I See Your Face Before Me: A Father's Promise

Murray B. Schneps, the tenacious New York lawyer whose anger and courage were at the heart of the infamous Willowbrook case has finally told his compelling inside story. It follows his journey from new parent seeking help for his daughter Lara, who suffered from multiple profound developmental disabilities, through the class action litigation and its settlement, and service as Vice Chairman of the uniquely effective Willowbrook Review Panel.

This is a love story written by a father who understood that his vulnerable daughter could only be protected by changing the traditional system of providing services to the profoundly and severely multi-handicapped developmentally disabled people in large warehousing institutions.

Murray’s goals of closing Willowbrook, changing the institutional system in the State of New York by creating a community based residential system and opening a three-bed apartment group home for Lara were accomplished in the face of unbelievable opposition from the bureaucracy, the politicians, the communities, the employees and many parents. It is a remarkable and insightful retelling of the herculean struggle.

His story of those years, and the memories that live on, are recounted with clarity, passion, humor and an unflinching honesty.