1 Comments Posted by workedGCC

i used to work at GCC. From 90-91 (a year/ year and a half)
Just as I started working there new policies were put in place to improve treatment standards. For instance the open rooms could not be locked any more. This was due to a shift in the philosophy of treatment towards a least restrictive approach, this is when residential treatments centers started "blooming" all over the place and state "asylum" type institutions were sun-setting and eventually closing. It was my understanding that GCC was simply one of the oldest and last places the state had on its books and was planning to close even as I was starting. At that time the residential treatment centers and group homes were new and struggling to manage this new model, placing clients was a challenge to find the right fit.

I saw good things and bad things during this transitional time. GCC had "old school" counselors who could be very heavy handed, they were burnt out and institutionalized themselves. I was also witness to many counselors who (as the climate shifted) were younger and more in line with the more modern relational and supportive approach.

Residential centers eventually picked up these counselors as their state jobs were ending, and so the transition had a few bumps to say the least. I was working as a counselor all through this period. Honestly, I saw more inappropriate staff behavior at group homes than i did a GCC, but the tone at GCC was tuned to a much more structured pace and residential centers did not have the models quite right yet.

Maybe stuff happened before my time, but i never saw or heard of someone getting beaten or spied on in the showers (for example). Yes there were "all available" calls and Safety Coats (different than straight jackets), and of course chemical restraints. I have been part or witness to all of those activities. Did clients riot?, DEFINITELY. Was it dangerous at times?, DEFINITELY. Whether conditioned to or not, clients would aggressively engage staff and many times sought out a physical altercation. I could argue that they had been institutionalized and learned that if they felt out of control they would openly state they were "going off" and would force being restrained. Often they would start "spinning" and get a time out, blow the time out, be escorted to an open room (unlocked per policy), continue to escalate in the open room and announce to me that i better get staff because they were about to go off. Many times these situations resulted in the client urinating or throwing feces on staff. They would also bite and scratch staff and if you were a female staff chances are your hair would be pulled with enough force to be pulled out.

Yes i saw a lot of over medication, a practice that was common for many years but was on the way out as philosophies changed. I too remember the Thorazine Shuffle. Sure there were clients who were misplaced there or as a result of limited alternatives, BUT there were many who were dangerous. DEFINITELY there were clients who were a danger to themselves or others. Some clients were victims of horrible abuse, others had psychiatric issues not related to abuse. No doubt in my mind some (not a ton, maybe 2 out of 10) of the clients were a very VERY clear danger to society and themselves. I wont divulge stories or histories but lets just say trust me.

I left GCC shortly before they closed and went on too work in research with adults on language acquisition studies until grant funding on that program ran out. I worked in residential centers and group homes until 1998. In many ways i too feel like I was scarred from my time at GCC, other facilities, and due to events i had seen throughout the years. This put me in a position to change careers and step away from what i considered an unhealthy career for me and eventually my family. I know that treatment was anything but helpful for many people and that institutionalizing and housing was the result of a society trying to understand, help, and deal with individuals who (for whatever reason) were having issues. Primitive practices continued through the 70's and into the 80's and change can be very slow.

It is positive feedback for me to know some of the individuals who were in a facility like GCC came out the other side doing OK, when all I ever saw as a counselor was a new person come in and then one day leave never knowing what "better" meant or what the future might hold for them.