Huronia Regional Center

Huronia

For Professor Jen Doyle

BSCI – 1213

Javier Gonzalez

Student ID 0033927

Due: March 18nd, 2025

Huronia Regional Center for the Retarded

Introduction

Huronia Regional Center was an institution in which persons with developmental disabilities were sent after being diagnosed as such. It is a cruel sample that will live in Canadian history forever. Huronia was founded in 1876 and run for 133 years until it was closed in 2009. (Hopewell, n.d.). This institution was run for the Government of Ontario and was under great questioning during its latest years as the public was informed about the living conditions that the residents were forced to experience. Unfortunately, the information that was published was not the one that the relatives would want to know. Nowadays the living conditions were confirmed by many survivors, who can narrate their living experiences.

It is important for me to mention that in this research, we humanity do the best with the knowledge that we have at that time. However, with today's knowledge, it could be judged as cruel and criminal, which is far from the reality at that specific time. In fact, we can justify some of the events that I will describe in this paper as a lack of psychological, sociological, and medical knowledge about multiple forms of developmental disabilities, their causes, and behaviors. Unfortunately, because of this lack of knowledge, many people had to suffer from many forms of abuse. At some point in the history of Huronia, 2,600 persons used to live in a building that was not accommodated for that purpose. (Hopewell, n.d.). These facts and many others will be shared in this paper. However, it will be described, and I suggest caution if you feel that it is too sensible for you. Feel free to avoid some of the narrations.

In order to present the research, I will explore the 4 criteria of abuse required in each paragraph that will include the description of the abuse through the ecological model. I will connect the ecological model criteria with the application of the power and control wheel. Then I will identify the characteristics and/or factors of institutional abuse. I will select a strategy from the trauma-informed practice and a professional practice that address the ecological model criteria selected.

Description of Abuse

There are many evidence through medical records, testimonios and pictures that Huronia Regional Center occurred the following types of abuse:

Neglect.

In the documentary presented by Barri Cohen (2023). Showed how the children were kept in cribs totally seal from the bottom to the ceiling.

Physical Abuse

In the book of Thelma “And the neither have I wings to fly” describe relates in which the children of Huronia were presented skin marks made by beatings. It could be inflicted by the Huronia staff or peers.

Sexual Abuse

One of the Huronia survivor reported that she saw many girls pregnant in the cottages. Sexual abuse could be done by the staff or peers.

Ecological Model

Victim

Lack of critical information.  As the survivors told their story in the CBC documentary. They were sent to the Huronia Regional Center without their consent, and after their admission, they were disconnected from their families.  As mentioned in the documentary (2023), the story of Cohen, Lewis. He was admitted in 1954; he barely had any clothing. He was very difficult to manage by her mother. He banged his head back and forth. He never saw his parents and siblings again. Lowis died at 4 years, and there is no record of where he was buried. He lived in Huronia since he was 7 months old until he passed (Cohen B, 2023).

Undeveloped Sense of Personal Space. According to Cohen’s daughter (2023), who collected the records from his grandparents’ former residents of the Huronia Regional Center. She found out they were kept in big rooms along with other children. Lacking a personal space like other children’s. Some of the residents were kept in cribs completely sealed from the ceiling to the bottom. Some of them died in their cribs (Cohen B, 2023).

Dependency. As children, Lewis and his brother were separated when they were toddlers, 180 km apart from each other in different institutions. They just had what the institution could provide to them. They were dependent on the local staff (Cohen B, 2023).

Potential Offender

Need of control. During the Cohen, B. (2023) documentary, it was repeated the constant abuse from the staff at the Huronia Regional Center. Brian Logie, a Huronia survivor, commented that one of the superintendents said, “Tomorrow you belong to me.” Unfortunately, the number of residents and the lack of staff will let the stuff overcontrol the population. The staff were a victim of a systematic discrimination that overcrowded these facilities. Methods of internal segregation, reclusion, and isolation were used very often to control the behaviors that were assumed not acceptable. Also, the very profoundly disabled persons were also contained under a high state of fear (Cohen B, 2023).

Displace Aggression. During the Cohen, B. (2023) documentary, Kate Rossiter, PhD, collaborates with a group of researchers that collect artifacts that were used in the Huronia Regional Center. These artefacts are testimonies of the kind of cruelty that was perform to the residents. Having said that, some artifacts, like a restraining chair, are currently used by the police in case of the most violent cases of unmanageable medical behaviors and are at risk of self-injury with a provincial regulation guideline (Canada, n.d.). That was not the case in Huronia Regional Center. It was used to restrain as punishment in addition to isolation (Cohen B, 2023).

Little Attachment to the victim. Through the years in which the Huronia Regional Center was open, it is calculated that in 1960 it had a waiting list of 4000 people with retardation and idiotism, as they were referred to (Berton, 2013). In the back yard of the center there is a cemetery that allocated at least 2000 children in unmarked graves (Mendelson, 2013). There is not a mark in the graves, and no one knows who they were. The unhuman condition also showed that they were identified as numbers, which can be seen in some of the graves (Mendelson R, 2013).

Environment

Attracts abusers. In the sense of physical abuse, there are many samples. However, the video mentioned one that caught my attention. Chemical restraints were used, and drugs like barbiturates were used to control the residents. It seems that they were experimenting and seeing how it would affect them. There is proof of multiple medications that react negatively against excessively (Cohen B, 2023).

Covers up allegations. Cohen’s documentary (2023) presented documentation about Louis Cohen cause of dead in 1957. He was admitted at two years old. This year 1957, was the year in which the highest mortality was reported in Huronia. It was the highest of any mental institution. Over 100 children died in that year. The records from Louis Cohen showed a very dramatic loss of weight, symptoms of pneumonia, and a pelvic infection that was chronic. In most cases these pelvic infections are caused by maltreated surgery or lack of septic conditions after an infection. His right foot was swollen, and he was administered antibiotics and morphine. He was only 3 years old, and his weight was just 22 pounds. Allegations of abuse and neglect have to be shown to be acknowledged by the community (Cohen B, 2023).

Clusters risks. The risk of clustering was huge, as was mentioned by a film broadcast in 1969 called Danny and Nicky (Cohen B, 2023). The film portrays the living conditions and the crowdedness in the dorms and halls. Also, Thelma Wheatley in her book “And Neither Have to Fly” (1941) also narrated samples in which one of the girls that was visiting her parents told her mom that “many girls in the cottage were pregnant”. They were sexual abuse among the residents (Cohen B, 2023).

Culture

Devalue victims. The Cohen’s documentary (2023) talked about Robert. A child with Down syndrome that was diagnosed with Mongolian imbecility. He never came back home from the hospital in which he was born. Her sister Marilyn Dolmage never saw him. He was admitted to Huronia at the age of 3 and passed at 8-year-old. He was buried with the same clothing that he wore when he was admitted. (Cohen B, 2023). Relates like this, constantly confirm the lack of care to the individuals that were residents of Huronia.

Denies problems.  On September 17, 2013, the Government of Ontario decided to settle the Class Action suit against them. It meant that they would negotiate the compensation without going to the court. As a result, non of the allegation will be heard by the public. It will be no acknowledge of the abuse suffered by their residents. During the previous years it were many requests to close institutions. It was heard but unfortunately non in a quick time. The class action demanded a compensation of 2 billion dollars. It was settled for 35 million dollars. It was founded in sexual abuse, neglect and physical abuse. The portion of neglect abuse was removed from the settle and only allow to claim only one level of harm. Sexual or physical abuse. People that were nonverbal and those that passed away could not be included in as claimants (Cohen B, 2023).

Discourage

I did not find in any of the research sources that anyone had or proposed a solution before 1957. Only after the 70s with the Wolfenbarger proposal of normalization and the developmental service act. In my opinion, it is not that they could not find a solution. What was happening at that time is a mirror of what society assumed as acceptable at that time. Parents gave away their sons for medical reasons to these institutions. In some cases, it was demanded by the physicians themselves. The violence that the residents suffer was the same as the violence present in their families. These persons often might come from poor families with low or non resources. (OCAS, n.d.). This is what they know about disabilities and how to deal with them. Unfortunately, the closing of the institutions was not the solution, in my opinion. The facilities were worthy of rehabilitation, trained personnel, and federal and provincial supervision. In fact, these facilities could be use for the good of the community in stead of closing and having a monument that stand up as remember of the bad history.

Description of Abuse

Application of Power and Control Wheel

According to the Ecological model I identified many aspects of the abuse that was presented in the Huronia Regional Center. Also, we can observe similar concepts in terms of the application of power and control wheel

·        Isolation is evidence of the power over the person that lived there. In the Cohen documentary (2023), it can be seen the underground halls that were used to recluse persons. It was used to punish for bad behavior and also to control aggressive and violent persons. (Cohen B, 2023).

·        Emotional Abuse Recounting Huronia Community Archive (n.d.). showed the letter to Evelyn that is testimony to the feelings of a resident that expressed her deep solitude and sorrow. Testimony of emotional abuse (RHCA, n.d.). This just is one of the hundreds of documents that narrate the same feelings of emotional abuse.

·        Intimidation The social work summary from Marcy, a Huronia resident (RHCA, n.d.). It is a clear testimony of the inequality and lack of social integration. Uneducated to be incorporated into the society. Marcy jumped from foster homes as she became attached from the people that she lived with. If she did not meet the social rules, she might go to another foster home and others. Lack of social understanding about disabilities will result in the intimidation to be herself. (RHCA, n.d.).

Characteristics and/ or factors of institutional abuse

·        Abuse Subculture. During my research, I could not find any evidence of intentional abuse. The documentation describes the abuse as a culture or assisted methodology to overpower the lack of disability knowledge in the management. The staff was itself a victim of the social acceptance of disability care. (MN, n.d.). People with developmental disabilities were treated as mental deficiency or “imbeciles” persons that needed to be hidden and medically treated. Huronia experienced the clinical stage in which the mental disorders were treated as illness. Eugenics were performed during WWII to improve and classify humans to develop a new race. Canada was not absent of this medical process. People with developmental disabilities were sent to hospitals to be treated, and its crowdedness caused them to be sent to other major and big institutions such as Huronia. (CHRH, n.d) People were sent to be kept isolated from the community. The staff practiced methodologies that were accepted and common at that time. It just that staff did not know anything different just to use the power offered to them.

·        Environmental influences. As mentioned in the abuse subculture factor of institutional abuse. The staff lacked financial resources to provide a minimal human level of care related to the number of residents sent to the institution. I am not intent on justifying the abuse culture in Huronia. However, the abuse is not a cause; it was a consequence of the ignorance, lack of training, and dignified supervision of the facilities that housed persons with developmental disabilities (CHRH, n.d)

Unrealistic Expectations: Huronia kept detail documentation from their residents. There are admission records, medical examinations. Accidents and death reports. These documentations registered the living and health condition like Louis Cohen that I mentioned before Cohen, B. (2023). These records were not public or presented to the relatives. In fact, just in 2007, through a legal act, these records were released to the public. Just now we can learn the conditions that the residents were subjected to. It seems contradictory that records were kept and are so detailed that they were written just as an administrative procedure but without the intention of divulgation or social constraint. Glad that the documentation was not destroyed and the public and relatives could learn about the whereabouts of their relatives. Most of these records were used in the class action lawsuit against the Ontario government for psychological, physical, and sexual abuse (Cohen, 2023).

Trauma Informed Practices:

·        Identify recovery from trauma as primary goal (ptsd). The survivors of Huronia must be assisted in the recovery and treatment from the traumatic experience lived during the years in Huronia. It is crucial to assist them with psychological support and trauma recovery tools that allow them to live a normal life. The creation of a circle of support and access to community organizations will be important in their recovery.

·        Maximize choice and control over recovery. As the survivors learn about the community programs, it will be important to allow them to prioritize their goals. Promote activities that help them to create connections to assist them in the recovery process.

·        Emphasize strength and resilience over pathology. It will be important to identify the strengths and potential of the survivors to be able to enhance the support required. Focus on positive skills that contribute to personal recovery and growth

Professional Practice:

This section is just related to the core competencies that we must demonstrate at all times. Certainly, I will commit to the higher standards that I, as DSW, should demonstrate when interacting with persons with developmental disabilities. I at all times should have demonstrated DIPPS.

·        Dignity that is reflected in the respect of personal space. Respecting the personal boundaries by asking permission and respecting the person first. This will be a priority in all areas of personal care, dressing, and other activities that might require permission.

·        Independence. It is very important to promote independence that value the person first, I will commit to work with the individuals to help them to live independently. 

·        Preference. It demonstrated letting the person take control, and then we should avoid the demonstration of power and allow the person to decide by their own choices and paths.

Reflective learning keys

Important aspects of this research are the fact that the Huronia Regional Center lived its experience through a historical change aspect of clinical research; Huronia was open in 1876. At that time the clinical model was used to determine what condition a person that was mentally defective had. Through the 133 years, they also experimented with the change in research that until 1959, Jerome Lejeune discovered that Down syndrome was related to a change in the chromosome called trisomy 21. Eighty-three years after the door was opened for “idiots and feebleminded” many abuses occurred.

However, I found very interesting facts that highlight the fact that the abuse that the residents were used in the Huronia Regional Center was a result of the accepted social and family relationships at that time. 1957 is a crucial year in Canada. Many facts collided in that period. In Quebec, it was a period called the “Duplessis Orphans.” Almost twenty thousand children were born who were abandoned or moved away from the families that were not able to provide for them. These children were sent to orphanages that were managed by nuns. Unfortunately, the living conditions were very precarious. By the age of 4, the children did not have a constructed language, were physically undeveloped, and many of them were considered unfit. Many of these orphanages were crowded, and the unfit were sent to larger institutions to be recluse. It's awful to think that these children were misdiagnosed with mental illness and sent to institutions like Huronia (CHRH, n.d).  In Ontario, the situation was not different. From 1870 to 1957, almost 70,000 children were sent to Ontario to be adopted by farmers as cheap labor. These migrations were promoted to fulfill the shortage of cheap labor. They arrived at temporary houses that were deprived of resources in addition to arriving in very weak health conditions. The children were evaluated and placed in farms in temporal conditions. The family could return the child if it was not suitable for the farm. In fact, many of these children ended up on the streets and being exploited as beggars. It was known to suffer from psychological, sexual, and mental abuse. The ones that expressed absurd behaviors were diagnosed as idiots unfit and were sent to institutions (OCAS, n.d.).  1957 were the year that Huronia reported the highest mortality in their history, over 100 children died during that year (Cohen, 2023).

The culture of abuse was a normal practice that was accepted by society. They were not standards of minimal care, as marginalized groups did not have anyone who advocated for them because abuse was a normal standard. Just many years after, these abuse denunciations were seen as inappropriate and unacceptable. Several class action lawsuits were issued to force the government to compensate the survivors for all inequities lived. In 1999, Quebec finally offered a compensation and apology. Until 2013, the class action lawsuit, the Government of Ontario settled the class action to provide compensation to the Huronia survivors.

 The culture of abuse was instrumental in the society at that time, nowadays still present in different forms. Even though we have advanced in the care and development of advocacy to recognize and support the level of mental health and developmental disabilities. There is still a lot to be done to move our society to promote equality, inclusion, and integration.

Bibliography or References

Hopewell (n.d.). History of Developmental Services. From institutional to community living: A history of developmental services in Ontario

https://www.hopewellsupport.ca/history-of-developmental-services

Cohen, B. (2023) CBC documentary. Unloved Huronia’s Forgotten Children

https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/documentary-channel/my-half-brothers-died-at-huronia-a-notorious-institution-for-people-labelled-with-developmental-disabilities-1.6420525

Government of Canada (2013) Commissioner's directive 800-2: Physical Restraints for Medical Purposes

https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/corporate/acts-regulations-policy/commissioners-directives/800-2.html

Recounting Huronia Community Archive (n.d.). Photo of poem contained in Love letter to Evelyn.

https://exhibits.wlu.ca/s/huronia/media/4969

Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (n.d.).  THE CHILD IMMIGRANTS - THE HOME CHILDREN

https://www.oacas.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Then-and-Now-OACASs-100th-Anniversary-.pdf

Canada’s Humanrights history (n.d.). Duplessis Orphans.

https://historyofrights.ca/encyclopaedia/main-events/duplessis-orphans/

Berton P (2013), thestart.com Huronia: Pierre Berton warned us 50 years ago.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130922150341/http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/09/20/huronia_pierre_berton_warned_us_50_years_ago.html

Mendelson R (2013). Thestar.com Huronia institution cemetery a painful reminder of neglect and abuse.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130920002850/http:/www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/17/former_residents_settle_huronia_lawsuit_for_35m.html

Thelma, W. (1941). “And neither have I wings to fly”, Inanna Publications and Education Inc. London Library.

MN Department of Administration governors’ council on developmental disabilities (n.d.). History of Developmental Disabilities

https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/4a.html