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Round up: A look
at residential schools in
New England
RHODE ISLAND
(October
2004 Issue)
For the sake of definition, residential schools in Rhode Island
fall under the category of serving students with mental illness,
ages three to 21 with Individual Educational Plans (IEPs).
Rhode Island's residential school programs for such students that
are certified by the state's Department of Education continue to
operate and the school districts across the state continue to work
with them, with no foreseeable closings.
However, two distinct changes are taking place, according to Maureen
DeCrescenzo, who for 17 years has worked for the RI Department of
Education as director of special services for Exeter and West Greenwich.
Group homes are becoming more prevalent across the state, taking
some of the burden off of residential programs and the number of
students with mental illness in the school system is not only increasing,
but their age is decreasing.
"That is a big change in Rhode Island," says DeCrescenzo of the
increase in the number of group homes.
More and more often, youngsters who end up in Bradley or Butler
Hospitals for demonstrating dangerous behavior are being placed
in group homes instead of directly in residential school programs.
The two new group homes in the Exeter/Greenwich district support
students with mental illness from kindergarten to seventh grade.
DeCrescenzo points out that time in a group home doesn't mean students
are not getting an education. While it's true that the Department
of Child, Youth and Families often becomes involved in student placement
for clinical reasons, Rhode Island school districts are still responsible
for students' education through age 21. (In Mass., it's age 22).
DeCrescenzo says that the increase in using group homes as an option
to residential programs is a result of the state "looking at the
cost effectiveness of students not residing in hospitals for clinical
reasons" for extended periods of time. That situation often happens
to students who are incapable of returning to their homes for various
reasons. Depending on the severity of their issues, students can
spend between two weeks and three months in the hospital before
being placed elsewhere.
As for programming, DeCrescenzo says Rhode Island has begun an
alternative program to focus on the sensory needs of students, offering
them outlets for stress relief, especially for the state's youngest
student patients.
"It's a growing population in Rhode Island, and there is a growing
need," she sys. "If you ask any special education director in the
state of Rhode Island, these kids are K-8; we're talking about very
young children. And we're seeing a growing, not decreasing trend.
This certainly means for providers in the mental health system to
provide more help to families. Abuse may be happening to very young
children, and we as educators have to figure out why."
Jennifer Chase
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