Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Daytop Village
Tough Love- nonsense
Anonymous:
--- Quote ---On 2006-01-25 10:01:00, odie wrote:
"I do find some of those posts intriguing though, especially the one where CPS investigations fond none of the allegations to be true. Now nobody is that good of covering up rampant abuse no matter how well connected they are. I'd think that there must have been at least one of the so called educated staff that would have come forward during the investigations and said what they saw, unless of course they saw nothing. "
--- End quote ---
We obviously disagree on the nature of reality and the nature of these systems. I am a realist, who has worked over 10 years in the mental health field. As a licensed clinician, I am a mandated reporter who has dealt with CPS on a frequent basis. In my experience, most abuse reports are deemed unfounded due to lack of evidence. Or CPS monitors a parent for awhile, leaving the child in the abusive environment. It is RARE that a child is removed from a parent's custody.
You are an idealist, and a Daytop advocate. Obviously you have different feelings about your Daytop experience--and you are entitled to those perceptions. However, your comments indicate that you are not well versed in the child welfare system. If you were, you would understand the reality that abuse--especially under the realm of emotional abuse and neglect--is hard to prove. The evidence is often based upon hearsay and personal perspective. This is why we hear countless stories of abusive parents, who have been investigated by CPS, and do not have the children removed from their custody. We hear about these cases only after the most tragic incident. Usually these cases hit the media and public awareness only after the death of the child (like the recent case in NYC). If parents with no resources can avoid responsibility for abuse, then what happens with large, politically connected, and financially equipted organizations, who are accused of abuse?
FYI: Some staff members did report their experiences to CPS, otherwise CPS would not have conducted an investigation. These efforts were fruitless. This is no surprise. This is par for the course in the child welfare system.
I understand that these realities are difficult to absorb. When I started out in this field, I shared some of your idealism. I expected that systems designed to protect children did their job. The reality is: the child welfare system is bloated with bureaucracy, red tape, inefficiency, and poorly trained/overburdened caseworkers. Unfortunately, we are talking about a well intended, but damaged system that does not protect children from abuse and neglect.
DJ,
I worked at ADU 97-99, as I indicated in my above posts. What staff are you curious about?
Troll Control:
George W., Hendrick T., Mike C., Aaron (can't remember last name - MSW). Were these guys still there when you were?
Stacy (the teacher married to Jack, Swan Lake director) works at the County Jail now. My brother is a Lieutenent there and gives me an update on her every once in a while. She seems to be doing well and glad to be out of DV.
Also, when I left Frank Lanza was the "acting director." I know he's passed on now, but did he ever get removed from that facility? He was like a little baby Hitler in the way he dealt with those of us that were clinicians and not "Daytopians."
Anonymous:
George W was assistant director while I was at ADU. The last time I spoke with him, he was working toward an MSW. Someone told me he is working for SFH / Turning Point in Beacon. Aaron Barrios left ADU shortly after my departure in 1999. I think he took a position at Saint Francis Hospital. He was burnt out on the Daytop BS, just like anyone with an operating brain cell. Mike worked at Foxrun while I was there. Hendrick seemed to float in and out of various facilities (ADU, Foxrun, and Millbrook). I remember Stacy--the teacher. Frank Lanza--what a character. When I was there, he was head of "staff training" and working out of the Stone Cottage administrative building. Aaron B told me that Frank got in trouble for inappropriate discipline of the kids (there was a CPS investigation), and was forced out of his directorship position.
Troll Control:
Thanks for the update, brother. It's nice (but sad) to know that I'm not alone in the way I feel about that place.
Aaron nearly packed it in on his first day if I remember correctly. He was like "What the hell IS this place?!" He made it three more years, huh? God bless him.
That reminds me, speaking of Aaron, he shared an office with Marie Blakey. Do you know what became of her? She was dating the operations guy, Bill. I used to stop by her house sometimes to fly fish part of a nice stream that flowed behind her property (off of 9G just north of Hyde Park). We'd have a few drinks and shoot the breeze about Daytop and whatever else. She was a great lady.
Thanks again for the news. I really do appreciate it. Take care.
Anonymous:
DJ, Actually, you can call me sister!
If I am not mistaken, I was Marie's replacement. I never met her.
I miss Aaron. It is a shame we lost touch. He was my primary support system in that jungle of dysfunction.
During my first few weeks of Daytop employment, I used to cry my eyes out every night after work. The kids, and a few staff, were the light in a dark and disturbing environment. I just stayed to collect the paycheck, as I was saving money for grad school at the time. Nonetheless, it was a good learning experience. I would never refer someone to a TC, for example.
Speaking of abuse allegations: there used to be a website, created by a former resident, that criticized Daytop. It included testimony from former residents about various abuses. I remember reading stories about a wacko director in an adult Sullivan County facility that forced people to lie in make shift graves in the dirt basement. There was a lawsuit, but I cannot find anything on the web about it. The critical website is no longer online. According to the website adminstrator, Daytop pulled some legal trick and got the site removed. Did you ever see it? Aside from this message board, it was the only critique of Daytop on the web. Given Daytop's history, I find that amazing.
Are you still working in the field? Perhaps we have crossed paths somewhere in the Hudson Valley.
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