PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Family Court's chief judge testified before a Senate oversight hearing Wednesday that Rhode Island lacks adequate long-term residential programs in Rhode Island to care for youth with severe mental health problems.
"We are seeing more and more cases of youngsters with acute residential needs [for] long-term care," Chief Judge Haiganush R. Bedrosian said. "Rhode Island is a very small state. It doesn't have the proper [programs] for these long-term placements."
Bedrosian was one of four state officials to testify before the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which oversees the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.
State Child Advocate Regina M. Costa said that the state has only two residential facilities -- Harmony Hill School and St. Mary's -- with treatment programs for children with mental health issues. Other residential programs are designed for youth in juvenile corrections or other specialized populations, she said.
Costa testified that funding to the DCYF has been reduced by approximately $33 million since 2009, and by more than $24 million from 2011 through the current fiscal year. And she urged lawmakers to provide additional funds to the agency and oversee how the money is spent to make sure it's going directly to meet the needs of children in state care.
The hearing, chaired by Sen. Joshua Miller, is scheduled to continue later this evening.
This entry was first posted at 1:35 p.m.