The Forest Haven mental asylum, closed in 1991, still stands today.

It was founded on the purpose of "helping" the developmentally disabled (often those who were simply deaf, didn't speak english, etc) away from the hustle and bustle of city life. As its name suggests, Forest Haven is tucked deep inside a forest in the suburbs of Laurel, Maryland. But as I'm sure you could guess, it wasn't hidden to keep residents from seeing the outside world. It was to keep the outside world from seeing the residents.

In the institution's 66 year history, stories of abuse and neglect were commonplace. For 1,300 residents, there were only two social workers. Orphans were labeled as "retarded" when they relocated to Forest Haven when a local orphanage closed. Patients were often fed lying down, which caused aspiration pneumonia and led to death for 17-year-old Joy Evans. Residents were chained to "urine-soaked mattresses in locked wards". Bertha Brown died from choking on her own feces when left unattended in a bathroom.

This abuse didn't go unseen; Judge John Pratt was assigned the case "regarding the poor conditions and treatment of patients at Forest Haven." However, "Justice Department civil rights attorneys presented evidence of patient mistreatment to Judge Pratt eight times over a span of 18 months, but Pratt failed to act." Time and time again, the people most in need of help were those most let down by those able to spur change.

In 1978, Judge Pratt finally ordered the institution to close and to relocate its residents to group homes. However, it didn't close right away, and in 1981 "a Forest Haven staff member was convicted of stealing $40,000 from residents’ savings accounts." In 1983 sexual assault allegations arose.

In total, 387 confirmed deaths occurred at Forest Haven. More deaths are likely, considering the unorganized and lost records that the asylum was infamous for. The dead were put in unmarked graves until a single headstone was placed there in 1989 by families of the deceased. Erosion has revealed some of the graves, which have allegedly been moved.

The complex largely still stands today, vandalized and tick-infested. Pianos have smashed keys, the church's stained glass windows are broken, and the word "retard" is scrawled in spray paint across nearly every building. It is currently patrolled by U.S. Park Police 24 hours a day, but in accordance with Forest Haven history, they aren't very thorough. People come in everyday, and unlike the thousands of residents of Forest Haven, they leave.

Have conditions for the mentally disabled improved? Yes. But no one has truly recognized that this asylum and hundreds like it were a reality for thousands of people who either didn't need it or deserved better. And the fact that Forest Haven is still standing for anyone to disrespect and desecrate is not only a gross incompetence of behalf of the state and a health risk for whoever visits it, but it shows an utter lack of respect for the people who couldn't live long enough to see an improved mental health care system.

The goal of this petition is to tear down Forest Haven, and put various other structures on the property that will help to help increase the quality of life citizens in the community. A free therapy center for those who cannot pay or cannot ask their parents for therapy. A playground designed for those with physical disabilities. And finally, a plaque that commemorates the tenacity of all the residents who did not get the care they were promised and deserved.

Time and time again, the people who needed help were let down. And while we can't change the past, they deserve our efforts to requite it. 

For additional information on Forest Haven, please refer to the following link:

Abandoned Home For The Abandoned: Forest Haven Asylum http://sometimes-interesting.com/2014/04/12/abandoned-home-for-the-abandoned-forest-haven-asylum/