Rhode Island’s neediest children have been finding solace at St. Mary’s Home for Children for 130 years now, and the tradition continues with more programs and services than ever.
St. Mary’s has evolved from its beginnings as an orphanage into the state’s largest, most comprehensive treatment facility for children who have been traumatized by abuse and/or who are dealing with psychiatric and emotional issues.
For its work with these very vulnerable youngsters, St. Mary’s – a nonsectarian organization supported in part by the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, but run by an independent board – is the winner of the 2007 Business Excellence Award in the nonprofit category.
St. Mary’s serves children in a residential facility in North Providence and in an outpatient facility in Cranston, as well as through other programs and home-based services.
The residential facility provides temporary shelter, a special education school, treatment for childhood psychiatric disorders and a therapeutic foster care program.
Today there are 63 children living at the home on 420 Fruit Hill Ave. – boys ages 6 to 14 and girls ages 6 to 18. Some stay at the facility for many years, but the average length of stay is nine months, according to Bernard J. Smith, executive director of St. Mary’s.
The outpatient and home-based treatment programs focus on keeping families together during crises through clinical intervention and counseling.
Smith, who has been with St. Mary’s for 33 years and plans to retire on June 30, said one example of how the nonprofit has adapted to children’s changing needs is the Shepherd Program. The outpatient program was established in 1985 in response to the growing number of child sexual abuse victims and their families, he said.
“Thirty years ago, no one knew about sexual abuse. Today, we see it constantly,” Smith said. “Children used to come here out of poverty. I remember one case of a family with seven children. The mother was a nurse and when she got cancer and passed away, the father couldn’t work and care for them all. He had no choice but to send them to St Mary’s.”
“The kids here today suffer more intense disturbances – mental disabilities or psychological issues – which are much different than what we saw decades ago, and we wouldn’t have been able to handle those issues unless we changed our programs, especially in the case of sexual abuse,” Smith said.
The facilities, which are funded through the state, insurance companies that pay for child care, and fundraising efforts, were first extended in 1954 to include a separate residence for teenage girls called St. Martha’s House. This facility in Providence for girls 16-18 offers pre-independent living counseling and services to help them transition out of residential treatment and into society.
In the 1960s, St. Mary’s began receiving requests to accept children who displayed behavioral problems both at home and in the community, prompting development of St. Mary’s psychiatric program, which is now a staple of the organization’s services.
During the1980s, the George N. Hunt Campus School was established for behaviorally disordered residential and day students who had trouble in public schools. The small student-to-teacher ratio allows for positive academic growth.
The school is organized in ungraded classrooms, with each child placed in the classroom that best meets his or her academic needs. An individualized education program (IEP) is designed for every child, including health, physical education and art.
In the fall of 2004, St. Mary’s added two new acute residential treatment services to its existing programs. The Jodie House and Harding House Programs provide short-term psychiatric hospital step-down services for children transitioning out of the system. The program includes daily clinical interventions, a structured therapeutic environment, academic and recreational programming and intensive psychiatric and nursing services.
Smith said he has seen his share of disappointments, but for the most part, children leave St. Mary’s with a much brighter future than when they entered.
Recently, St. Mary’s held a reunion for former residents. Only about 20 people showed up, because most people leave St. Mary’s with the intention of putting their past behind them, Smith said. But hearing from those who did attend was gratifying. One former resident that lived at St. Mary’s during her teen years attended the reunion with her husband and healthy family, proving the system worked for her.
“Sometimes the cycle doesn’t get broken – we see a grandmother, a mother and the child all here. But that isn’t common,” Smith said. “When I have a young person come back here to visit years after they’ve left to show me their new family, and I see that the cycle of abuse has been broken, it makes my day – my year.”
There are currently 250 staff employees, including nurses, psychiatrists, social workers and clinicians at the facility, which is open 24 hours a day, every day.
“It’s the staff here that does the magic. Some of these kids are so disturbed they will spit at the staff, hit and bite and say the meanest things. They are hurt and they transmit that pain to their caretakers, but the caretakers keep coming back day after day. They are so dedicated to working with these kids,” Smith said.
As for the future, Smith is working to promote positive change at the state level. He envisions a seamless system of providers that can share resources, so children get care faster than they do today. Moving a child between facilities is slowed by “red tape” requirements of state agencies such as the R.I. Department of Children, Youth and Families, Smith said.
“There is a lot of turmoil in the state now, but we are moving in the right direction and finally making some positive changes,” Smith said. •
