Screams, runaways dashing through yards: Neighbors share what it's like to live next to St. Mary's.
NORTH PROVIDENCE – One neighbor of St. Mary’s Home for Children tells how a runaway from the psychiatric treatment center once landed in his pool during a Fourth of July party, frightening his guests.
“The fence that separates our properties has been broken for years,” says Kris Pacific. “They say they don’t have money to fix it, and the kids seem to know it.”
Other neighbors report often hearing yelling and screaming coming through the trees that separate their backyards from the Fruit Hill Avenue property. And they say police and fire crews respond hundreds of times a year to pulled fire alarms, runaway reports and other emergencies at the state’s only residential psychiatric treatment facility for children.
North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi, who sits on the St. Mary’s board, told The Journal on Wednesday that things are going to change at the troubled home.
But what won’t change, he said, despite some neighbors’ concerns, is any stoppage of the planned 12-bed addition at St. Mary’s.
"If I was a true politician, I would tell people only what they want to hear, but you are going to see two new buildings there,” he said. “My only answer to the neighbors down back is give this new leadership a chance. The home is too important for the well-being of a number of children throughout the whole state.”
Officials tour St. Mary's
Lombardi’s comments came prior to his joining a handful of state lawmakers on a tour of the facility following a scathing report earlier this month of mismanagement at the home and sometimes dangerous living conditions for the roughly 17 high-risk youth living there.
Investigators for the Office of the Child Advocate reported instances of children being physically assaulted by staff and by other children, sometimes sexually; of drug overdoses on campus; a biker club invited onto the grounds to protect children from any cruising sex traffickers and a management hierarchy indifferent to the concerns of overworked staff.
Staff members "discussed numerous incidences when clinical and medical staff were told by St. Mary’s administration not to talk about and refrain from documenting situations that could cause trouble for St. Mary’s. A couple of examples were provided; a child who was AWOL from St. Mary’s and was sexually assaulted and a child [who] overdosed and required Narcan while on campus.”
The investigation began in April after a 17-year-old girl was found unconscious from a drug overdose on the bathroom floor of a residential unit. A rescue crew revived her.
The home’s executive director stepped down following the report and the home’s board appointed in her place Charles A. Montorio-Archer to fill the position. He was most recently president and CEO of the children’s service organization One Hope United in Chicago.
What changes will be made at St. Mary's Home?
Lombardi said the board met Tuesday evening at the home and listened as Montorio-Archer and new chief operations manager Lauren Utschig outlined their approach.
In the past, “the board wasn’t kept apprised of some of the decisions, some of the operations going on, and that was a little disturbing,” said Lombardi, particularly when they heard, from the report, about “bikers being called in.”
That is going to change, he said. “We’ve been guaranteed that the day-to-day operations there will be reported to the board.”
Speaking of Montorio-Archer, the mayor said, "the turn-around he's made in such a short time is admirable."
Lombardi said he wasn’t happy “being caught blindsided by some of the situations mentioned in the OCA report. But I want to publicly thank all the employees at St. Mary’s. They also seem to be committed to a new start.”
New facility will still be built
Last February, state officials announced a new partnership with St. Mary’s to build an $11-million, 12-bed facility on the campus for adolescent girls needing psychiatric care.
The need has been so great for so long that girls often end up languishing in state hospitals waiting for a bed to open anywhere else.
More: Overdoses, assault and restraints: Inside a damning report on St. Mary's Home for Children
Last week at a meeting of the House Oversight Committee, Katelyn Medeiros, the state’s acting child advocate, said Rhode Island had 68 high-risk children in state care who are receiving services in states as far away as Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee because those services aren’t provided locally.
That’s why the St. Mary’s addition must be built, said Lombardi. “It’s been proven there is a need for it.”
Construction is supposed to start in coming months.
In the meantime, Lombardi says he will make sure that back fence by Kris Pacific’s home is repaired.
“Now that it has been brought to my attention I’ll make sure it’s repaired ASAP.”
Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Neighbors share horror stories of living next to St. Mary's Home for Children
