New York State Governor Thomas E. Dewey (right), accompanied by Department of Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Frederick MacCurdy, samples the food during an inspection tour at Rockland State Hospital. New York State Office of Mental Hygiene Annual Report 1947. Courtesy of Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) member, Paul Castellani.
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) members parading through the downtown Rochester, New York area during the CSEA 1987 Annual Delegates Meeting, enroute to City Hall where CSEA statewide President William L. McGowan and several other CSEA activists testified before a hearing conducted by the State Senate Standing Committee on Mental Health chaired by New York State Senator Nicholas Spano. They were demanding adequate staffing levels in the states psychiatric facilities and developmental centers. The understaffing issue heated up after Mental Hygiene Therapy Aide Clara Taylor was murdered earlier in the year while working alone on a night shift at the Rockland Psychiatric Center. CSEA has raised the issue of understaffing time and time again and has pushed for corrective measures for years.
New York State Senator Nicholas Spano speaking to the delegates at the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) 1987 Annual Delegates Meeting in Rochester, New York. During the convention hundreds of CSEA members paraded through the downtown area enroute to City Hall where CSEA statewide President William L. McGowan and several other CSEA activists testified before a hearing conducted by the State Senate Standing Committee on Mental Health, which is chaired by Spano, demanding adequate staffing levels in the state's psychiatric facilities and developmental centers. The understaffing issue heated up after Mental Hygiene Therapy Aide Clara Taylor was murdered earlier in the year while working alone on a night shift at the Rockland Psychiatric Center. CSEA has raised the issue of understaffing time and time again and has pushed for corrective measures for years.