PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Three youth living at state-licensed group homes this year attempted suicide.
Rhode Island Child Advocate Regina M. Costa says the suicide attempts at group homes in Providence and Newport are a "cry for help" by these youth. Budget cuts, high staff turnover, lack of training and barriers to psychiatric services, she said, have left many of these programs ill-equipped to care for a population with increasingly challenging mental-health needs.
Officials at the state Department of Children, Youth and Families said that although the three suicide attempts were "more extreme" than usual, they are not unprecedented.
The department's Child Protective Services unit investigated each of the three incidents and concluded that the programs' operators followed all policies and procedures.