Was proud of what he was able to do. (As he should!!❤) I commended him for his beautiful spirit after having lived through hell at Willowbrook!!! He was a joy! So full of pride, that he made it out of Willowbrook and made certain people around him knew he was worthy and deserving of love and care!!! Shame on Willowbrook hiding all that went on at the cost of precious lives. 😞
I have worked with children and adults with learning disabilities in schools and community homes for 20+ years. Although much better, there is still need for a lot more improvement, in particular adults with LDs x
I hope that one day there will be vindication for the wrongs in nursing homes across the nation. Example? Monroe Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Monroe NC
From 1965 (when Kennedy visited) to 1972 nothing much was done. I lived in Staten Island in the 1980s for four years and drove by Willowbrook at least once a week and never even knew it.
Whoa. Dr at 6:06 says it was a year for him to figure it out! So he was prescribing psycho actives & body constraints w/o SEEING the patient? Out freakin rageous,!
We have gone so far in the mental health history in our country and the world. But, somehow, we have a long way to go to be better from back then to right now.😢
It is happening still in group homes and assisted living facilities!!! Can someone please point in a direction where to go when its places like mychoicewi, and dane county that are behind these atrocities?
The system is still terrible for disabled. My 6 year old daughter was deemed disabled by the medical state review board but there is no help for her care. She qualifies for no help yet needs multiple therapies and doctors. Private ins doesn't pay for alot of therapies or the copays and pt responsibility adds up so much in just one month its not sustainable no matter how much you work to pay for it. But being a responsible parent and having a job and a home for your child disqualifies you for MA.
My uncle was one of the founders of Grady hospital in Atlanta. In those days a miscreant was disposed of, young mother was told the little child was like God's mistake, try again later. What can we do with these poor little children? Let them go. A quick and quiet death is so much better than a life of misery. That's how they did it in the old days. Is it better to keep these poor souls alive, with nothing but pain and a lifetime of misery? There are people all over living in misery, please let them go❤❤❤
I just subscribed to your channel I was born in 1960 I never known about this place until now I didn't know that they treated people with special needs Iike that they was supposed to help them not to treat that way with so much love 💕 Ms Joy your new subscriber
So lucky I “only” ended up at the Mt Loretto annex and not at Willowbrook. I did later end up at places like Sagamore, South Oaks, and Brunswick on LI once I was in foster care though :/
Thank you Bernard ,and I'm so so so sorry that this happened to you,no human should go thru what USA did and Hitler too..we as humans are brainwash by politics n government agency and say that what happen is ok .
There is still work to be done. I work at a state run mental Healthcare facility as a psych nurse. Many times, I have been physically abused by patients and told that it is the cost of working there. We are constantly short staffed and mandated constantly to work double shifts. You can't make plans in your personal life due to the mandation policies. We are overworked. The patients receive good care. There needs to be more advocacy for workers in these state run institutions to make people aware of a career in this field, and there are good paying jobs available at these facilities.
How could people who are not mentally stable etc be kept in such a horrible place and in such terrible condition. I am glad that things changed and the place was shut down!! It's just unbelievable and unbearable!!!😢
The staff would probably contract hepatitis also.Its highly contagious and can live on surfaces up to a week.Back then I don't think there was even a cure for it.I know today they use pegatron.
I know....The story is true. We designed life change for many clients.that we brought out..into various places. I lived pt in Bayside 7 yrs + Until I was burned out. I loved my job...the clients were a pleasure to see grow.🎉
Craziness as an expose on Pennhurst aired in 1968. It was just as bad or worse. How much you wanna bet that there are still places this bad in the USA?!
In the community setting clients have unwanted services and obviously wrong diagnosis (developmental arrest…from the agency) there is a lack of interest in helping clients reach their fullest potential and independence.
They sign contracts with the government that sentence consumers for 1-5 years of activity of daily living. The tyranny of such a life yields nearly zero results for months. I’m concerned that the adl is the measurement of the clients’ level of incapacitation. I hope the government isn’t stupid enough to require an agent to only focus on the adl funding as a service that the client actually wanted.
The advocacy to shut down the school, (as is generally the case with shutting down mental institutions), was idiotic. The property was perfectly useable and suitable for its original purpose, or at least some purpose. But people are stupid enough to think the issue was with asylums as such, not with how they were managed. The result is generations of mentally unwell people who, dysfunctional as they are, are often just thrown into prisons along with general populations, which is obviously inappropriate. But I guess that fixed the optics of the original problem, which is all society really cares about.
Sadly they threw the baby out with the bathwater. Now there are no state mental hospitals at all. All responsibility is now in the lap of the family. We needed a happy medium, not a flip to the opposite side.
Here in Pennsylvania, we had Pennhurst outside of Royersford. If these institutions had 3 times the population they should have had, why didn't they keep it at the original total allowed? Then maybe there would not have been abuse!~
I am the younger sister of a Willowbrook resident. My brother was what was called “profoundly retarded” in the 60s. He was initially in building 1, the main building. It was ok in there. Then,when he got older he was in building 13 I believe. It was one of the dormitories. I’ll never forget the stench. He was 11 when he died. I was 9. We went almost every Sunday. What a nightmare. My brother had little awareness, but I’m sure he was extremely physically uncomfortable in those narrow hospital beds day after day, likely in his poop until he could be cleaned. I’m almost 63. It haunts me to this day that he was left there.
😭💔💔💔
That could of had been me. I was misdiagnosed at age five of profound mental retardation because I was not talking and did not respond to the psychologist. My patents refused to believe the doctor and took me home and raised me as one of the family. They refused to have me placed in a institution. I am now 60, work as a teacher specializing in autism for over 20 years and living on my own.
God bless
May God bless you.
Those poor people thank God something was done
Thank you for what you do.
God HAS blessed him 😇🙏💯💞
My Grandmother, Francis Olivero, was murdered while being held at the Willowbrook.
She will never be forgotten❤️💐
I'm so sorry
I'm so sorry for your loss 😢
😭💔💔💔
This is why we must maintain freedom of the press. The press tells us the stories we don't know about. Stories we don't know we need to hear. Once they tell the story, people can act.
The press??? They are useless today
They are doing same to the elderly in these corporate- for-profit nursing homes, You may hear a rare news article occasionally when things have gotten so bad they were closed but they just open up in a different name
Freedom of the press? What country are you referring to.
@@Jeffei-qs7kp Even in 1972 it was corrupt. Now it's LONG gone.
It’s definitely gone. They are talking about AI taking over journalism smh
Bernard is a true survivor, hero and a legend!
He's obviously a genius😊.
He really is. It’s incredible what our mind can do when we don’t put limitations on people. In the documentary made for the 25 year anniversary, he said it was like being in a concentration camp, and I was like wow amazing how after enduring so much, he still went on to learn history and has such a profound vocabulary. I wouldn’t doubt if the treatment in that place disabled children even more, or killed them. 😢. So he’s incredible for making it out and going on to help so many.
It’s happening now in nursing homes. It’s sick
You are so true
Exactly
My father in law was in a nursing home. Watching this I was thinking the same thing! People wake up ,stop in to any nursing home and say hi! I know you will be totally blown away with the care that is considered acceptable. 😢I was so discouraged and outraged by his mistreatment and lack of basic care I literally packed a bag and stayed with him . If I could have removed him I would of in a heart beat. His daughter had power of attorney and couldn’t be bothered . I did the only thing I could. I stayed !! It was an eye opener to see the constant mistreatment. The rough handling,lack of simple basic care such as washing his face. He was an amazing man,he loved everyone and looked after everyone!Now he is totally bedridden,cannot even take a sip of water without assistance much less eat .Needed total care! I also witnessed numerous times others were treated badly and left on their own with no assistance.R.I.P.
@@jaimeeedwards5296 I’m sorry bc I’m a nurse in one but I’m tired and I care just too much about elderly people. So I stay so that at least someone can be their advocate. It’s all about money nowadays. I don’t care these are human beings that had lives. They had children jobs family. No one should be treated like they are and all because why they got old and sick. We are all going to get old that’s inevitable. You better believe that.
@@jaimeeedwards5296 treat folks how you want to be treated
My son has nonverbal autism and I can't imagine just dropping him off with strangers and forgetting he exists. They were just babies. Surely living without the child was harder than enduring through.
Geraldo and Jane Kurtin really were the people who helped to expose the abuse of people with physical and intellectual disabilities in institutions. Had they not done this brave work, who knows what laws would’ve been prevented from being passed.
Geraldo is my hero. My sister is mentally handicapped and this story touched me deeply. Blame it on crap doctors who told parents to give up their handicap child.
No, that's the way it was back then
@@jolenehendrickson8915 I knew lots of mentally handicapped children whose family did not abandon them including my sister despite bad doctors
I was in the chemist one day and a woman said "The doctor knows best ".
I didn't know the woman but I said no, doctors don't know everything.
@@bernadettekennedy2981 My mom told me that my grandma (her mother) thought I belonged in an institution. Thankfully, my mom disagreed and did not put me in one. I have mild to moderate MR. (The new labeling sucks)
@@Chaseniceness EXACTLY! I'm very weary of doctors, mostly because (unlike nurses) most of them refuse to connect with their patients.
The Willowbrook expose' really shook me as a kid. I never forgotten about it. I'm glad to see the fulfilling life, Bernard got to have. Thanks Geraldo... It needed to be shown.
I remember seeing this as a child. I was shocked and then saddened about the state of the depravity. I see that Bernard is doing better now. I'm so happy that he got a second chance at life, but what about the others? No one talks about at least 90% of Willowbrook's patients' aftermath. Where did they all go?
Rip all the children and adults that were committed to willowbrook asylum that were forgotten
If it was only 50 years ago - how in the hell do people believe the evils at play in 2023 are all that different from whatever tf permitted this quality of life to the vulnerable. its mind blowing honestly.
There is a present day documentary winterbourne view the nasty treatment of vulnerable disabled people it is now closed its disgusting
@@lindacarr4442 watching it now thank you Linda
Its worse now. Hopefully with Kowalskis winning against JHACH, people will feel compelled to research the current state of affairs in this country and maybe even follow the money.
Those residential institutions were downright terrible! However, just as bad was patients not having support systems when they were thrown out of the hospitals they lived in. Look where deinstitutionalization has got us now, rampant drug addiction, homelessness through the stratosphere, waste of law enforcement and jail resources arresting and imprisoning the mentally ill for things like disorderly conduct, etc. Those people still often end up institutionalized anyways, the asylum has been replaced by the homeless shelter, the jail\prison, and the group home.
This is what I also was thinking about what while watching this video. The whole story is heartbreaking for sure and what happened to those people while in institutions are inhumane and shouldn't be repeated but what is a substitution for the system that question was not answered at all. What we have now are thousands of people out on the street without proper care or system to back them up.
This video absolutely broke my heart. Every child and adult there deserved to be loved for who the were and cared for with dignity. They suffered more than we can know for no good reason. I feel the shame that the administration should have felt, but didn't. Thank you Geraldo and all who had the courage to take a stand for these precious human beings. Each one was "fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God" and deserve to be remembered. 😢❤
Amen and may God Bless those precious souls.
And sadly it was not the only one, many people throughout history have been thrown away due to not meeting societal standards. It breaks my heart as well.
I taught in a residential school for students with emotional and intellectual disabilities. When I shared with someone at my church. He said," oh you work with those unloveables." He got it wrong.
WoW how horrible and so sad......
You work with the loveables!!!
I have a family member with an intellectual disability in New York State. This could have very easily been him. Because of advocacy, hard work and a lot of sacrifices on behalf of my grandparents and his siblings, he is a contributing member of society with an active social life, a purpose and is loved and values by his numerous nieces and nephews
This was me and my now deceased twin brother from ages 3 to 9 til we were put into abusive foster care I still have PTSD from the memories and I'll always resent my parents for putting us there abandoned to a jacked up situation
Where you at in Willowbrook ?
My brother is mentally challenged and in rural NYS, there are NO resources. It's sickening.
Based on diagnoses and previous behaviors, I would have been institutionalized as a child and adults. I am happy that I exist after places like Willowbrook were shut down.
I am glad that I have a family who believes in me, and now I am happy of who I became!
My daughter was killed 1 year and a half ago the mental health community killed her with the pharmaceuticals that they compounded and then when they saw the horrible damage they did to her they abruptly stopped all meds and treatments. At which point she killed herself. She was a beautiful person inside and out.
I've worked in these places back in Illinois in the 1960s. I am a recovering RN.
You should document your life experience. If the older generation doesn't, it'll be lost forever
Thank you God and thank you Geraldo
So there were places like Willowbrook all over NYS, Sunmount in Tupper Lake, JNAdams near Perrysburg NY are two, Sonyea, earlier known as Craig Svhool in the finger lakes. I worked at an ARC in northern New York taking care of some survivors of Willowbrook and reading their case histories broke my heart. I was born with congenital hypothyroidism and could have wound up among these children…and I NEVER forgot it!
I volunteered at Great Oaks Center in Beltsville, MD for 7 years. It closed in 1991 due to abuse of residents and funding cuts. The residents there had developmental disabilities, many of them regressed as there were few real programs to help them.
There STILL are very few programs to help them!
its not just letchworth and willowbrook, just about every single state and county institution in every state was like this, a few good exceptions were a few of the private owned and ran places were decent, but most of these places were just deplorable and cruel and inhumane. i do feel however that yes, while quite a few do great in the community, there are so many that just do not and cannot really participate in the community and do better in a sheltered institution or structured environment, they should have changed how these were run, make sure clients had their own belongings, clothes, privacy, cleanliness, human and civil rights; and also, institutionalization should have only been a last resort, not a primary choice, and not for young children , but after over 20 years of working in social services, i can say that, yeah, community supports can be great, but one size does not fit all, and, abuse and mistreatment, denial of dignity and rights sadly happens quit often with home and community support programs and in group homes: plus, because of these type places shuttered slowly over the decades, is a large part of why we have such severe homeless problems, as around 70 to 80 percent of them are mentally ill and or disabled, we have left it up to ''personal choice'' to get treatment when by default most of these folks are incompetent and cannot make a sound decision as ill and unstable as they are, so the institutions should not have been shut down, they should have revamped the system and policies , and mental health screening and treatment needs to, at times, be mandatory for those who clearly cannot manage themselves on their own.
Every human being deserves to be treated with Love and respect.I am glad this hospital is Gone.
Now they just end up alone and with no protection while being trafficked through foster care.
@@purpleprose1315right ? We need a happy medium
It's just very sad how we as human beings treat each other. No matter what because no one is perfect.
This is the first documentary that made me cry...
Living coffins for devalued people. That one line is too much for me. I'm not sure I can get that out of my mind.
Absolutely heartbreaking 😭💔💔
Many of the residents were put into residential homes with adequate staffing. I worked for 28 years at a day habilitation for the mentally and physically challenged. They were all adults. There are so many programs now for parents to help their children. It can be a tough job but also very rewarding.
Staffing issues are there. And the new employee's unfortunately alot of them can't put there phones down and do there job like they should.
There really isnt "so many programs".
@@purpleprose1315There aren't. I have 2 developmentally disabled children. The state-provided respite services were an absolute joke, and they are what I need most. It's very difficult to be a caregiver, going above and beyond what most parents do. It's impossible to do it well without breaks or self-care. My kids do attend school and receive therapy, which I am very grateful for....but I'm the one who takes them to school and therapy. I feel as if the pendulum has swung away from "Just put them away" to "They're with the parents 24/7/365, whether the parents can handle it or not." Neither extreme is right.
Shout out to Geraldo, I'm glad u ever took any time to intervein. Bless these human beings, 🙏 I hope they found peace and the Angels.
I needed this, keeps me humble and im perspective of why I continue to work in this feild for such shitty pay. We have a long way to go but now we are empowered to give them hope and a life they can be proud to live ❤
I just finished reading The Lost Girls of Willowbrook and immediately watched this. Just super heartwarming to see so much good coming from something so horrible. ❤
wow it's wonderful to see you and Bernard together again . especially now
It makes your heart hurt to know what these poor souls were forced to live like. Never should we ever allow those of us who are not able to be whole to be put away and live under such deplorable conditions. We as a human being need to have a responsibility to those born with a disability to see they get the help, the care, the love snd the resources that they deserve. They are Gods children and we have a responsibly to help them achieve all that they can and with dignity and care.
Where are the former residents now and is their care really any better today than it was at the time?
The cover-up in current care today for those with developmental disabilities is greater that it was at the time. Little progress has been made. The care today is just covered up better.
I remember when the story came out and how angry and said I felt. When I moved to Staten Island and went to Willow Brook Park, I remembered that story. I'm so glad that it's over. And thank you to Geraldo Rivera for doing this expose.
So this is where my IEPS came from, I remember having them When I went to school and I was really struggling to learn the curriculum at school with my learning disability. The help that I got really helped me out. Over time I developed learning techniques and study strategies that enable me to learn and understand the curriculum at school and then later on at college, which I graduated with a degree in History last year at California State University, Northridge.
It’s our responsibility to take care of the disabled…❤❤❤❤❤
Amen to that. 👍
I was actually surprised that it wasn’t just a government run business that used its budget to pay staff and adhere to human rights laws without any kind of financial corruption from those who have college degrees to work in any other sales industry
This was sickening and I lived about a quarter of a mile away from Willowbrook State school, and I cannot believe what went on there - I was no older than 25 when it was dismantled due to Geraldo Rivera. A lot of the residents there were not all mentally challenged, some had Autism, Asperger‘s , etc but back then there wasn’t any special needs agencies or doctors, so everybody got thrown into one pot. My husband‘s mother worked there, either in the kitchen or laundry room and the stories he told me, cannot be repeated, because it was heartbreaking?
Why on earth didn't you report them?
I worked for a Medicaid agency in New York State while I was in college back in 2009. Our first day consisted of us watching these horrible tapes on Letchworth and Willowbrook. Back in the day, if parents birthed a child with any sort of disability, it was common practice to sign their parental rights away to the state, and these children would live and die in these horrible places. It’s very sad to see the way these poor kids were treated in such a filthy environment. Thank god we’ve progressed as a society to where parents no longer give their disabled children away and there are more resources to provide services for the disabled.
A portion of our society wants no responsibility. That don't want to help those less fortunate then them. That party of society that says, 'I'll pray for you and let God deal with it !" are the hippocrates we have to deal with. It' TOO EASY TO SAY IT'S GOD'S WILL. WE HAVE TO CARE !
We had a beautiful state school here in Vineland NJ. I would go with my mother, she was a lab tech she'd go once a month for blood draws. It was clean, well funded but by the town because the feds didn't give enough of a budget so the town kicked in. We had food, clothes drives and so many people volunteered so did doctors and PT therapist. But then Nixon shut em all down. Never knew where they all went. I guess the start of homelessness it seems.
They never should of shut down the good ones
Is the answer for these children to be kept by their parents at home? Or what???
50 years wow time flys by this made cry
In the 1980’s they shipped much of willowbrook clients up across the street from me. Into an old TB hospital, then a veterans hospital, and now OPWDD office for people with disabilities. A few of the willowbrook clients are still a live today, I believe. I worked in the institution for 10 years. The abuse is still rampant in these places. I turned whistleblower back in 2009. I was retaliated against by the state. I had a union lawyer and I maintained my job in an arbitration but the state never let me return. I had video of the abuse and sent it to the NY state inspectors general’s office, they wanted me arrested. It is a very long story over many years, but I could write a book on what they put me through. Everything is covered up in these places, because all they do is hire trash from the top down to run these places. All the scum employees get full benefits, vacation, sick leave, personal leave, holiday pay, dental, retirement and their all criminals and pill poppers, o well, this is the shit hole world we live in.
Hi Alex, I just want you to know that what you went through to try and help your patients, and to expose the mistreatment of our society’s most vulnerable was not in vain. You are a hero. I’m sorry for what happened to you, just trying to tell the truth. This world can be an awful place- feel good in the fact that at least you didn’t add to it! You. Did. Good. Not many can say that ❤
You lie!😮
Rich for Bobby to say this at the start.... Given what his father did to his daughter.
I worked in the the early 70s in Canada in a place like for mentally handy cap people it was not like this it was wonderful and fun we really took care of them.
I'd never heard of Willowbrook before. I have a new respect for Geraldo Rivera after watching this.
Rivera is an Angel
The difference is now that we still don't receive proper treatment or the medications we need. Now we just sleep outside , the government saves money and the only difference is now that we're a burden on a families and loved ones. It's a horrible history and a horrible reality. Maybe one day we'll get better , I think its unfair too throw us out on the street at every turn.
Most definitely you are speaking my language.
This is making me cry😢
Back in 1999 I worked briefly in a group home for Heritage Christian Home. One of the residents formerly lived at Willowbrook. He was brought there when he was a toddler, being that his parents were told by this individuals pediatrician “it’s the best place for your son”
Every time I hear Andy Williams sing “Moon River” I think of this “young” man. Andy was his favorite singer and that being his favorite song. Every single time he was bathed/showered he had (wanted) to have that song playing loudly.
He was born with cerebral palsy. Unfortunately while institutionalized at Willowbrook he was severely neglected, physically and sexually abused. What amazed me so was his personality. He was not bitter, rather, thankful he now lived in a home. He was “no dummy”. He strived to be a part of the group home as independent as possible. Was proud of what he was able to do. (As he should!!❤)
I commended him for his beautiful spirit after having lived through hell at Willowbrook!!!
He was a joy! So full of pride, that he made it out of Willowbrook and made certain people around him knew he was worthy and deserving of love and care!!!
Shame on Willowbrook hiding all that went on at the cost of precious lives. 😞
Makes me scared for kids with disability. I hope they are never treated this way.
I have worked with children and adults with learning disabilities in schools and community homes for 20+ years. Although much better, there is still need for a lot more improvement, in particular adults with LDs x
I took care of former Willowbrook individuals at the last agency I worked at. I took a lot of pride in that considering the awful history.
I hope that one day there will be vindication for the wrongs in nursing homes across the nation. Example? Monroe Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Monroe NC
Focus now should be on nursing homes and elderly care. Atrocities of despicable human treatment is ongoing and deplorable.
I Love U Sir for Fighting for Those Beautiful Children
From 1965 (when Kennedy visited) to 1972 nothing much was done. I lived in Staten Island in the 1980s for four years and drove by Willowbrook at least once a week and never even knew it.
Whoa. Dr at 6:06 says it was a year for him to figure it out! So he was prescribing psycho actives & body constraints w/o SEEING the patient? Out freakin rageous,!
Thank goodness 😅 for that! I hope all of the residents were well cared for thanks to that KEY 🔑 and Geraldo 💕✨
Hard to believe there was a time once when Geraldo Rivera had some self worth.
I grew up on Staten Island. This is a dark, horrifying time.
We have gone so far in the mental health history in our country and the world. But, somehow, we have a long way to go to be better from back then to right now.😢
Never understood how any parent abandons their child
Different time in the world. Incomprehensible.
It is happening still in group homes and assisted living facilities!!!
Can someone please point in a direction where to go when its places like mychoicewi, and dane county that are behind these atrocities?
The system is still terrible for disabled. My 6 year old daughter was deemed disabled by the medical state review board but there is no help for her care. She qualifies for no help yet needs multiple therapies and doctors. Private ins doesn't pay for alot of therapies or the copays and pt responsibility adds up so much in just one month its not sustainable no matter how much you work to pay for it. But being a responsible parent and having a job and a home for your child disqualifies you for MA.
My uncle was one of the founders of Grady hospital in Atlanta.
In those days a miscreant was disposed of, young mother was told the little child was like God's mistake, try again later.
What can we do with these poor little children?
Let them go.
A quick and quiet death is so much better than a life of misery.
That's how they did it in the old days.
Is it better to keep these poor souls alive, with nothing but pain and a lifetime of misery?
There are people all over living in misery, please let them go❤❤❤
I just subscribed to your channel I was born in 1960 I never known about this place until now I didn't know that they treated people with special needs Iike that they was supposed to help them not to treat that way with so much love 💕 Ms Joy your new subscriber
That doctor has the audacity to say .....DUH. I DIDNT KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON BUT I JUST KEPT WRITING PRESCRIPTIONS
So lucky I “only” ended up at the Mt Loretto annex and not at Willowbrook. I did later end up at places like Sagamore, South Oaks, and Brunswick on LI once I was in foster care though :/
Thank you Bernard ,and I'm so so so sorry that this happened to you,no human should go thru what USA did and Hitler too..we as humans are brainwash by politics n government agency and say that what happen is ok .
Today's nursing homes are no better.
always be skeptical of the healthcare industry
In the Midwest this still happens!
There is still work to be done. I work at a state run mental Healthcare facility as a psych nurse. Many times, I have been physically abused by patients and told that it is the cost of working there. We are constantly short staffed and mandated constantly to work double shifts. You can't make plans in your personal life due to the mandation policies. We are overworked. The patients receive good care. There needs to be more advocacy for workers in these state run institutions to make people aware of a career in this field, and there are good paying jobs available at these facilities.
How could people who are not mentally stable etc be kept in such a horrible place and in such terrible condition. I am glad that things changed and the place was shut down!! It's just unbelievable and unbearable!!!😢
The staff would probably contract hepatitis also.Its highly contagious and can live on surfaces up to a week.Back then I don't think there was even a cure for it.I know today they use pegatron.
We needed to fix the problem not close down institutions. Now we have so many mental health issues.
I know....The story is true.
We designed life change for many clients.that we brought out..into various places.
I lived pt in Bayside 7 yrs +
Until I was burned out.
I loved my job...the clients were a pleasure to see grow.🎉
I read The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman based on this Institution. Though fiction you felt the nightmare of this place
Craziness as an expose on Pennhurst aired in 1968. It was just as bad or worse. How much you wanna bet that there are still places this bad in the USA?!
50 years ago that’s crazy
Just think. Now in 2023 we celebrated the largest sporting event with 7k athletes. The Special Olympics World Games in Berlin!
Thank U All❤
Made me cry😮happy😂and😢tears❤🎉
Why did parents think it was a good idea to leave their kids at this place or any place rather than take care of them at their own home?
In the community setting clients have unwanted services and obviously wrong diagnosis (developmental arrest…from the agency) there is a lack of interest in helping clients reach their fullest potential and independence.
They sign contracts with the government that sentence consumers for 1-5 years of activity of daily living. The tyranny of such a life yields nearly zero results for months. I’m concerned that the adl is the measurement of the clients’ level of incapacitation. I hope the government isn’t stupid enough to require an agent to only focus on the adl funding as a service that the client actually wanted.
يالهي كيف يكون الانسان عديم الرحمة انهم مرضى لاحولة ولا قوة لهم اين يذهبون من عقاب الله الى الجحيم انشاءالله 😢😢😢😢😢
Exposes' seemed normal back then. Now all exposes' are called conspiracy theories.
The advocacy to shut down the school, (as is generally the case with shutting down mental institutions), was idiotic. The property was perfectly useable and suitable for its original purpose, or at least some purpose. But people are stupid enough to think the issue was with asylums as such, not with how they were managed. The result is generations of mentally unwell people who, dysfunctional as they are, are often just thrown into prisons along with general populations, which is obviously inappropriate. But I guess that fixed the optics of the original problem, which is all society really cares about.
WE !!! need to think differently about all of us .......remember the word us................
Prayers and Hugs to All the Children
I just watched Crip Camp on Netflix and saw the clip from this documentary. Absolutely sickening. Those poor souls.
Sadly they threw the baby out with the bathwater. Now there are no state mental hospitals at all. All responsibility is now in the lap of the family. We needed a happy medium, not a flip to the opposite side.
We should be looking into their back yards and see how many have been buried there!!
Here in Pennsylvania, we had Pennhurst outside of Royersford. If these institutions had 3 times the population they should have had, why didn't they keep it at the original total allowed? Then maybe there would not have been abuse!~
Good for Geraldo. How awful he got threats from "officials". Nasty people
Now people like him are the officials…very nasty people…you get what you deserve.
Mental institutions remained the same from 1300-1970
Agree with you right there ..
And still happening right now .
@@UserT_J You just doom people with that.
People need help...