Not all of them would necessarily be a good fit for the new Exeter facility, however, as some out-of-state facilities offered specialized and superior treatment for certain conditions.
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“A detailed review of the treatment needs of each adolescent girl being treated at Bradley Hospital or an out-of-state facility must be conducted to assess whether transfer to the Exeter residential treatment center is the most appropriate care,” Francella said.
She said a significant number of out-of-state placements involve children whose intellectual and developmental disabilities are, “at this time, are most appropriately treated outside of Rhode Island because of the specialized level of need.”
According to the state’s youth welfare agency, the treatment center will have 60 full-time staff and will complete construction this spring, with an expected opening this fall. The facility is meant to offer care that is distinct from a hospital setting but more comprehensive than what is typically available with outpatient services.
The state solicitation for a vendor noted the 11-acre campus is intended to care for girls with histories of trauma, multiple placements, elopement, self-injury, aggression, eating disorders, substance use disorder, as well as those who have suffered through human trafficking.
The 16 beds will be split across two residential units. Classrooms, activity rooms, an indoor and an outdoor recreation space, a visitor area and offices will also be included on site.
“South County Academy will provide a loving and caring environment, transformative education, evidence-based behavioral health services, along with fun activities and opportunities that will foster healing and hope,” Will Tregaskis, a spokesperson for Family Service Rhode Island, said via email.
“We often encounter youth just as they are experiencing the hardest moments in their life,” Tregaskis said when asked about the challenges involved in treating girls with these complex histories. “South County Academy’s approach will be grounded in evidence-based, trauma-informed practices that prioritize safety, consistency, trust, and relationship-building. We understand these hard moments for young people reflect underlying trauma and our team is trained to respond with de-escalation techniques, clinical interventions and compassionate care that reduces harm and promotes healing.”
Tregaskis said that Family Service is still “in the early stages of the recruitment process,” and that funding is expected to begin in July per the contract’s terms. But Family Service has also “made an upfront investment allowing us to hire the South County Academy Executive Director as soon as we recruit an experienced leader who can implement the vision, strategy, and overall direction of the program,” Tregaskis said.
The organization has open positions for the Academy currently listed on its website, Tregaskis noted, and said Family Service is encouraging Exeter residents and people from nearby communities to apply.
“Our initial focus is centered on successfully recruiting and onboarding high quality team members to make the vision of South County Academy a reality,” Tregaskis said.
The state’s official contract which became public April 14, allows for up to three one-year renewals.
The agreement period between Family Service and DCYF currently runs through Feb. 29, 2032, and was approved by the State Properties Committee at its April 14 meeting.
The lease for the 32,000-square-foot campus is set to begin June 1, and it allows Family Service to rent the state-owned property for $1 while maintaining responsibility for utilities, maintenance and operation.
The academy is capped at 16 beds so that the state can maximize its federal reimbursements for care at the facility, as this is the amount specified under longstanding Medicaid restrictions on inpatient mental health treatment.
Back in August 2024, when the facility broke ground, state health officials acknowledged that the eventual Exeter facility would be limited to 16 beds to “ensure that Rhode Island can access federal Medicaid funds for the services provided.”
That has not totally dispelled the concerns of lawmakers like Rep. Julie Casimiro, a North Kingstown Democrat who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and is a frequent champion of youth-related legislation — as well as a frequent critic of DCYF.
Over text message, Casimiro expressed “a huge amount of confidence in FSRI” but “zero in DCYF and all other departments responsible for getting this up and running soon.”
Casimiro elaborated in a follow-up phone call that she feels the facility fulfills a great need but it comes at an outsized cost, given that state lawmakers have pushed repeatedly for greater state capacity in recent years.
In 2022, the assembly OK’d $12 million in ARPA funds for expanding in-state capacity and designing a new facility. It also earmarked $45 million in subsequent years for construction from the Rhode Island Capital Plan Fund (RICAP).
In a March 2025 presentation, DCYF estimated the Exeter project cost $41.1 million across RICAP, APRA and other funding sources.
“Everybody’s celebrating it like it’s a win. Well, I’m glad we have 16 beds,” Casimiro said, adding that she remembered the state allocating money for more than 16 beds. “I know, because of Medicaid, I understand why it can’t happen…But why are we celebrating 16 beds that cost us a ton of money?”
Casimiro said she could not recall the exact year she said the General Assembly allocated more than 16 beds, but DCYF’s attempts at building residential treatment capacity, especially for teen girls, have been scattered across documents and committee hearings in the past five years. This need had intensified since 2024, when St. Mary’s Home for Children closed, ending the state’s only psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) — a Medicaid-defined form of intensive inpatient treatment that allows more than 16 beds.
Francella said via email that the new Exeter site will be classified as a residential treatment center. These operate in a more home-like, therapeutic fashion, compared to the PRTF, which offers a yet-more-intensive form of care that sits immediately below hospital level.
Both types of facilities, however, are part of the state’s attempt to bring more care in-state for young women with complex behavioral needs. Before a period of scandal led to its closure, the state sank millions into the nonprofit-run St. Mary’s, and had made the North Providence campus the locus of its efforts to increase capacity. Before St. Mary’s closure, DCYF wanted to build an additional 12 beds on the campus.
In December 2025, the state purchased the former St. Mary’s campus and is currently working to make it into another facility, comparable to the former St. Mary’s, with 16 PRTF-eligible beds.
That project remains in the earlier stages, but its path to completion may encounter some detours if it’s anything like the Exeter venture. A March 25 DCYF memo notes that the operator contract originally went to a different vendor in July 2025, but that vendor withdrew from consideration in November 2025, leading the state’s purchasing department to rescind that award and then issue a tentative contract to Family Service.
Casimiro was also no fan of the timeline, and she said she had expected a ribbon cutting for the facility months ago.
Did Casimiro see this slowness to materialize as a pattern with DCYF?
“It’s a pattern with state government,” she replied.
Alexander Castro covers technology, education and health for Rhode Island Current. He previously worked as a visual arts critic, curator and adjunct professor.
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.