How to stop bullying in subsidized housing
A message to our legislators on Beacon Hill
A plague of bullying creates a toxic environment in subsidized housing—victimizing elderly people and younger disabled people in the place they call home. Bullying prevents a healthy community life, and is harmful to managers, staff, and visitors, as well as to the residents. Bullying deprives victims of their human and civil rights. They experience isolation, exclusion, rejection, malicious gossip, emotional abuse and even violence. They live in fear of unfair eviction and homelessness. Their lives are consumed by conflict, fear, stress, and both emotional and physical illness.
Victims are almost never able to get relief. At present, our laws, social service agencies, and accountability systems do not protect victims. Remedies are lacking, no one has the tools or resources or even a plan that has been proven to work. We ask you, our representatives, to support S709, a legislative study commission, that will bring together stakeholders, experts, legislators, and constituents to craft a solution.
The goal
- To protect everyone in the residential institution—residents, staff, and visitors.
- To make it possible for residents and staff to be able to live and work together, in a supportive, positive, healthy community; treating each other with respect and dignity, and tolerating differences.
- To create legal sanctions against anyone doing bullying, engaging in mobbing, or permitting bullying.
- To identify and empower social workers, social service agencies, first responders, and others to intervene, eliminating the gaps in coverage which exist today.
- To provide the tools for all members of the residential community (including landlords/managers/staff) to resolve interpersonal and social issues without resorting to inappropriate control over others.
- Like the wise men and the elephant, no one stakeholder sees the whole picture of bullying. Therefore, we advocate for a commission (S709) to bring together legislators, administrators of government agencies, residents, experts, landlords, managers, and all other stakeholders to fully understand the problem and recommend effective solutions.
Advocating for S709
We urge your support for S709 to create a legislative study commission.
Sponsor and cosponsors for S709, the commission on bullying
S709, a Resolve creating a commission to study ways to prevent bullying of tenants in public and subsidized multi-family housing Joan B. Lovely, Second Essex; Bradford Hill, 4th Essex; Leah Cole, 12th Essex; William N. Brownsberger, Second Suffolk and Middlesex; Barbara L'Italien, Second Essex and Middlesex; Bruce E. Tarr, First Essex and Middlesex; Richard J. Ross, Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex; James M. Murphy, 4th Norfolk; Jason M. Lewis, Fifth Middlesex
CONTACT:
Jerry Halberstadt, Coordinator Stop Bullying Coalition 978.595.1936 Coordinator@StopBullyingCoalition.org
http://stopbullyingcoalition.org/
Jonathan Gale, Associate Coordinator Stop Bullying Coalition 781.254.3297 Jonathan.Gale@StopBullyingCoalition.org
The Stop Bullying Coalition
The Stop Bullying Coalition is an umbrella group for partners engaged in advocacy, education, and research. It is open to all individuals and organizations sharing a concern about bullying. Each is free to promote their chosen remedies, while all seek to put an end to bullying. The partners of the Stop Bullying Coalition include: The Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann; Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants; and numerous individuals who prefer not to be listed.
About Bullying
Definitions
- Individual bullying: Bullying is the intentional, repeated attempt by one person to impose wrongful, harmful control over others.
- Group bullying: Group (social) bullying involves a peer group that acts to dominate others through inappropriate tactics, including by disrupting the social relationships of the target.
Institutional bullying and mobbing are contexts within which bullying flourishes.
- Institutional bullying: is bullying by one or more peers of the target(s) that landlord/management allows or condones; with the effect of demeaning the victim(s) and excluding them from, or limiting their access to, the social life of the institution.
- Mobbing: is bullying that landlord/management (or staff) actively takes part in, or supports, with the effect of demeaning the victim(s) and excluding them from, or limiting their access to, the social life of the institution and even to unreasonably evict them.
The harm is significant
Where bullying is uncontrolled, life is consumed by conflict, fear, stress, and illness. Residents fear eviction and experience isolation, exclusion, rejection, gossip, and abuse when they become the targets of bullying. Social isolation, unfair eviction, emotional stress including PTSD, depression, and disease including cardiovascular, stroke, etc. Residents live in terror and have nowhere to turn for relief. The atmosphere in an institution where bullying takes place becomes toxic for staff as well as residents. Violence can result from the unresolved conflicts and tensions.
No remedy or protection
There is no available effective, comprehensive protection for most victims of bullying. There are gaps in the mandates for various agencies, and victims report the lack of relief despite appealing to the relevant agencies. The law against harassment provides only partial relief. In most cases, residents are unable to afford legal counsel to pursue civil remedies.
Current laws and oversight practices are not adequate to protect elderly and/or disabled residents in subsidized housing. It is difficult or impossible for residents to get relief from bullying in subsidized buildings.
Managers and management companies, local housing authorities, state agencies and even federal oversight agencies are not held accountable for the quality of life in these buildings. In some situations, even stated policies on bullying are not effective.
Bullying is everywhere
Victims are being bullied in all types of subsidized housing: privately owned, HUD-subsidized; local housing authorities,; housing under DHCD or MassHousing; and congregational housing/assisted living.
Role of management/landlord
Landlords have a responsibility to assure "peaceful enjoyment" for all residents. Landlords/managers, including local housing authorities (LHA), can make a difference by preventing bullying and working with residents to create a healthy community. Some landlords and managers are proactive and have relatively few problems with bullying; some landlords claim bullying is not their responsibility; some landlords are concerned but may not have effective means to stop bullying. The bottom line is that the landlords, managers, and residents of a facility need additional tools and skills to address the problems of bullying, including by working with residents. Some landlords, especially those who allow or even use bullying and mobbing to control the institution, may require external pressure and sanctions before they will take appropriate action.
Everyone in the institution must be part of the solution
While we can agree that bullying needs to be stopped, we don't have a recipe for prevention and for building a healthy community. We need a solution that will be able to stop bullying and protect victims, but we also need flexibility to enable each institution to design and implement effective solutions suited for their own situations. We need to enable residents to take part in a democratic community effort, provide meaningful external oversight, and rapid, effective protection.
Best practices in schools and the workplace focus on the need to engage and involve all members of the institution and the wider community. In housing, an effective intervention will require the collaboration of all stakeholders.
While there are parallels between bullying in housing and bullying in schools or the workplace, we can't just copy what has been tried in those fields. We must design interventions appropriate to housing of families, elderly, and the disabled.
We need to consider ways to enable landlords, managers, residents, and the broader community to work together, while setting limits on bad actors.
Finding the solution: create the commission
Like the wise men and the elephant, no stakeholder sees the whole picture of bullying. People including legislators, landlords, managers, residents, caregivers such as social workers and personal care assistants, governmental agencies, first responders—all have something to contribute and we need to pool their experience and insights to understand the problem and to develop effective solutions that meld their common interests. Legislators surely will want to become familiar with the research on bullying, the range of solutions that may be proposed, and to hear from constituents about their experiences with bullying.
Strengths of the commission process
Bibliography on bullying and mobbing
Jerry Halberstadt, Stop Bullying: Creating Healthy Communities for the Elderly and Disabled, (Peabody:Togethering Press, 2017)—Forthcoming, advance PDF copy available on request
Duffy, Maureen and Len Sperry, Mobbing: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).
Duffy, Maureen and Len Sperry, Overcoming Mobbing: A Recovery Guide for Workplace Aggression and Bullying, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)
Legislative history of anti-bullying bills
S604, S2329 (188th Session, 2013-2014) S709 Current, 189th Session
Senate No. 604 was presented as a citizen's "by right" petition of Jerry Halberstadt, and filed by Senator Joan B. Lovely for consideration during the 2013-2014 legislative session. An Act to protect residents of subsidized housing developments from bullying; bullying prevention policies and plans; research and demonstration programs
Senate No. 604 was referred to the Joint Committee on Housing and when deemed not ready for passage, was recast as Senate No. 2329, a Resolve creating a commission to study ways to prevent bullying of tenants in public and subsidized multi-family housing, and was reported out favorably by the Joint Committee on Housing during the 2013-2014 legislative session. Senate 2329 passed its first stage in the Senate, but after it was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means on the last day of the session, no further action was taken on the Resolve.
Senate No. 709 is a refile of Senate No. 2329, a Resolve creating a commission to study ways to prevent bullying of tenants in public and subsidized multi-family housing, and is being considered during the 2015-2016 legislative session.
- The commission will include key leaders in the legislature, bringing their expertise on several aspects of the problem.
- The commission will engage experts in several key governmental agencies who have practical experience in designing, implementing, and administering laws and programs.
- The commission will reach out to citizens and stakeholders through a series of hearings held in various parts of the Commonwealth.
- The collective knowledge, wisdom and experience of all interested parties—legislators, administrators, citizens, and stakeholders, and others—will help lead to a comprehensive understanding of the problem and potential solutions.
House No. 522 was filed in the current legislative session by Mr. Heroux of Attleboro and was referred to the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs. An Act to prevent and respond to bullying of elderly and disabled residents of public or privately-owned, subsidized multifamily housing developments. House No. 522 is modeled after Senate 604 from the 2013-2014 legislative session.
Residential violence, H1094, By Ms. DiZoglio of Methuen, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1094) of Diana DiZoglio and others for legislation to establish a task force on the safety and welfare of elderly and disabled persons residing in public housing. Housing. Related to the murder of three elderly persons living in public housing, allegedly by a younger, disabled neighbor; the proposed task force would seek ways to ...ensure the safety and welfare of elderly and disabled persons residing in public housing... The task force would meld the expertise of departments concerned with housing, including directors of housing authorities, with health and human services, and involve psychologists with expertise on "at-risk mental illness patients."
Bill H.1771 189th (Current) An Act addressing workplace bullying, mobbing, and harassment, without regard to protected class status. By Representative Story of Amherst and Senator Flanagan, a joint petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1771) of Ellen Story, Jennifer L. Flanagan and others for legislation to address workplace bullying, mobbing, and harrassment, without regard to protected class status. Labor and Workforce Development.
Bullying
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Your comment here,please
I am a middle aged disabled man living in subsidized housing and have experienced bullying first hand. The old ladies living here have tried everything in their power to hurt me but get nowhere because its all lies. They have taken me to court under false accusations, tried to make me lose my dog and even complain when my boat is parked in the parking lot. I have sent several letters to management about what they have done to me with not even a response.
Bullying People in HUD Low-Income Housing
Comment
Let's hope and work towards the day when HUD enforces rules, holds managers to account, and takes better care of their customers: people like you.
Blocking egress: your local fire department must have a fire prevention person or safety person, report to them and ask them to enforce safety in your building.
Call the local Postmaster or find the office of the Postal inspector service and complain about lack of access to mail, this is a federal offense.
If anyone enters your apartment without prior notice to do maintenance work, or if strangers are entering your apartment, call 911 and make a pollice report of trespass.
Thanks for sharing!
Jerry
HUD does have in place rules which should make residents comfortable in their homes, but they are completely unenforced by everyone, especially HUD.
I have encountered threats of things that are completely illegal made by the previous manager of the apartment building. The threats were made just to see how angry and upset they could make the resident. It was a fun game for my previous manager.
In one case, the previous manager told me that she used the financial information I was required to give to manipulate my finances in order to make me lose my car. HUD, when informed, gave me their standard reply: "If you don't like it there, move somewhere else." If I had the money to move, I would!
The management has blocked entrances/exits, sometimes for as long as a week, including the doors of people's apartments, so that in case of emergency, they either couldn't, or would have a hard time getting out. Mailboxes and mail have been blocked and unaccessible for as long as five days.
Management has let people they don't know that walked in off the street into my apartment when I was home alone, asleep. I feel that this is alarming and scary. I'm hoping to convince them that this is not safe before someone gets raped or murdered.
Manager has set the stage to allow bullying to thrive
Comment
Your comment here,please
Our manager uses bullying as her way of managing a large high rise on a regular basis.
This includes threats of 10 day notice to get people to move there car to remove snow when residents for the last 38 years have been giving reasonable accommodations on the issue years before she took over, stating the plow will come between 10 and 12, the plow was hear before 830 am today.
he uses it to get out of providing reasonable accommodations, she uses it to avoid maintenance issues, she put in cameras to watch us and then bully somemore, she even used it to get a elderly disabled women caring for her disabled grandson, the women was also a victim of domestic violence, the women was forced out by threats of evection, and frivolous 10 day notices, one include telling her it was a hud rule she get her emotional support animal fixed.
She tells people they have to talk with her, that it is in there lease, she tells people they have to tell her why the police were hear even if it was not a police call. When asked where people could file a complaint about her she says why would I give you info on how to file a complaint about me. The other staff quietly tell you to call her boss, who in his own way stands up for her as the managment company is all friends and family. Our housing authority does not have a grievance processed even though it is federal law. The housing authority also just calls managment, hears there side and that's the end.
Our manager has her favorites who even when they do wrong it's ok, this included watching a white women, tell a black man to f off, she also spit in his face and gave him the finger, she was kindly told to watch her anger, as where others were told they could no longer use the community room over hear say, hear say given by the women who spit in the black man's face.
Another man brought a hear say issue about him being bullied and was told there is nothing I can do it is hear say. She encourages people to tell on each other and now wants more cameras even though we do not have issues that can be solved with cameras.
We asked if we could start a neighborhood association, the manager told us HUD does not allow it. This is a private owned section 8 building, the owners have put the managment company in charge, I don't think they truely understand what is going on. There needs to be someone outside managment , the housing authority, and owners people can go to to get help.
One women spent the last 2 years of her life shut in her apartment due to being loudly yelled at, the first time because in the community room another man did not want her talking in the group of people he was talking to, he voiced he hated her and if managment did not due something he would, the manager yelled at her, she stayed up stairs in her unit for a year, she braved coming back down stoped at computer to talk to neighbor, manager came out of office and yelled at her agian about getting into people's business, only she was invited to sit at the computer with her neighbor, teddy died lonely, sick and shut in, then the neighbor was the one evicted..
She breaks the law and makes it up as she goes to sute her. Then people start picking on the same people and more that the manager does.
I have become a shut in as now that I have filled with hud and got the reasonable accommodations medically needed I now get dirty looks, and the same treatment I got from the manager with my disabilities being dismissed I also get from some of the people who live hear. I am on a wait list to get out of hear, but it is a long wait and there is no where elce I have to go that I can afford.
I am sad, lonely defeated, just like the rest of the non favorites around hear. Activities I like to do or that I use to lead groups in are no longer done, this stopped after I got what I needed through involving hud. A way to punish me and keep me locked in my apartment.
So yes let's give the victim of domestic violence a 14 day evection letter and the women who smashed a glass into her boyfriends face, a man who live in the building the right to stay. The women who smashed the glass into her boyfriends face smashing g his frount teeth was aloud to stay, she finely had to go after violation of her bail 4 times, 4 more times the police came because she was drunk and violent.
This is the world I live in where I am worried I will not be able to move my car, due to illness, due to doors on my car freezing shut, due to it being during the time I have home care that allows me to remain independent, or risk another fall from moving my car to a one way st, as last year I fell and slid under my car, there was jo one there to help me and I have recently had a major surgery, but as the plow did not come between 10 and 12 it was the only way to get my spot cleaned out, by the way I spent 20 mins half way under my car and between the club trying to get up, no one could see me, I could not feel my hands or feet by the time I crawled out, and could not walk for a week.
So when I don't have a place to live in a month, in the winter.....
Reply to Sheila
Comment
Sheila, thank you for sharing, but the story you tell is just terrible and not right.
Unfortunately, this is a very common situation and very hard to correct. HUD is now beginning to address the problems of harassment under the Fair Housing Act. Bullying would be covered because it is so similar to harassment. Under Fair Housing, a person who is harassed because of their disability or race/ethnicity would be protected.
You describe the stress, isolation, and depression that come when people are attacked and can not escape.
The situation in your building is what we call "mobbing" because there is bullying by the housing provider/manager as well as by residents.
According to HUD and legal experts, a housing provider is obligated in law and by the lease contract to provide safe, secure environment, and that includes freedom from bullying and harassment. When management participates in harassing residents, they are guilty of breaking those laws. The problem we face as tenants is that these are civil court cases and we would have to hire an attorney. In just a few situations each year, HUD does charge a landlord with bad actions.
In some states, there are laws against harassment, for example in Massachusetts a victim can go to court without an attorney and seek protection.
Sometimes residents can get relief by turning to their local agencies and government---Senior center, mayor, city council, state representatives--who can provide help and sometimes put pressure on the landlord. If your health permits, you might seek activities in the community: political action? volunteering? senior center? Anything to get involved in healthy relationships and meet nice people.
I hope you can find someone to move your car when the plow comes, it is clearly very dangerous for you.
You wanted to start a "neighborhood association," but the manager stopped you?? This is a violation of your civil rights, subsidized housing is not a prison! And in fact HUD does encourage the formation of tenants' associations, and management is supposed to keep hands off and more than that, to work with such an organization. All it takes is 3-5 people to form a "steering committee" to begin the process. In fact, just by starting the steering committee you will have created a legitimate tenants' association: independent of management---they can't come to meetings unless invited--and you need to be open to ALL residents, act in a democratic way (in your meetings, take votes on key issues, keep records) and you can organize parties, educational lectures, outings, games; and you can also negotiate for your rights with the management. The management is forbidden to interfere by HUD. But a warning: don't expect your manager to make it easy for you.
Also, a person with a disability is entitled to a reasonable accomodation. If the manager and residents are treating you with disrespect, this would possibly be against Federal and State laws that are part of the Fair Housing Act. And you can ask for accomodation regardng the car---clearly it needs to be moved but you need the opportunity to arrange that.
Perhaps go back to HUD and complain about retaliation against you for seeking help!
But the core problem is the type of management and the lack of care and supervision by the owners.
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I'm a Victim of bullying, living in State Housing
Hi, I'm going to try not to make my story a long one. I was homeless before I applied for State and Federal Housing. I was put on a waiting list even though I told them that I was living in my car because I used up my weeks living in the local shelters. Housing told me I wasn't eligible to be place on the emergency list even though I got a medical reason from my doctor (2012). The housing director at that time claimed because I was homeless and living in my car, I wasn't eligible to be place on the priority list for housing. I called the City Mayor and told him what happen. He asked for the person I spoke to from housing and my number and told me he will call me back in 30 minutes. He kept his word and called me back to tell me that as of today I am on the emergency, priority list and I'm #2 person to get the next apartment. I thanked him! The manager from housing called me that same day and apologized to me for the misunderstanding. I moved into a 200 unit apartment building (State Housing) that has 10 floors. I was given an apartment on the second floor on top of the boilier room and I'm going to save you the horror of what I've experience since I've been living here for the past 4 years. I will tell you that I've kept records of everything that's been and still happening to me as far as a unhealthy living situation in the apartment I've been renting, according to the gas company who I called after smelling fumes for the past 4 years and the bullying from maintenance workers and the tenants here. The gas company told me that their gas reader meter picked up an error code. After they called maintance to let them in to examine the furnace, the gas man called me back to tell me that the furnace also has an error code that the meter picked up and that's why I was smelling gas fumes. I thanked him because the maintenance didn't believe me all these years. I've been sick, have difficulties sleeping, depressed, forgetful and I'm at a lost and feeling all alone. Housing never called me back after I notified them of the gas company findings. They never reached out to me all these years I've been complaining that I smell gas in my bedroom and living room. I have video of smoke that still comes into my windows.I believe because I've called city hall and got the mayor involved and my complaints that they are using tenants to bully me.
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