Right to Fail
For New Yorkers With Mental Illness, a Broken Promise
Hunger, confusion, desperation and death. In 2014, thousands of New Yorkers with severe mental illness living in troubled group homes won the chance to live independently. The government didn’t track what happened when they left. ProPublica and Frontline found cases with deadly consequences.
Featured
After Years in Institutions, a Road Home Paved With Hunger, Violence and Death
A housing ruling gave Nestor Bunch independence, with limited support. Was he ready?
Other Entries
These Homes for Mentally Ill Adults Have Been Notoriously Mismanaged. Now, One Is a Gruesome Crime Scene.
Oceanview Manor Home for Adults, a psychiatric group home at the center of a yearslong legal battle over the rights of people with mental illness, is now the scene of a criminal investigation involving the death of a resident and the arrest of another.
After Failing Mentally Ill New Yorkers, Adult Homes Get Second Chance
Adult homes warehoused mentally ill people for decades until a court order gave residents a chance to move. The embattled institutions were in danger of closing when the state threw them a financial life raft — the elderly.
Judge Orders Expanded Oversight for Mentally Ill New Yorkers In Supported Housing
A report released this week, commissioned after a ProPublica and Frontline investigation, found that not enough residents were covered by an incident reporting system, among other gaps.
Mentally Ill New Yorkers Seeking Independence Find Safety Net Has Holes, Report Finds
An independent monitor has found that many of the city’s most vulnerable remain stuck in troubled adult homes too long and that the state loses track of them once they move out.
Behind “Right to Fail,” a ProPublica-Frontline Collaboration to Overcome Roadblocks and Privacy Restrictions
A story that began as an examination of New York’s troubled group homes for mentally ill adults evolved into an investigation of the state’s preferred solution to those problems.
New Documentary Chronicles the Challenges of New York’s Supported Housing Program for People With Mental Illness
On Feb. 26, the documentary premieres on PBS. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send it to you when it’s live.
Nation’s Largest Mental Health Organization Urges Supported Housing Reforms
In a letter citing a ProPublica and Frontline investigation, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has asked a U.S. district judge to ensure that people who have moved out of adult homes and into their own apartments have what they need to do so safely.
Judge Calls for Examination of Quality Controls in New York Supported Housing System
The day ProPublica and Frontline reported how people with mental illness are slipping through the cracks, federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis questioned state officials, suggested more help and requested a report on oversight.
Living Apart, Coming Undone
Under a landmark settlement, an ambitious housing program promised a better life for mentally ill New Yorkers. But some of the most vulnerable slip through the cracks.
The Breakthrough: Hopelessness and Exploitation Inside Homes for Mentally Ill
A reporter finds that homes meant to replace New York’s troubled psychiatric hospitals might be just as bad.
In a Lonely Corner of Coney Island, a Fight Over Care for the Vulnerable
Life at Oceanview Manor Home for Adults is at the center of the latest court battle involving the New York State Department of Health.
Independent Monitor Faults New York State for Delays in Aiding Mentally Ill
A court-ordered plan to move residents from notorious group homes produces backlogs and concern over state’s commitment to help thousands of mentally ill.
Federal Judge Sees New York State Conspiracy to Thwart Care for Mentally Ill
The judge who oversaw landmark case involving troubled homes for the mentally ill sends word to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that state’s efforts to undermine care must end.
