Former resident of Fall River Deaconess Home (Massachusetts) 1998–2001 — did anyone else go there?

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering if anyone else here was ever placed at the Fall River Deaconess Home Residential Program in Fall River, Massachusetts. I was there from about 1998 to 2001, starting when I was around 14 years old.

Recently I started researching the program and trying to understand my experiences there. At the time it was a locked residential program with an on-site school. Looking back as an adult, some of the practices there now seem very concerning to me.

Some of the things I experienced included frequent use of restraints (sometimes for minor things), being kept in a chair for long periods as punishment, invasive supervision while showering, personal belongings being taken and never returned, and punishment for things like accidents, medical issues, or symptoms related to mental health or neurodivergence. Residents were also sometimes required to perform work assignments that felt more like forced labor than education.

Communication with the outside world was extremely restricted. There was a level system where it could take months to earn privileges like phone calls, letters, or visits with family. If you said something staff didn’t like during those interactions, those privileges could be taken away again. School, therapy, and residential staff were all employed by the same organization, so there wasn’t really anyone independent we could report concerns to.

I did try to report some of what was happening at the time, but nothing was done. On one occasion when I tried to raise concerns, I was taken to a hospital and medicated before being sent back to the facility.

Recently while researching the program I also came across several employee reviews from different years that mention heavy use of restraints and other troubling practices, which made me wonder if what I experienced may not have been isolated.

I’m posting here to see if anyone else was there during the late 90s or early 2000s or has information about the program. I’d really like to hear from others who may have had similar experiences.

Feel free to comment here or message me privately if you’re more comfortable with that.