St. Mary's Home for Children

St. Mary's Home for Children is a caring and welcoming place to work. We are passionate about children and families and making sure children have everything they need to grow up happy and healthy.

We help the most vulnerable Rhode Island children who have been through severe trauma or are facing a mental illness. Our three main program areas - Residential Services, Outpatient Department, and George N. Hunt Campus School - provide a comprehensive set of services that work with the whole family. In addition, our Outpatient Department also works with adults.

Our campus has five Residential Services houses, Outpatient Department offices, the George N. Hunt Campus School, and administrative offices. Our programs help clients to grow and thrive in their lives no matter what kind of trauma or mental illness they have faced.

Our Residential Services provides treatment for youth ages 6-18 including a full range of individual, group, and family clinical services. Five houses on our campus provide living space for up to 37 youth at a time. Three houses are classified as Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities offering intensive inpatient services to youth with various mental health issues. One house is a hospital step-down or diversion program and the final house offers assessment and stabilization services for youth. Our Residential Services are based on the principles of the national Building Bridges Initiative which ensures that services and supports are family-driven, youth-guided, strength-based, culturally and linguistically competent, evidence and practice informed and consistent with the research of sustained positive outcomes.

Our Outpatient Services, known as The Shepherd Program, provides a variety of programs to support children, adults, and families impacted by sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and other trauma, such as family violence and physical abuse. Services consist of a variety of different types of programs including office-based counseling, Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy, supporting teens at risk for sexual exploitation, supporting adoptive and foster families, community-based treatment, support groups, a curriculum for families impacted by sexual abuse, and trauma-informed training and consultation for other providers. Outpatient Services provides programs for people of all ages from children to adult clients.

The George N. Hunt Campus School provides highly structured, individualized instruction, and therapeutic services to students with learning, social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. The school serves St. Mary’s Residential Services youth. Other students can also be referred to the campus school by Local Education Agencies to attend as day students. Clinical and therapeutic support is provided to all students. Related services such as Occupational Therapy and Speech/Language services are available per the student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP). A reading specialist is available for education evaluations and support to improve reading skills per the student’s IEP. The school is licensed by the Rhode Island Department of Education as a year-round, out-of-district special education school for grades K-12.