TUPPER LAKE – Deborah Dupuis used to love her job at Sunmount Developmental Disabilities Service Organization, but that was long ago.

“When I first started there, I felt very comfortable in my job,” the former contract American Sign Language interpreter told the Enterprise. “I felt like I was doing a service to the deaf culture and the deaf community.

“As time has gone on, it’s gotten to the point where it’s not secure, it’s not comfortable, it’s not safe. Workplace violence occurs every day now.”

Dupuis says she worked at Sunmount for 12 years. As a sign language interpreter, she was paid by the hour and billed the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities monthly for her services. Although not a staff member, she says she performed many of the same duties as a staff member and worked side-by-side with them for years.

The Enterprise has heard from many Sunmount workers recently who described similar concerns; Dupuis’ story, however, is unique for several reasons, including that the stress of her job prompted her to quit and that she is a rare Sunmount insider willing to discuss it on the record. Her story offers a glimpse into the inner workings of an agency that has often seemed opaque and impenetrable to the public.

“I have been a victim of workplace violence, and I have internalized everything that has gone on there,” she said. “All I have been able to do is observe the consumers attacking each other, the consumers attacking staff. And on occasions, I have been attacked physically and psychologically.

“I am taking my doctor’s (advice) and retiring from my present job due to workplace violence and (post-traumatic stress disorder).”

How did a woman who once took great pride in the services she provided to developmentally disabled people come to associate her workplace with the type of stress one encounters in a war zone? Her story mirrors Sunmount’s slow transformation from a therapeutic environment into a place where some workers say the chances of rehabilitation are slim and they must remain ever on guard against some of the very people they are serving.

There are hundreds of stories inside Sunmount; this is one.

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Beginnings

There was a time when Dupuis, a native of Tupper Lake, an alumna of Paul Smith’s College and a mother of two, felt like her job gave her the opportunity to raise her family while advocating for deaf culture.

“I came back to Tupper to raise my kids in a healthier environment,” she said. “Advocacy has always been a really big thing for me because of my deaf daughter.

“My contract gave me all the flexibility in the world that I needed to be able to be a part of my daughter’s life.”

As an interpreter, Dupuis said her primary duty was to advocate and communicate for deaf individuals. Over the years, she said she also taught sign language to developmentally disabled Sunmount clients who could hear.

“(Sign language) supports their math skills, language skills, reading skills, communication skills,” she said. “I’ve worked on social skills, anger management – yeah, they loved my class.”

Dupuis said she used to feel respected and appreciated by her employers.

“When I first started there, the directors always made visits,” she said, pointing out that former director Steve DeHond, who retired in 2013, was particularly friendly and social. “He knew a little bit of sign language.

“They used to have what they called a ‘Staff Appreciation Dinner’ at Christmas. … It was a fun meal. Directors, administrators, they all came down in their Christmas whatever and aprons and served the staff.”

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Sea change

Dupuis said that dinner was discontinued years ago.

“They say they don’t have the funds for it anymore,” she said. “The staff have not seen any type of appreciation in I can’t tell you how many years. They just stopped all that. They just cut it out. There is no respect. None at all.

“It’s not the same place.”

Dupuis said, in her experience, Sunmount’s emphasis has shifted from short-term, therapeutic treatment to long-term containment.

“I thought it was a therapeutic treatment center at first, you know, short term, two years, they’re supposed to cycle through,” she said. “I’ve seen people that have been there longer than I have, and they’re doing the same things every day.”

Dupuis divided much of her time between the Regional Intensive Treatment center, a secure section of the main campus, and the “Options for Success” program, which she described as a sort of life skills class for Sunmount residents. In a complaint echoed privately by many veteran staff members, Dupuis said the atmosphere inside has become dangerous because of a lack of consequences for the negative behavior of clients. She said she often sees residents, or “consumers,” as Sunmount calls them, committing acts of violence against other residents and staff members.

“They orchestrate and create, just like jail,” she said. “I actually have been involved in interventions and takedowns and helped people getting their hair being pulled or preventing somebody from biting. Human bites are not pretty.

“While the consumers are going at it and the staff are trying to help them or get them to stop from beating on each other or whatever, staff get injured in the middle of it. I’ve actually seen consumers go directly right after a staff and do a chokehold on him.”

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Harassment

On Jan. 7, Dupuis issued a complaint of workplace violence against Thomas J. Perrault, 44, who was a Sunmount resident at the time. While there have been many reports of violence at Sunmount facilities this year – including instances of staff assaulting residents, residents assaulting staff, and residents assaulting residents – Perrault’s case is unique; Unlike many residents, he had three prior criminal convictions on his record and had previously left Sunmount’s grounds without permission before the incident with Dupuis.

Yet despite these convictions, he was housed in a group home rather than one of Sunmount’s secure facilities, where staff who feel threatened can press a “blue dot” button and reinforcements will come running.

Excerpts from the complaint’s written account of the incident read, “Thomas is verbally threatening to break a chair over D. (Dupuis’) head and split it open. Also threatening to do to peer (resident), who D. (Dupuis) is a sign language (interpreter). Is degrading both D. (Dupuis) and (resident) verbally (with several expletives.) ‘Better watch your back.’ Stalking peer.”

Excerpts from the supervisor-treatment team leader section of the form read, “Thomas’ actions are … frightening the peers to the point some were crying. One peer … wanted to fight. Peers relocated to a safe (area.) Thomas will go into a rage and is unable to get complete control of himself before starting into another rage. Request meeting with Tom’s team, possible anger management classes for him.”

On Feb. 2, after Perrault displayed similar behavior, Dupuis says she became so visibly upset that a Sunmount investigator asked her what was wrong. When Dupuis explained what had happened, the investigator advised her to file a complaint with the state police, which she did, accusing the client of second degree harassment on Feb. 3.

Dupuis’ supporting deposition to the police referenced both incidents. Regarding Feb. 2, excerpts from the statement read, “From the beginning of my day (until) the end of my day, Tom continually threatened myself and other staff saying he was going to “(expletive) everyone up” and put everyone out on leave for abusing him.

“The harassment is very threatening and intimidating and I would like to press charges against him.”

Those charges, however, were never pressed as Perrault was arrested the same day and charged with third-degree assault and second-degree unlawful imprisonment for a separate incident involving another female staff member. According to state police spokeswoman Trooper Jennifer Fleishman, Perrault grabbed the staff member by the hair and dragged her into his room in the group home, where he then got on top of her and punched her in the face.

Perrault pleaded guilty in late February to the third-degree assault charge and was given a 12-month conditional discharge that included his transfer to a new facility, Sullivan County ARC of Monticello. As recently as April, however, the Enterprise heard reports that Perrault was still housed at Sunmount in a section of campus known as a “respite house.” Asked in April if Perrault was still on campus, OPWDD Director of Communications Jennifer O’Sullivan said, “I can’t comment on an individual’s placement since we have strict confidentiality laws that we have to adhere to.”

Franklin County Assistant District Attorney David Hayes explained why he chose not to pursue Dupuis’ charge against Perrault.

“I prosecuted Mr. Perrault on a more serious charge involving another staff member for assault in the third degree,” he said. “Part of that disposition, which was at about the same time as (Dupuis’) case, was that Mr. Perrault be transferred out of county, and that weighed heavily in my decision not to prosecute a simple harassment.

“My priority was to get him out of Tupper Lake and away from the staff members in Tupper Lake in a more secure facility.”

Dupuis said that after her supervisors learned she had contacted the state police, they were upset.

“They were like, ‘Why did you go to the state police? That was so long ago,'” she said. ” I didn’t know I had the right to go to the state police and that it was a chargeable crime.”

Dupuis said she was directed to fill out an additional form detailing both incidents and explaining why she contacted the state police.

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Enough is enough

Dupuis was reluctant to talk about her PTSD symptoms but eventually opened up.

“It’s difficult because I don’t like talking about the stress,” she said. “I’ve lost interest in everything I’ve ever done. I don’t hike. I don’t camp. I don’t backpack. I don’t ski. I don’t skate. I don’t go snowshoeing. I do absolutely nothing. I wake up in the morning, I’m crying before my feet even hit the floor, never knowing what my day is going to entail, how much abuse am I going to have to endure throughout the day.

“I’ve had severe panic attacks where I’ve had to go to urgent care with an excessive high blood pressure. I shake. I cry. I cry a lot.”

Like many staff members, Dupuis is concerned about the impact the Justice Center, the state agency that investigates allegations of abuse against people with special needs, and its investigations has had upon Sunmount.

“Enough is enough,” she said. “If a staff is put out on administrative leave, five days later, the Justice Center … will send (the staff member) a letter saying if it’s founded or unfounded.

“If it’s unfounded, then you’re clear to go back to work. But Sunmount will not always clear you right away. It might take weeks or months still for that process. And then … you’re paying somebody who’s out on administrative leave their full pay while somebody is getting time-and-a-half or double time or whatever it is they get for it for months on end. Do the math.”

Dupuis said she has heard clients threaten staff members many times with administrative leave and said they know how to manipulate the system.

“I think a lot of false allegations go in,” she said. “I have heard it repeatedly. ‘If you don’t give me my cigarette, I’m putting you out, if you don’t give me a piece of pie, if you don’t do what I want, or I don’t like you today, and I hate you, I’m going to put you out, and I’m going to make an allegation that you did something to me.’ And I’ve heard it, and they go out.”

She said staff members and contract workers have to deal with constant abuse from residents, and not just the worst ones like Perrault.

“We’re not victims – we’re not allowed to say that,” she said. “Even though, every day, we are victims when we walk in that door and we get screamed at, kicked, punched by an individual.

“I have more hope for my future than remaining here in Sunmount.”

Nevertheless, she said, “I’m going to truly miss some of the people that I’ve worked with.”

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A new journey

Dupuis’ last day at Sunmount was April 7.

“It was bittersweet,” she told the Enterprise. “It was a big relief.”

On that day, she cut her hair to donate it to Wigs For Kids, a charity that provides hair replacement systems and support for children who have lost their hair due to medical issues.

“It’s frustrating because I really did enjoy my job,” she said. “I felt that I was an integral part of a therapeutic treatment center that’s no longer in existence.”

Dupuis left Tupper Lake later that week. Since leaving, she has been on a cross-country trek that has taken her to Colorado, California and Oregon. When the Enterprise caught up with her Tuesday, she said she felt free but was still troubled by her experiences.

“When people ask me what did I do for New York state government, I really still, to this day, get choked up in my heart and in my throat,” she said. “I’m so grateful I’m not there anymore.

“I just hope that things can change in the future.”