Excellence at a Social Service Agency | St. Mary’s Home for Children
Although no longer an orphanage, St. Mary’s Home for Children continues to operate as a safe place for children who have experienced multiple forms of trauma and may have nowhere else to turn.
St. Mary’s provides a variety of comprehensive treatment programs for nearly 500 children and families with behavioral issues, psychiatric problems and other needs resulting from issues that include abuse and neglect.
“Our mission is to create an environment of healing and hope for those we serve,” said Susan DeRita, development officer. “Children and families are empowered to develop healthy, trusting relationships … that enable them to lead fulfilling lives.”
“I believe that the continuum of care that we provide contributes to our success,” explained Executive Director Carlene McCann. “From the highest-end residential treatment program to office-based therapy and everything in between, we are able to serve our youth and families at almost any level of care that they may need. … We are also able to identify service gaps and create programs and services to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families in Rhode Island.”
With residential programs, a special education school, outpatient programs and a myriad of other support services, a large part of the St. Mary’s goal is to reunite children with their families.
For instance, during a recent case, residential treatment counselors were able to locate the older sister of an adolescent client with violent outbursts. The team worked to create a “forever” home for the pair, which led to a decrease in the girl’s aggressive behaviors and more success at school and within the program.
“Our team has continued to support the family and the family is functioning very well,” said McCann. “The youth is attending school regularly, maintains a part-time job and is seeing the many possibilities that her future holds.”
By using data and industry best practices, St. Mary’s provides continuous support, even after initial treatment. Staff recently partnered with the national Building Bridges Initiative, which supports partnerships between residential and community-based programs, families, youth, policymakers and natural supports. It is family-driven, youth-guided, strength-based, culturally and linguistically competent and consistent with the research on sustained positive outcomes.
“This involves taking our services into the family’s home and community during the residential intervention and providing aftercare services post-discharge … significantly reducing length of stay and ensuring permanency,” explained McCann.
St. Mary’s understands the potential for childhood trauma comes from a number of places, and the agency has recently developed the only community-based program of its kind in Rhode Island to address the exploitation of youth through human trafficking.
According to McCann, St. Mary’s is also tackling the challenges facing adoptive and foster families.
“Having worked with many children who have been removed from pre-adoptive, adoptive and foster families due to sexual acting-out behaviors (due to past sexual victimization), we created a program to support families and youth in the home so that the child does not end up in group care,” said McCann.
St. Mary’s is an accredited organization that provides education assistance for staff, specialized training and a Leadership Academy for advancement opportunity. It operates at an administrative cost rate of 7.1 percent. For 2017, income increased minimally to $8.3 million but did not quite meet expenses at $8.4 million.
Referrals to St. Mary’s come from the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, third-party insurers, parents, physicians and school districts throughout Rhode Island, as well as the Episcopal Diocese.
“We have a generous donor base and some very strong relationships with foundations who help fund some aspects of programming that the state and/or third parties don’t fund,” said McCann.
Still, she added, it’s difficult to make ends meet.
“When you run a facility that operates 24/7 with no guarantees about census from funding sources, budgeting is a challenge,” she said.
