R.I. nonprofits serving developmentally disabled community plan merger

THE FOGARTY CENTER and Ocean State Community Resources Inc., two nonprofits serving children and adults with developmental and other disabilities, will merge effective January of next year. David C. Reiss (above), who heads both nonprofits as executive director, said the merger is
THE FOGARTY CENTER and Ocean State Community Resources Inc., two nonprofits serving children and adults with developmental and other disabilities, will merge effective January of next year. David C. Reiss (above), who heads both nonprofits as executive director, said the merger is "primarily about survival." / COURTESY THE FOGARTY CENTER

NORTH PROVIDENCE – The Fogarty Center is working to merge with Ocean State Community Resources Inc., a process that will be complete by January 2015.
David C. Reiss, executive director of the Fogarty Center, told Providence Business News that the merger of the Fogarty Center, which has 350 employees, and Ocean State, which has about 300 employees, could result in about five layoffs as administrative and finance departments are consolidated.
The two nonprofits both serve children and adults with developmental and other disabilities.
While the newly merged entity would take the Fogarty Center’s name, Barrington, where Ocean State is located, would become the organization’s base of operations. The Fogarty Center’s current North Providence corporate office would also remain open, Reiss said.
Ocean State Community Resources has an operating budget of about $25 million compared with $10 million for the Fogarty Center, he added.
Talks about a merger began four years ago and once included two other nonprofits that have since dropped out of the conversation. About a year before former Fogarty Center Executive Director Ted Polak retired, the two boards of directors began discussions. The nonprofits officially began pursuing the merger when Reiss took over as executive director at the Fogarty Center in July 2013, he said.
Before assuming the directorship at the Fogarty Center, Reiss had already been serving as executive director for the Ocean State organization since 1991. He has continued to run both nonprofits since July 2013, he said.
“This merger is primarily about survival,” Reiss said. “By combining our collective resources, I believe we become the largest Rhode Island-based developmental disability provider in the state. This should afford us with heightened recognition and resource management that will enable to us to enhance our existing services and potential expansion.”
The merger also will streamline services and job functions, he said.
“Both agencies are two of the lowest funded developmental disability agencies in the state and we’re continuing to get cut as we speak,” he said. “There’s so much duplication in both agencies, we feel by merging the backroom functions – administrative finance and human resources departments – we should be able to get an economy of scale.”
The nonprofits are Medicaid-funded agencies, so funding sources are almost exclusively limited to the federal and state reimbursement systems, Reiss said.
“We do have fundraising and grant revenue, but our continuance will depend upon our ability to effectively address administrative duplication and to maximize our funding opportunities,” he said.
The Fogarty Center would be the surviving company as a result of the merger, Reiss added.
“Although Ocean State Community Resources Inc. has been around for 32 years and has a significantly larger operating budget, the Fogarty Center brings with it 62 years of ground breaking history, influence and name recognition,” he said.

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