Our mission is to empower children and adults with developmental disabilities to achieve their potential based on personal choices, abilities and interests...
Westchester Arc
The Gleeson-Israel Gateway Center
265 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, NY 10532
914.949.9300
info@westchesterarc.org
24-hour
Crisis Intervention:
914.949.8200
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Message from
Ric Swierat:
Moral Compass
For the past six months, the New York Times has featured stories on New York State’s history of reporting and managing alleged abuse and neglect in OPWDD licensed programs. Most of these articles have focused on the State system, but on Sunday November 6, the front-page story addressed experiences in the voluntary sector, including a couple of our NYSARC chapters. These tragic stories of abuse, including a preventable death, place all of us in the spotlight.
Even more dramatically, the Penn State story of deliberate sexual assault and lack of reporting by those who knew about it heightens attention to the call for more oversight, regulations, and laws. However, the real question for all of us is “how do we deal with an egregious situation that we see, hear or know about?” This is a focus on our personal “moral compass.”
Our world history is full of examples of humans ignoring the abuse of others. The holocaust comes quickly to mind. Where were the voices to say that something needed to be done? More recently and closer to our own mission is the Willowbrook story. When Geraldo Rivera put Willowbrook on our TV screens, we were horrified. And yet, there were humans who knew about the abuse and neglect of thousands of people with disabilities in this institution and throughout New York – and said nothing.
We can put more rules, regulations and laws in place in outraged response to the latest story of discovered abuse – but the real question for you, me, and everyone else in the human club is “what would I do?” Will I respond by ignoring the issue, like those who knew of the holocaust camps? Will I not intervene like the Penn State coaches? Will I ignore or turn a blind eye to a situation as long as it does not include me?
Our work with people with disabilities sometimes makes us more aware of our obligations to people who are vulnerable. However, as humans, all of us are possible witnesses to abuse – or targets of it – in other parts of our lives. This includes direct physical or verbal assault and neglect, cyber bullying, meanness in the workplace, even road rage. There are many instances of situations where we could choose to remain quiet and blind.
I take away many things on a personal level from the latest stories and focus on abuse. But the most important take away for me is to reexamine my own responses and actions. As a human, I should not worry about the regulations or laws. I should worry about my “moral compass”. Is it set properly? Can I honestly say that I do not condone, allow or ignore abuse, neglect or worst through my actions or lack of response? Do I make clear to my colleagues, or others around me that any situation like those in the stories we have been reading will not be tolerated by me through inaction?
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