Embattled St. Mary’s Closing After 147 Years

Embattled St. Mary’s Closing After 147 Years

St. Mary’s Home for Children’s board announced it is closing.

On Tuesday, St. Mary’s announced the anticipated transfer of its remaining community-based outpatient programs and the George M. Hunt School, located at its North Providence campus. This decision marks the end of a long history of St. Mary’s Home for Children, which has provided specialized educational and therapeutic residential and outpatient services to children in need since 1877.

According to a press release, the Board of Directors at St. Mary’s Home for Children has formally notified the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) that it will no longer operate the George M. Hunt Campus School on the Fruit Hill Campus. Efforts are currently underway to minimize disruptions to students’ educational placements for the 2024-2025 school year. Families, local school districts, and St. Mary’s employees have been informed of the closure.”

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About 50 to 60 children will be impacted.

The decision to cease operations was driven by the financial challenges of maintaining the school, community based and outpatient programs absent additional revenue from residential programming. Although initial plans were for Tides Family Services to take over operations at the St. Mary’s campus, this option proved unfeasible. Instead, the school program is in the process of moving to the Tides Family Services’ Pawtucket location. 

In addition to the school transfer, St. Mary’s has also notified DCYF of its intention to transfer the operations of its community-based outpatient programs to Tides Family Services. This transfer process is expected to take several weeks. The Board of Directors made this decision due to the financial unsustainability of continuing to operate these outpatient programs. The Board remains committed to ensuring that the youth served by these programs experience a smooth transition and continuity of care.

Jeff Cascione, President of the St. Mary’s Board, commented, “Since May 10, 2024, St. Mary’s and Tides Family Services have worked diligently to find a path forward for the transfer of all St. Mary’s operations to Tides. While we were only able to transfer the community-based outpatient services and a portion of the school to Tides, we are confident that the youth in these programs will be well-served by Tides Family Services. Every decision was made with the best interests of the children and families in mind. 

Tides Family Services is an outstanding organization, and we are confident in the choice we made to partner with them.”

 

State Rejects Plan

In response to directives from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Tides Family Services presented a plan and timeline for restarting the Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) at the St. Mary’s campus. However, this plan was subsequently rejected by the state. As a result, the PRTF will not reopen, and the paused construction of a new PRTF will now be permanently terminated.

“The Tides team worked tirelessly and logged hundreds of hours in its effort to develop a plan, timeline and budget to restart the PRTF and make its vision of developing a continuum of behavioral health care services centralized on one campus a reality. Tides remains hopeful that EOHHS and DCYF remain committed to providing the full continuum of behavioral health care in our community that is focused on children’s behavioral health needs” noted Beth Lemme-Bixby, CEO of Tides Family Services. 

Lemme-Bixby went on to say “Tides will continue to focus on our own mission of providing comprehensive, community-based services to those in need. We remain dedicated to our current programs and will continue to serve our clients with the highest standards of care and support.”

“Tides’ work is centered on addressing children's behavioral health needs, preserving families within the child welfare system, and preventing juvenile justice involvement. Tides remains deeply committed to these vital areas, ensuring that our programs deliver the highest standards of care and support. As we navigate the complexities of today’s challenges, Tides will continue to serve our clients with consistent dedication, helping to improve the lives of those we serve across Rhode Island.’