The Willowbrook State School located on Staten Island was a residential institution for individuals with mental retardation. It was one of the largest state supported institutions in the United States. The school was designed for approximately 4,000 people but by 1965, it had a resident population of 6,000. The school's reputation as a residential institution was one of a "warehouse for New York City's severely disabled children." Many of these children had been placed by their families, foster care agencies or other organizations because services for children with disabilities were limited and tenuous at that time. In 1972, Geraldo Rivera, as an investigative reporter for WABC TV, conducted a series of interviews which uncovered a number of horrible living conditions such as overcrowding, lack of sanitary facilities as well as physical and sexual abuse of the residents by members of the staff. The story was entitled Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace and resulted in a Peabody Award for Rivera. 

Soon after the television exposé, a class action suit was filed against the State of New York in Federal Court on March 17, 1972 and a settlement was reached on May 5, 1975 mandating reforms at the Willowbrook site. The public exposure and negative publicity inspired parents and social activists to fight for significant and substantial changes to ensure that there would be oversight and protection for individuals with disabilities in residential placements. The case was a major contributing factor to the passage of a Federal law entitled Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980. In 1983, the State of New York announced its intention to close Willowbrook since the number of residents had dwindled from 6,000 to 250.  After the center closed, there was a great deal of debate about how the property could be used by the City of New York to establish a new campus for the College of Staten Island. 

The Federal Court Judgment resulted in the closure of the Willowbrook Institution and spurred the growth of voluntary day treatment agencies and programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. The mission of self-determination for individuals with disabilities has as its genesis the move from residential placements to educational placements in integrated community settings.  The judgment created a national awareness of the importance of protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities as a minority group who should not be segregated for housing and/or employment. When we look around and see all of the special education programs which are now available to children with disabilities infants through age 21, we must remember how and why we have these programs. We must never forget the events which led to the opportunities of the present and the promises for the future.