My name is Jessica Gustafson. I am a former employee of Devereux. I was employed there for almost two years. For most of those two years, I worked at the Euclid home located in Somers Point, NJ. Euclid is where I meant William "Billy" Cray, but this was not the first time I heard of him. During orientation, we were warned about Billy. The staff told us that he was aggressive and often lied about being abused by staff. I was so nervous walking through the front door of Euclid for the first time based on what I was told. It was about a month in that I started to realize the truth. Billy was not this monster they made us believe he was, and he definitely was not a lair. The abuse was real. Instead of warning staff, Devereux should have been warning Billy's parents about the treatment he received under their care. The Cray's made the decision to place their son with Devereux believing it was in his best interest. Unfortunately, that was not the case and we are all here now trying to help pass Billy Cray's Law (Assembly Bill 4013).
Billy was often the center of abuse not just physically, but also mentally. He was viewed and treated differently because in my opinion he could tell the truth and no one would take it seriously. One time, I went with my supervisor to visit Billy, I need to stress the fact it was not on company time. Both I and my supervisor received phone calls telling us that we were not allowed to visit him again.
Billy was not clumsy or accident-prone, but he would regularly come home from the day programs with at least one new bruise a week. I once walked in on an employee holding Billy's face down on a couch. When I tried to tell someone I was told it was in fact Billy's doing. Another time, one morning most of Euclid's staff was at the house for a staff meeting. We all came in to see a hole in the wall. We were told there was an incident with Billy and he had punched the wall. That was a great story, but not the truth by any means. You see-the hole was huge. I shared that the story did not add up, and one could clearly see it was a body that made the hole. I was told to shut up because the higher-ups were there. The hole was so big that when it was time for state inspection it was covered with a picture that took up the whole wall.
Reporting abuse was frowned upon by Devereux, you could lose your job. I wish I did report it to the state and I will regret it forever, but I needed my job just like others employed there. It was maybe four or five months before Billy's death that I received pictures via text of Billy with his body covered in bruises. At that point, I no longer feared losing my job so I called the State Department Of New Jersey, where I was pressured to give my information but was willing to do so. This way, I could maybe right my wrong for not calling before.
The pictures I received from someone looked like Billy was being initiated into a gang. It broke my heart, but not as much as when I received the phone call that Billy had passed away. The first words out of my mouth were they killed him, and in my heart I still believe that. While we will never know exactly what happened on that dreadful day, I do know that if there had been cameras in the home, it could have been prevented. Or at the very least give his parents the answers to their questions of their son's death.
Cameras should be installed in every hospital, nursing, and group home in the United States. While abuse may never go away completely, cameras would definitely decrease the amount of abuse. The men and women that have to live in a group home, have the right to feel safe and not live in the fear of abuse. We go into their homes to work and our privacy should be the least of anyone's concerns. In my opinion, the only reason an employee would object to cameras is that they have something to hide. I am begging you to please pass this law in Billy's name to stop the next death!!
Thank you,
Jessica Gustafsson
-
Artwork by Elizabeth Dicker