Rhode Island
DCYF pauses St. Mary’s Home expansion pending reorganization • Rhode Island Current
The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) has decided to hold off on additional construction at the embattled St. Mary’s Home for Children in North Providence.
A construction contract for a new building with 12 beds on St. Mary’s campus was approved in February 2023 and enjoyed the support of lawmakers, DCYF and Gov. Dan McKee, all of whom pointed to the need for more facilities that can provide intensive psychiatric care for the state’s youth, especially adolescent girls and transgender kids.
But Kerri White, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said via email late Thursday afternoon that DCYF has asked the Division of Purchases at the Department of Administration to pause the contract.
“This is a pause in construction, not a termination,” White wrote. “The reason for the pause is that DCYF is waiting for additional leadership and organizational decisions to be made by St. Mary’s and Tides Family Services.”
The nonprofit Tides Family Services provides services in youth and families’ homes and schools around Rhode Island. In a joint announcement on May 8, the two organizations revealed Tides Family Services was taking over the management of residential clinical services at St. Mary’s, which was the subject of a scathing report from the Office of the Child Advocate highlighting abuse, neglect and misconduct there. The report made public in January led to a number of sanctions from DCYF and the Rhode Island Department of Health. It also generated numerous discussions at the State House over whether the construction, tentatively priced at $11 million and funded by pandemic dollars, should continue.
DCYF manages child protective services as well as the foster care system in Rhode Island. It can also coordinate behavioral health services, like residential treatment at St. Mary’s, for children not in state custody. That’s partially due to a Medicaid extension the state filed in 2018, one which allows kids otherwise ineligible for Medicaid to receive treatment in a psychiatric residential treatment facility, or PRTF — a federally regulated form of intensive, residential psychiatric treatment for people under age 21. The extension does not require parents to give up custody to DCYF.
The discovery of contaminated soil at the Fruit Hill Avenue site had already delayed construction earlier this year. During a March hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, DCYF Director Ashley Deckert expressed hope that the new facility could begin taking patients as early as April 2025.
Deckert also underlined the need for the facility at a House Oversight Committee hearing in January, shortly after the release of the child advocate’s report. “We can’t lose this capacity. So it’s almost like a too big to fail sort of situation,” she said then.
Katelyn Medeiros, who leads the Office of the Child Advocate, which completed the report on St. Mary’s last December, was recently confirmed by the Senate as the state’s permanent child advocate after serving as the interim leader for two years. In a May 23 committee hearing before her final confirmation, senators were curious about the ongoing St. Mary’s situation. What was she going to do about it?
“I am hopeful that we are going to see an improvement at this facility,” Medeiros told senators. “But right now, I’ll say my sole focus is the safety and well being of the children that are still placed there.”
That also seems to be the focus of DCYF and the office of human services.
“At this point, our focus is on supporting St. Mary’s and Tides’ collaboration efforts,” White said. “We will continue to monitor the situation before we determine when construction will start.”
St. Mary’s announced last month that the children currently residing there would be placed elsewhere. That leaves another gap in the state’s array of psychiatric residential treatment and other intensive behavioral care services. The lack of services was the subject of an investigation by U.S. District Attorney Zacahry Cunha, who released a report last month documenting overhospitalization practices at Bradley Hospital, another provider of intensive psychiatric services for youth.
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Rhode Island
GoLocalProv | Business | In Just a Week — 2 RI Restaurants and a Top Caterer Announce They Are Closing
Monday, December 01, 2025
PHOTO: File
Whether it is inflation, tariffs, lifecycles, or a souring economy — three different small food businesses have announced their closure in the past week
Hometown Poké and Bubble Tea announced on Sunday on social media that it has closed its East Greenwich location.
“Hey there poke people, you may have heard that we solemnly closed our East Greenwich location this past week. Two years in that beautiful space flew by in a flash. Unfortunately, our sales couldn’t cover the operating costs so we made the difficult decision to close this chapter in our story and move on,” said the company.
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“We are proud of the work we put into the East Greenwich location and the friends we made along the way. We became a general contractor and took an empty office and transformed it into a lovely little poke & bubble tea shop. It was an amazing experience to share our food with the South County community. Thank you to the businesses and customers who have reached out with the kindest words.”
The company’s Providence location remains open.
More Closings
Hometown Poké’s announcement comes after Narragansett burger joint Crazy Burger Cafe & Juice Bar announced on Friday that it had closed.
It won awards and was featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Earlier this fall, it announced it was for sale.
Then, on Friday, it announced on social media:
I am saddened to tell you that Crazy Burger is now closed. We ran out of money before we were able to sell the business so we’re forced to close the doors.
It’s difficult to express the gratitude we’ve had for all your love and support over the last 30 years and we will miss serving you one and all we wish you all the best over the holiday season.
Fire Works Catering owner Mark Garofalo announced on Saturday – that they were closing after 22 years.
The business is a full-service, off-site caterer and describes itself as “committed to providing you with unsurpassed food, value, professionalism, and reliability.”
“After more than 22 years, Steph and I have decided to close the doors to Fire Works Catering at the end of this year,” said Garofalo.
“There are too many people to name here that have worked for or with us to make it the success that it was,” he continued. “But please know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart and sincerely have enjoyed working with you over the years.
“Our last day will be December 31st. I have no plans yet but I do have some irons in the fire,” Garofalo added. “I’ll keep you all up to date as soon as I have more news.”
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Sunday, November 30, 2025
Armand Sabitoni PHOTO: URI, promotional
An open letter to Governor Armand Sabitoni:
Pretty much everyone in politics in Rhode Island knows that Dan McKee is “your” guy.
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And, we all know you handpicked that middling Laborers’ staffer, Peter Alviti, to serve as the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. Boy, that was not such a good idea.
Sir, with all due respect, they aren’t doing very well.
When you put “schmoes” into serious positions, sooner or later, they are going to screw things up. And, boy, oh boy, have they.
For the purposes of this letter, we will recount how you stuck us with these two guys.
After all, you funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars through an independent expenditure account to fuel McKee’s election in 2022.
You, sir, served as the General Secretary and Treasurer of the Laborers’ International Union — a union with a rich history of ties to the Patriarca crime family, corruption, and even former President Bill Clinton.
You and the Laborers have always been a powerful force in the Rhode Island State House, but in recent years, the union’s influence has grown. The Laborers dramatically bolstered their sway in the road and bridge building industry with the appointment of “their brother,” a 15-year veteran of the union, Alviti, to head RIDOT.
As GoLocal previously reported, McKee’s campaign received a massive expenditure from Laborers’ International via an independent expenditure group — called Forward Rhode Island.
Money flowed from the “Laborers Political League – Education Fund” and a separate account, the “Build New England Fund,” to the special Forward Rhode Island account. Each of the Laborers’ funds funneled $300,000 to benefit McKee.
More than 100 donations were made to the “Laborers Political League – Education Fund,” according to a document filed with the Rhode Island Board of Elections’ Campaign Finance Division.
None of the donations were made from Rhode Island; most were union “Locals” from around the country, and the list included donations from just two individuals – two Laborers’ officers of Local 341 in Alaska — Augustine Merrick and Wesley Canfield. There was more READ HERE.
Certainly, no one can blame you for wanting to get Alviti off the Laborers’ payroll. No one faults you for that.
First, you dumped Alviti on Gina, and then you made sure McKee kept him on the payroll.
By placing Alviti in such an important position with the state, it certainly helps the Laborers’ influence, but the failure of the bridge, ya gotta admit, that is embarrassing. To put it lightly.
For anyone trying to get to work, pick up their kids, or live life, Alviti’s bridge strategy has been a bust. Heck, that bridge has only been busted for about two years, and we bet it won’t be fixed before the end of the decade.
There has been one benefit, at a time when Americans and Rhode Islanders are divided, nearly everyone agrees that Alviti is the worst Department director in Rhode Island history.
Alviti, in such a bizarre twist, has brought Rhode Islanders together. Nearly everyone is disgusted.
But, at the end of the day, those appointments — McKee and Alviti — have been a bust.
The irony is that your team of McKee and Alviti almost ensures corporate executive Helena Foulkes wins the Democratic primary as it sits now. You know her; she is the woman who donated to former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and slashed thousands of jobs as CEO of the Hudson’s Bay Company. We didn’t even mention her friendships with the Sackler family (of Purdue Pharma opioid infamy).
Foulkes will make former anti-union GOP Governor Don Carcieri look like Samuel Gompers.
Governor Sabitoni, Rhode Island, deserves better than a broken bridge and a couple of schmoes.
You are really not doing a very good job.
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